Leah

A Catalogue of Failures

I have had a really poor experience with HPL Motors, a company that seems to operate on a foundation of deceit and incompetence. HPL motors pride their company on 'making the car buyers journey swift, simple and fun' to further quote they 'aim to make finding and buying your new car a stress- free experience' and I can state that this couldn't be any further from the truth. I went to HPL Motors in Oldham looking for a car. I made it clear from the start to the sales person that if I found the right deal on a car I liked, I would proceed, but if I didn't I was not going to go ahead. We were initially met with hostility and to quote the salesman words 'we are just talking here'. I did find a car I liked and when the salesman realised this, he soon changed his tune. We first saw the car I liked at 15:55 and didn't leave the premises until 19:30, this in itself was frustrating. I went on a test drive as I was sure this was the one I liked. During the test drive,I noticed the car play feature was showing as 'unavailable'. I queried this as this was one of the many selling points for the purchase of the car. The salesman explained that the 'car play feature would all be up and running and would clear before we purchased the car'. With that, once we had agreed on a price and spoke through finance, we signed the papers and was told they would contact me during the week to pick it up. I had some concerns about the car before picking it up during the following week as I checked the MOT history. I was also reassured at this stage, these issues would be rectified before I picked up the car. Having initial trust in the sales team and knowing I had purchased one year of warranty, I picked the car up on the following Friday. On this day, the salesman who initially sold me the car was not there. When quizzed, the sales team explained that he had been 'let go' that very morning. We were helped by another salesman, who had been handed over a folder and told to deal with us last minute. After signing all documents, he gave us a key and the documents and we swiftly got in the car. He did a short visual check and sent us on our way. The car only had 5 miles of petrol in (driveaway petrol) so I headed to the nearest petrol station to fill up. It was here that I realised the car play was still not available and the car still had another users sensitive details on it, a huge breach of GDPR which I have reported. The car hadn't even been reset (which I was told by the salesman it would) and it became apparent that I needed two keys for the car to function, in order to reset the car and to use the functions of the car properly (i.e. keep primary user settings for each drive). I had not been told that the car only had one key at any stage; no documentation nor online information stated this and nor did I know the implications it would have for the car I had bought- I wouldn't have purchased the car if I knew this. I rang HPL and was told that the manager would look into it on Monday. These claims were demonstrably false. When I contacted them to address this blatant mis-selling again, they suggested giving me a second key at cost price and that they would look into the car play mis-sale. I was told the salesman who had been let go, was being questioned behind the scenes. Their initial argument was that I had signed a delivery checksheet that stated the car had one key, but was only notified after all documents had already been signed, seconds before the handover. To counter argue this, their ex salesman was the print name but the salesman who took over signed this document- which suggests this is also a problem. After I queried everything, I was told by the manager "if I take it to VW with the log book, they will be able to reset it for me". I contacted VW to verify this and they told me this isn't possible without a second key, yet another blatant lie from HPL. I rang the manager again, to which they were dismissive and kept stonewalling me with "we are looking into it, it is higher than me now and is being taken to the senior manager". I implied I would bring the car back if the issue was not rectified to which he said he wants to find a solution, but we are yet to have this so called solution. My solution would be to have a second key and car play fixed in the vehicle, which is how we were sold the car. They are now ignoring my calls and emails. I am being met with the same tale each time I make contact and have complete lack of trust in the company. I have complained to the finance company who were also shocked and will be complaining to the Managing Director. So, let's recap: I was deliberately mis-sold a product based on false information, the company has refused to rectify the situation promptly, and they've broken GDPR. HPL Motors isn't just bad; they're operating in a realm of appalling conduct. Save your wallet, your sanity, and your data privacy.