Advice pls: Visa debit chargeback for faulty used car purchase

[angela_itr]

Hi there,

 

My husband and I bought a used car from a garage which turned out to have serious problems with the gearbox and other issues. We advised the garage we intended to reject the car under the SOGA but they were uncooperative. Everything has been documented in letters to their solicitor in case we need to pursue a court claim. They have offered some money towards repairs but the amounts are insufficient to cover repairs at a reputable garage and we don't trust them to do the work.

 

We recently had the car checked by DEKRA who gave us an independent report saying the car is potentially dangerous and unroadworthy. We sent this to the garage and solicitors giving one last chance for a full refund before we go to court. We have heard nothing.

 

Since then we found out about the s75 option. We paid for the car with Visa Debit plus £700 worth of trade-in vehicle. I have the following questions which hopefully someone can help with:

 

Are Visa Debit purchases covered by the s75 rules? Or would it be Visa Chargeback scheme?

 

Would the claim be for the full purchase price of the car or only the amount paid (ie what happens to the £700 of trade-in vehicle, which the garage has since disposed of?)

 

If the claim is successful and Visa gives us our money back, what happens to the car we bought? Does it become the property of Visa or do we have to deliver it back to the garage?

 

We are still within the 120 days as we bought the car in August but running out of time as we need a car for the arrival of our first baby in a months' time! If we have to go the court case route I'm worried this could take ages. However am I right in thinking the court would also consider foreseeable losses/expenses such as replacement car hire, taxis, the cost of the engineer's report etc?

 

Thanks in advance!

Angela

[raydetinu]

S75 does not apply to debit cards only credit cards.

debit is like paying by cash straight from your bank account.

You need to persue the action by taking them to the small claims court, with SOGA being your rights.

Visa debit do offer a charge back scheme but it is long winded, and run from the states, suggest you contact them anyway to see what thet say.

you will need to send a email with full explanantion and all correspndance with seller and that have flatly refused to co-operate etc.

[angela_itr]

Ok thanks for the advice. I was hoping for a quicker solution but looks like the small claims court is the only way to go.

 

Can anyone advise on claiming additional costs and expenses that we have incurred as a result? We have mitigated these as much as possible, ie managing without the car, but sometimes we have been forced to hire another car to make appointments or take taxis etc. Would these be classed as reasonable and forseeable by the court? It was made clear to the dealer when we bought the car that my husband commutes 30 miles a day for work and that he has a pregnant wife so it was essential the car was fit for that purpose.

 

We would also want to claim the cost of the engineer's report if possible. I guess its worth including them and see what the court says. Are we likely to have to go to a hearing?

[raydetinu]

IMO you will only be able to claim the cost of car and possibly engineers report, but you can try.

You must formally reject the car under soga as unroadworthy or not fit for purpose, you must not use the car at all.

Once formally rejected you must send a Letter before Action letter giving them 14 days to respond, then you can start legal action ( Court Rules ).

[angela_itr]

By formally rejecting the car, do you mean informing the garage that we do so? Ifso we have already said this in previous letters to the garage and their solicitor, although they have never acknowledged SOGA in their return letters.

 

The last letter we wrote was last week in which we included a copy of the engineer's report. We said that unless we received a cheque for the full amount owing within 7 days' time (which expired last Friday) we would commence court action. Does this satisfy the Letter Before Action requirement or do we need to do that again? It seems we have written endless letters stating our position and by now they have obviously just decided to call our bluff, as we have threatened a court case so many times but not yet started the action as we were giving them a chance to put it right and refund our money.

 

Thanks for your advice, much appreciated.

[raydetinu]

I think what you have done would be sufficient to satisfy the court that you have given them every opportunity to resolve the situation.

This should be stated in your POC and copies should be sent supporting your claim, as well as the time line etc.