Discussion
I have a friend who is in the process of buying a car, she has put down a deposit and signed a form that states that she
1. Accepts the condition (sold as seen)
2. Accepts the milage may / may not be correct
3. Agrees that she is the buyer
Unfortunately she has suddenly been transferred overseas, and wishes now not to buy the car.
The garage are claiming they can keep the deposit.
Where does she stand legally?
Do the three statements made above form a binding contract?
She claims (and I believe her) that she was not told by the sales staff that she would stand to loose her deposit in the event that she did not buy, and certainly does not have that in writing.
If anyone can help then it would be much appreciated.
1. Accepts the condition (sold as seen)
2. Accepts the milage may / may not be correct
3. Agrees that she is the buyer
Unfortunately she has suddenly been transferred overseas, and wishes now not to buy the car.
The garage are claiming they can keep the deposit.
Where does she stand legally?
Do the three statements made above form a binding contract?
She claims (and I believe her) that she was not told by the sales staff that she would stand to loose her deposit in the event that she did not buy, and certainly does not have that in writing.
If anyone can help then it would be much appreciated.
I'm afraid unless the dealer is feeling charitable, she is wearing it. The whole point of placing a deposit is to guarantee the dealer won't sell the car to someone else & for the dealer to know he has a buyer with an intention to go through with the purchase.
By paying a deposit she has effectively entered into a contract to buy the car, she is now trying to break that contract & so stands to loose the deposit.
By paying a deposit she has effectively entered into a contract to buy the car, she is now trying to break that contract & so stands to loose the deposit.
To quote from the Trading Standards site mentioned in another thread:
quote:
SOME COMMON QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
"I paid a £50 deposit on a dining table, but changed my mind. The shop won't give me my money back. Can they do this?"
When you place an order and pay a deposit, you enter into a contract. The shop takes a deposit as security and proof of your good intentions. If you break the deal, then you will probably lose the deposit.
www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/cgi-bin/calitem.cgi?file=ADV0043-1011.txt
Lets put it another way, she could have to buy it. :-(
unlikely tho. depends how big the deposit was as to how hard you wanna be.
From the url above
""I paid a £50 deposit on a dining table, but changed my mind. The shop won't give me my money back. Can they do this?"
When you place an order and pay a deposit, you enter into a contract. The shop takes a deposit as security and proof of your good intentions. If you break the deal, then you will probably lose the deposit. "
Local office details at
www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/
if it is an abrupt transfer perhaps the employer would come up with the deposit as a "cost of transfer" ???
cheers
Dean
>> Edited by lestag on Friday 24th May 12:33
Lets put it another way, she could have to buy it. :-(
unlikely tho. depends how big the deposit was as to how hard you wanna be.
From the url above
""I paid a £50 deposit on a dining table, but changed my mind. The shop won't give me my money back. Can they do this?"
When you place an order and pay a deposit, you enter into a contract. The shop takes a deposit as security and proof of your good intentions. If you break the deal, then you will probably lose the deposit. "
Local office details at
www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/
if it is an abrupt transfer perhaps the employer would come up with the deposit as a "cost of transfer" ???
cheers
Dean
>> Edited by lestag on Friday 24th May 12:33
quote:Can't she persuade her employers that this is a cost incurred as the result of her transfer and get them to reimburse her?
Unfortunately she has suddenly been transferred overseas, and wishes now not to buy the car.
The garage are claiming they can keep the deposit.
Where does she stand legally?
I would tend to agree with the other statements, but as far as I know, a company MUST make it clear that the deposit is non-refundable. If it was just and implication from paying the deposit she may have something to argue her case on.
How did she pay the deposit? If she used a credit card, get the credit card company involved.
It would be an unphill struggle and she could try small claims court... but get proper legal advice first (house insurance policies sometimes offer free legal advice services).
Just my 2d worth!
MC
If she was told the T&C's regarding the deposit being non-refundable before she signed the contract then she either swallows the loss or gets her company to reimburse it.
If however she was told that the deposit was non-refundable after the signing of the contract the dealer are obliged to give her her money back (this stems from a case where a guy drove into a car park and the conditions of use were inside the garage, after he had taken the ticket which was a contract).
HTH
Matt.
If however she was told that the deposit was non-refundable after the signing of the contract the dealer are obliged to give her her money back (this stems from a case where a guy drove into a car park and the conditions of use were inside the garage, after he had taken the ticket which was a contract).
HTH
Matt.
Actuly reading a bit more of that URL
" It is illegal to have a contract term that attempts to restrict your statutory rights, or avoids any liability for death or personal injury. "
I may be worth asking trading standards if the conditions
1. Accepts the condition (sold as seen)
2. Accepts the milage may / may not be correct
restrict your statutory rights , therefore the contract could be invalidated.
another tact may be to discuss with the seller , how out of pocket are they i.e. if it was a 500 pound deposit, then they really should not be out of more that 50 quid if she came back the next day and tried to opt out. If the discussion has already got heated, then this is probably not an option.
quote:
Actuly reading a bit more of that URL
" It is illegal to have a contract term that attempts to restrict your statutory rights, or avoids any liability for death or personal injury. "
I may be worth asking trading standards if the conditions
1. Accepts the condition (sold as seen)
2. Accepts the milage may / may not be correct
restrict your statutory rights , therefore the contract could be invalidated.
As I understand it, if the courts rule that a term is invalid, they simply remove that term. If removing one term alone makes no sense, they then remove any other words or terms on either side of the offending one until it does make sense. What's left is still a valid contract.
>> Edited by ianpicknell on Friday 24th May 16:42
quote:
As I understand it, if the courts rule that a term is invalid, they simply remove that term. If removing one term alone makes no sense, they then remove any other words or terms on either side of the offending one until it does make sense. What's left is still a valid contract.
Contracts usually contain a 'severability' clause, meaning that, as part of the contract, if any clause is deemed illegal or inappropriate, all other clauses still stand. Don't know what the status is if one clause is void if the severability clause isn't there...
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