So a few months back we found and agreed to by a nice car. second hand dealer in chelmsford, not a fly by night place but big. We had tons of hassle (too much to post up here) and finally got the car. The car is now fine and we are left with two issues and I'm unsure how to get one of them fixed.
During discussions we had been verbally told it had two keys, turns out it has one set. The replacement cost is circa 450 quid. We took the car as we'd previously traded in our old car and needed this car back. They promised they'd sort the second key and send on the two other wheels/tyres. They'd swapped the wheels to nice ones and we agreed to have the four old ones as part of the deal, we took two but didnt have room for the others. They said once we got back off holiday they'd send the other two on to on to us. Anyway... dont really care about the wheels, more interested in the second key.
We've written to their finance and their managing director and had no reply and now I wonder what to do next to give me some leverage to get the second key. The managers wont talk to me if I call, they magically go into meetings.
We're so annoyed that we're tempted to return the car and demand a refund but I suspect that could get messy, so wanted some ideas... I half thought dumping a ton of horse manure on their doorstep might get their attention like that guy did but I'm not brave enough. And yes they have treated us as badly as said horse manure.
Thoughts on how I get the second key?
Trading standards? Small claim? Ideas?
How much paper work/proof of your agreement have you got?
If the paperwork is sound, go with small claims on line.
If you have no paperwork I'd give it up.
go in and demand to speak to someone.
I'd be tempted to go to the dealership on a busy Saturday and talk very loudly about the problems to every salesperson (especially if they're already with another customer) I could find until they sorted it.
Get yourself in there at a busy period and if they aren't interested in the 1st instance I would get slightly louder and vocal about the issue.
its a pretty large car and I was going to drive up very close to their front door on a Saturday, blocking it, then get out, lock the car, handbrake on, and wait for their manager to talk to me. Or get arrested trying. 😉
Park the car in front of their car park, lock it and throw away your key. Then tell them they have to get the second key to you if they want it moved. That'll learn them 😆
(otherwise, the talk loudly on a busy day thing)
its a pretty large car and I was going to drive up very close to their front door on a Saturday, blocking it, then get out, lock the car, handbrake on, and wait for their manager to talk to me. Or get arrested trying.
Well, at least they'd be able to open it and move it with the spare key 😉
Not a certain 4x4 place off the Widford roundabout is it?
Whats the car?
Top tip when buying a used car is to get every thing that you have agreed written down on the deposit receipt. The Sales Man wants a deposit and will write down all the stuff that they would otherwise forget about after they have your cash.
A bit late for the OP. Hope you get it sorted
You may have missed some of the story, but it seems you 'went a bit turbo' early on.
Did you call them to ask about the outstanding key / wheels? Have they changed their story or refused to send them?
They might just haven forgotten, especially as you asked them to wait a while before they sent them.
Your post reads that your first response was to send letters to MDs and whatnot./
I have emailed you. Hope its of some help.
piedi - spot on sir, well guessed.
russy - thanks for email, will look into the MQ thing.
there's a fair bit of back story not above, it relates to work being undertaken on the car, us collecting it only for other things, promised fixed to reappear, so the car has been back to them a couple of times. Those things have now been fixed and its just the key that really annoys me.
Hope you get it sorted OP. As for the crux of the problem "The replacement cost is circa 450 quid", how the bloody hell do they/manufacturer/stealer manage to charge that? I guess it needs recoding which requires removing the middle bit of the engine.
EMERGENCY EDIT!!!
Curiosity got the better of me - from http://www.mirror.co.uk/money/find-lost-car-keys-5071500 dated Jan 2015...
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so you probably need a word about their cost structure.
Own them with a pair of [s]bombers[/s] broken RC30s? 😉
Seeing as no-one else has suggested it ... wee in his shoes?
Hmm, I've heard a couple of people say they've had after sales issues there. They seem to have spent enough money on a big shiny building, but not so much going after repeat custom.
Hope you get it sorted
I called a proper dealer and got a price for the key so i yes the 450 is 'official' price. its kind of by the by if nobody will put their hand on their pockets.
weeing in their sales guys shoes? Id rather number 2 in his shoes, especially one guy. Proper idiot.
piedi - yep, spot on. front of shop seems good everything behind is like toy town.
russ's suggestion on MQ complaints look hopeful, have registed with the finance company and their SLA is 5 days, lovely tip and the STW hive mind has come up with a good suggestion.
Now, where's me bog roll in case I get caught short when I visit. 😉
Proper idiot. In Chelmsford. Who'd of thought... 🙂
...a list of notable 'idiots' born in Chelmsford
Najma Akhtar (born 1962), jazz singer.[102]
Liam Chilvers (born 1981), professional footballer.[103]
Sarah Cracknell (born 1967), singer, Saint Etienne.[104]
Hazell Dean (born 1956), singer.[105]
James Gibson (born 1980), swimmer.[106]
Greg Halford (born 1984), professional footballer.[107]
Philemon Holland (born 1552), translator.[108]
Harry Judd (born 1985), drummer, McFly.[109]
George Clift King (born 1848), former Mayor of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.[110]
Anne Knight (born 1786), anti-slavery campaigner and pioneer of feminism.[111]
Malcolm O'Kelly (born 1974) Irish international rugby union player.[112]
Mike Norris (born 1962) British businessman[113]
Tom Payne (born 1982), Waterloo Road actor.[114]
Grayson Perry (born 1960) Turner prize-winning artist.[115]
Sarah Perry (born 1979) Writer.[116]
Nigel Spink (born 1958), professional footballer and European Cup winner as well as junior goalkeeper at Writtle Minors football club.[117]
Joseph Strutt (born 1742), engraver and antiquary.[118]
Sir Nicholas Conyngham Tindal (born 1776), lawyer, judge and Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
James Harper (born 1980), professional footballer.[119]
Peter Collins (born 1948), professional footballer, Chelmsford City and Tottenham Hotspur.[120]
Guthrie Govan (born 1971), professional jazz/rock/fusion guitar player.
Mike Edmonds (born 1944), notable dwarf actor.
Alex Dowsett (born 1988), professional cyclist.
Ronald Skirth (born 1897), World War I veteran who became a pacifist during the war and purposely miscalculated British guns.[121]
Joe Thomas (born 1983), actor.
Tom Jenkinson (born 1975), a.k.a. Squarepusher, English electronic music artist.
Sir Walter Mildmay (born 1525), Chancellor of the Exchequer of England under Queen Elizabeth I.[122]
Tom McRae (born 1969), English singer-songwriter.
Emily Garner (born 1994), English model and finalist on Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model Cycle 9.
John Alec Baker (born 1926), Writer and naturalist, best known for The Peregrine and the Hill of Summer.
Penny Lancaster (born 1971), model and photographer. Married to rock singer Rod Stewart.[123]
Steve Blame (born 1959), Video Jockey on MTV
Carole Lesley (born 1935) "Blonde bombshell" actress of the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Oh, and me 😀
Penny Lancaster? Nigel Spink? Steve Blame? What point are you trying to make here?
Guthrie Govan was in the year behind me at school. 🙂
March in to the dealership, find the salesmans communal fridge, looked for his pack up (they're bound to be labelled) and take his pudding!
take a shit in his kettle...
Top deck the customer toilets every Saturday and Sunday.
Update:
yesterday I raised a complaint with the finance company, they said they have a 5 day SLA to coming back to me.
I also spoke to citizens advice / trading standards - they advised a formal recorded delivery letter to the dealer to make sure we didnt fall foul of the 90 day return limit.
miraculously today we had an email from the finance director, cc-ing the managing director - with a promise to come back to us inside 24 hours. I think that the finance complaint is likely to have triggered this. We watch now and wait to see what they say. Whatever happens its a good result to finally get some communication from them. Now we see what happens next.
oh, and yes, I want to pee in the sales guys shoes and poop in their kettle.
oh, and yes, I want to pee in the sales guys shoes and poop in their kettle.
and then hoof 'em in the slats?? 😆
^^^ yes. I cant hide the hatred they have built inside me.
...a list of notable 'idiots' born in Chelmsford...Oh, and me 🙂
I'm sure there are some good eggs too. My wife's family reside near Chelmsford, and there are definitely plenty of idiots there - most of them have scuttled my sister-in-law so I've had to exchange pleasantries regularly.
I had to google 'top deck toilet' 😆
I guessed its meaning, I was right!
A few years ago I bought a car from a Honda main dealer (the Scottisg group lost the Honda franchise soon after and they have a rep for aggressive sales etc). I was promised two keys. Only received one and I was fobbed off over the phone so I went in. Im 6ft and the Sales Manager was taller and bigger than me and decided to intimidate me infront of his s****ing staff. He raised his voice and lent towards me nose to nose etc etc. I stayed very calm and explained that I was promised the key and I would get it. He changed tact 'we gave you over book for your px' etc (rubbish I'd met the new owner by coincidence and they'd made well over book selling it to her). Tight jokes aside it was principle and he folded. Poor fella looked drained. I got my key in the end. He'd realised/it clicked that I wasnt going to rise/make a scene and would be around/back again all as calm. I bet he paid for it himself to get rid of me.
OP if you have the promise of the key in writing (email etc), go in and state this. The key is to come across as calm and very civil but make it clear you arent in a rush, stay an hour. Mention youll pop in again in a few days. Theyll be glad to be rid. You cant remove someone who is very civil. Calm, polite and just enough volume so other customers catch the jist
Any updates on this one?
Rorschach - MemberOwn them with a pair of bombers broken RC30s?
Not seen this thread before but that made me wince as he came round to see me not long after that accident, face braking is not a pretty sight 😮