Matt

Dealer refused to return my deposit

Dealer refused to return my £500 Deposit I purchased a 2 Series M Sport BMW online 16th Jan 2022 for £16,997.00 from the Kent branch of Your Best Car, initially speaking to Jack and Ben there who assisted me with the sale. I opted for part finance (PCP) and part cash payment across 5 years. I was told I would need to pay £500 deposit to take the car off the website and they would prepare the car for me to collect in the next days. I collected the car and drove it back to London to test drive it. (They don't allow you to visit the site to test the car - you have to buy it online beforehand and agree to the sale) You of course have a 14 day cooling off period whereby if you are not happy with the car and simply change your mind you can return it and they will cancel the purchase. However when I decided I didnt want the car and it wasnt for me and changed my mind, this is when things took a turn for the worst. The car was returned after 4 days and within the cooling off and in perfect condition, cleaned polished and with the same amount of fuel in the tank as well. When I tried to get my deposit back which formed part of my cash advance (£6000) I was told I could not and that Your Best Car would be keeping not only my deposit but would be charging me £495 for the cancellation of my PCP finance agreement PLUS they wanted to charge me £255 for £2 per mile milage fees that I had clocked up whilst I had the car during that test driving period of 4 days. When I demanded the full amount back, they simply replied (and I quote) "£500 of your payment for your car was non-refundable on the basis that we stop other clients buying the car that you had agreed to buy. It also covers my Employee’s time raising your paperwork, dealing with you" All in all I have lost £1,250.00 when YBC kept this amount stating that I was told (by Andrew Woolger (Director of Your Best Car) "Essentially, we really do not want clients proceeding with a car if they’re not 100% certain they want it, as it’s a waste of their time and our own." Clearly they deem their interaction with the public as "time wasting." if you do not keep the car. When I checked online whether or not this was legal, I discovered that it was not, regardless of any T's & C's that I signed. Under current UK Law set out in [The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013] It is illegal to withhold any amount as consumers are protected under such regulation. This Act protects the consumer when purchasing goods and services online (distance selling) and covers their right to be entitled to a full refund of any goods and or services purchased in this way, regardless of any terms and conditions that they may have signed. Moreover, any Terms and Conditions presented by Your Best Car Ltd and signed by their customers, cannot supersede UK legal protections laid down in law. Please see the below links to the relevant Statutory Instruments that are relevant in this case: legislation.gov.uk - regulation 38 and legislation.gov.uk - regulation 34 I have tried to ask YBC for my money back but they have refused and have not even bothered to respond to any of my most recent emails or calls. This is totally unacceptable and unprofessional. I would advise very strongly that you think carefully before engaging with this dealership. I am proceeding with a legal claim now to try and recover the money that YBC have kept and not returned. 03/05/2022