what an idiot! (1 Viewer)

[Sue]

The point surely is whether the OP went to the premises and did the deal face to face or not. Distance selling regs will only apply if there was no face to face contact with the company and the OP has not said how he did the deal, unless I missed the answer.

phone transaction

 

[Sue]

Send the BIG LADs Round. Sorry I'm out of the country presently.

when are you back?

 

[Sue]

Seems a bit strong...

Is it unreasonable for a busy local tradesman to ask for a deposit to discourage time wasters and then keep it when his time is wasted, by someone who thinks they have got a better deal elsewhere? And then to be dragged through the small claims court too? And all for £60? Especially when it could cost the OP £35 to get the £60 back

My gut feeling is that this may be legally correct, but is it morally?

Personally, if it was my change of mind causing the issue, then I'd suck it up and put the deposit loss down to experience, and make sure I was certain of what I wanted next time...

define...good customer relations?

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[Tootles]

and I do feel like a complete idiot for parting with my money so,easily and not really thinking it through

If you think yourself a 'complete idiot' Sue, then there are hundreds of thousands just like you every day that make the same simple mistake. It's not an 'idiot' syndrome, just confusion and unsurety. This guy should have given you some breathing space. "Yes, I am getting booked up fast, but hey, don't make the decision now, I can hang on an hour for you to think this through". Most professionals would have done just that.

 

[iandsm]

phone transaction

That being the case perhaps you could tell the fitter that distance selling regs apply and you look forward to your deposit being returned. If he won't play ball, you're probably better off putting it down to experience than taking the time trouble and expense to go the County Court route. Perhaps Trading Standards might make a phone call to advise him, that might get a result.

If you stand back a minute and look at it, as it were from the outside, £60 is hardy a fortune in comparison to the purchase price of the motorhome.

 

[Sue]

That being the case perhaps you could tell the fitter that distance selling regs apply and you look forward to your deposit being returned. If he won't play ball, you're probably better off putting it down to experience than taking the time trouble and expense to go the County Court route. Perhaps Trading Standards might make a phone call to advise him, that might get a result.

If you stand back a minute and look at it, as it were from the outside, £60 is hardy a fortune in comparison to the purchase price of the motorhome.

maybe at the end of the day, when I have stopped beating myself up and when i feel less disgusted by the guy, then, maybe, i will just let it go...anger is bad for,you, and isn't motor-homing all about being chilled?

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[Ian789]

The installer may have spent some time dealing with Sues request but it doesnt sound like £60 of his time was wasted and if he acknowledged Sues mistake then the positive publicity he would have received on here would certainly have been worth the £60 refund. This (and the other) forum is a valuable source of information for newbies, and good feedback on here would likely generate more business for the company. One of the reasons we have chosen Vanbitz to fit our new alarm was the very positive feedback on this and other forums even though it involves a fairly long round trip for us. Our dealings with Vanbitz too have been very positive so far, I initially rang during the January 15% offer and was given lots of advice, without any hard sales pressure to sign up there and then. Finally booked a Strikeback (on the standard funster deal !) but have just recently had to put the fitting on hold due to a delay in the van delivery which squeezes the time between us getting the van and our already booked holiday. Again no issues just told to get in touch when things are more definite.

 

[Sue]

The installer may have spent some time dealing with Sues request but it doesnt sound like £60 of his time was wasted and if he acknowledged Sues mistake then the positive publicity he would have received on here would certainly have been worth the £60 refund. This (and the other) forum is a valuable source of information for newbies, and good feedback on here would likely generate more business for the company. One of the reasons we have chosen Vanbitz to fit our new alarm was the very positive feedback on this and other forums even though it involves a fairly long round trip for us. Our dealings with Vanbitz too have been very positive so far, I initially rang during the January 15% offer and was given lots of advice, without any hard sales pressure to sign up there and then. Finally booked a Strikeback (on the standard funster deal !) but have just recently had to put the fitting on hold due to a delay in the van delivery which squeezes the time between us getting the van and our already booked holiday. Again no issues just told to get in touch when things are more definite.

now THAT is good service!

 

[Judge Mental]

So If so sure of yourself why are you wasting time on here..
Could have got situation sorted today by contacting CAB

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[Ian789]

Agree with Tootles Sue - dont beat yourself up I am sure lots of funsters have made similar mistakes - the 'excitement' of a Motorhome show prbably being a prime venue. In October 2012 at the NEC really late in the afternoon we put a deposit on a new Pilote PVC, but after a few days started to question the decision, mainly regarding whether with work commitments at that time we would get enough use out of the van. We decided to cancel the order (obviously at that point some paperwork had been completed - but the build/delivery date was still months away), must say to be fair to the dealer Hayes Leisure - aside from what I thought was a reasonable admin charge they refunded 95% of the deposit. Even the admin charge was on 'file' if we bought a van from them at a later stage. This certainly left me with a very good opinion of the dealer, and in looking for our new van they were on the shortlist of dealers I considered when buying our new van.

 

[EssexBoy]

Agree with Tootles Sue - dont beat yourself up I am sure lots of funsters have made similar mistakes - the 'excitement' of a Motorhome show prbably being a prime venue. In October 2012 at the NEC really late in the afternoon we put a deposit on a new Pilote PVC, but after a few days started to question the decision, mainly regarding whether with work commitments at that time we would get enough use out of the van. We decided to cancel the order (obviously at that point some paperwork had been completed - but the build/delivery date was still months away), must say to be fair to the dealer Hayes Leisure - aside from what I thought was a reasonable admin charge they refunded 95% of the deposit. Even the admin charge was on 'file' if we bought a van from them at a later stage. This certainly left me with a very good opinion of the dealer, and in looking for our new van they were on the shortlist of dealers I considered when buying our new van.

So will all the critics now be vilifying Hayes for keeping the other 5% in such strong terms?

 

[Sue]

So will all the critics now be vilifying Hayes for keeping the other 5% in such strong terms?

I would be quite happy if he kept an admin charge, 5% seems reasonable

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[Sue]

So If so sure of yourself why are you wasting time on here..
Could have got situation sorted today by contacting CAB

wasting time?
asking for advice, getting a feel for what other people think?
isnt that supposed to be part of the ethos of this site?

 

[Sue]

as a result of the advice of other funsters, i have looked at distance selling , and cab do a great pro forma letter to get the ball rolling...just sent it

thank you to those who have offered help and positive comments!

 

[Candapack]

For what it's worth - I have an Autosleeper, and particularly wanted A/S to do the habitation service this year. I decided to get them to fit a Gaslow system while they had the van. We agreed a date, and they asked for a £50 deposit for the Gaslow.
They were let down, Gaslow didn't deliver the parts in time. We put things off till they did, but time went on a bit, and eventually it just dragged on too long. (It's a long way from me to the A/S premises, and although retired, the days sort of fill up! And by now we had collected our 8 week old puppy, everybody go Awwww!). So I cancelled everything. By this time, the Gaslow system had arrived, hooray, too late. A/S wouldn't return the deposit, but nor did they expect me to fork out for all the stuff they had ordered. Which I thought was fair enough.
Having typed all this, I have now forgotten if it's at all relevant to the thread

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[lou020]

come on sue, give us a clue who it was, i'm racking my brain thinking of auto electricians etc.
please please.
ps, ask him for a credit note so you could have something else at a later date...eg.. LEDs, 2nd battery, solars.
just a thought.
lou

 

[Sue]

come on sue, give us a clue who it was, i'm racking my brain thinking of auto electricians etc.
please please.
ps, ask him for a credit note so you could have something else at a later date...eg.. LEDs, 2nd battery, solars.
just a thought.
lou

promise once i have sorted it I will post the name, but just sent a letter to him re distance selling and will give him a chance to,rethink, if not thenx his name is up in lights!

 

[Judge Mental]

wasting time?
asking for advice, getting a feel for what other people think?
isnt that supposed to be part of the ethos of this site?

Yes wasting time, could have all been resolved today with a simple phone call. All this just hearsay and a waste of time...

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[Tootles]

So If so sure of yourself why are you wasting time on here..

I suppose that comes with the expectation that by spending £10 per year, you are amongst like minded friends, who will listen to your points sympathetically, and offer the advice appropriate to the question??
Maybe I have this wrong, and you ask for advice and then get yourself asked why your 'wasting time'. Cut the girl some slack, J, you never ever dropped a bollock and asked someone for advice??

 

[Sue]

Yes wasting time, could have all been resolved today with a simple phone call. All this just hearsay and a waste of time...

then read another thread

 

[Sue]

Ha ha ha jury's not impressed one little bit. "Idiot" your words not mine, dont come near it.

nice!

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[Tootles]

Ha ha ha jury's not impressed one little bit. "Idiot" your words not mine, dont come near it.

Maybe a read of Rule 1 is in order for you J.

 

[Carol]

Yes wasting time, could have all been resolved today with a simple phone call. All this just hearsay and a waste of time...

Though as I said on a previous post think I would have put it down to experience, I completely agree with Sue she was not sure what she wanted to do and asked for advice and that's what Fun is all about, and the decision is Sue's.

 

[EssexBoy]

Maybe I have this wrong, and you ask for advice and then get yourself asked why your 'wasting time'. Cut the girl some slack, J, you never ever dropped a bollock and asked someone for advice??

I think the issue here is not actually the rights/wrongs of the return of the deposit, it is the total & unswerving crucifying of the tradesman that is in question...

The fact of the matter is that two adults entered into a transaction to supply/fit an expensive piece of electronics, therefore a small deposit was requested by the seller & one paid by the buyer. The said buyer then decides, of their own volition, that an alternative supplier/fitter is better for them, and promptly cancels the transaction. The original supplier believes the deposit to be non-refundable (but by sheer luck, the transaction took place by the medium of telephone, and therefore specific laws make the sellers assumption incorrect - and this is being addressed)

So, the main & most important point of all is, why is the original supplier being so vociferously touted as Public Enemy No.1 ? If you read back through the comments on here, anyone would have thought the guy is Saville or Glitter... Surely its not acceptable to have talk about "sending the big lads round" & is time to get off the high horses... The OP "dropped a b*ll*ck and having friends publicly, blindly supporting the "he's a real bar steward" theme is not only wrong, but is helping no-one.

The real lesson for me is that advice should have been sought before the "panic buy", not after...

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[Judge Mental]

Maybe a read of Rule 1 is in order for you J.

sorry? I suggest you read what was said previously..talk about selective. Have done nothing but try to help and get told to butt out just because I could not understand the attitude....easily solved by a phone call to CAB to clarify the position? we pay for the service in our taxes you know

I think Essex boy makes a good point....and i would like to thank him for stating what is now obvious

 

[Judge Mental]

Oop's a daisies

 

[EssexBoy]

Maybe a read of Rule 1 is in order for you J.

Judging by the venom aimed at the tradesman in this thread, Rule No.2 is probably most in dire need of reading by a great number of posters...

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[Judge Mental]

where are these rules?

 

[EssexBoy]

where are these rules?

"Quick links" menu and then "fun rules OK"

 

[Tootles]

Judging by the venom aimed at the tradesman in this thread, Rule No.2 is probably most in dire need of reading by a great number of posters...

And which person or company is being castigated on this thread then??

I think the issue here is not actually the rights/wrongs of the return of the deposit, it is the total & unswerving crucifying of the tradesman that is in question...

Names??

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