Barloworld Holden - Buyer Beware

[tommo82]

So I had decided to trade in my current vehicle for a new SSV LE.

Took my car into Barloworld and they inspected the car and went away to put together a trade in/sale deal for me.

They called back a few days later and offered the following:

Trade in - $42k
New SSV LE - $54k

The 'sales person' explained that they had initially valued the car at a lower figure (in the $30's) but after length discussions among their team they could offer the above price of $42k.

I thought that was a fair deal and decided to proceed.

I gave them my credit card details for a deposit, and arranged to pay out my current vehicle lease to the leasing company.

Then today, when I am about to finalise the sale, Barloworld call me.

"we have made a chronic mistake in the valuation of your car and can now offer you $4000 less than the price originally quoted".

Nice tactic, Barloworld. String the customer along, waste days of everyone's time then reduce the tradein value at the last minute and hope the customer will fall for it. This is really strange considering they had "lengthy discussions" about offering the tradein price in the first place.

Nevermind the inconvenience and expense caused to me by paying out my existing lease, incurring administration charges and already organising insurance which I now need to cancel. Another example of shonky dealers. These guys are complete time wasters - give them a wide berth when you are looking at buying your next car.

[minux]

If you have paid the deposit and signed contract arent they bound by that set price?

[tommo82]

If you have paid the deposit and signed contract arent they bound by that set price?

They hadn't charged my credit card (so they claim). I also hadn't signed the contract - they were preparing the paperwork.

[Reaper]

Check your bank records to see if the charge came out. Do you have the quote in writing?

Reaper

[Grennan]

Pretty much theyve been stringing him along, the moment he goes to sign the paperwork they knocked off 4 grand trade in?

[minux]

Just cancel the order and take the quote elsewhere, watch how quick they backflip on what they can give you.

[tommo82]

They actually said this to me

"We will give you the opportunity to walk away".

Come again ? Give me the opportunity ?

They would not budge on the price so they can stick it up their jumper.

[Dirbatua]

some holden dealerships are just morons.

Only decent ones i know is Ralph De Silva and Cranbourne Holden.

know people who have been stooged from most of the others

[Troy5L]

u shoud of said yeh ok u can take 4 grand off the trade in price, but take 4grand off the price of the ssv aswell

[the_trademarc]

Is this Barloworld at Glen Waverley?
I find that really interesting if it is, because they the one dealership I would trust, my mate bought his VW Golf there and my sister her Astra, which they traded in with an old Camry for bout 3000.
Never had one problem with them, Sales or Service.

Guess everyone's opinion/experience is different.

[GetToDaChopa]

Is this Barloworld at Glen Waverley?
I find that really interesting if it is, because they the one dealership I would trust, my mate bought his VW Golf there and my sister her Astra, which they traded in with an old Camry for bout 3000.
Never had one problem with them, Sales or Service.

Guess everyone's opinion/experience is different.

You can't please everyone.

[Joe Peeps]

they are obliged to pay your costs, i wouldnt take no for an answer the law is on your side if you want to take it to the end on principle

[Reaper]

they are obliged to pay your costs, i wouldnt take no for an answer the law is on your side if you want to take it to the end on principle

Depends if he signed a contract of sale or not which appears not. He **might** have a chance if there is a written quote however most of those have some form of "get out of jail" clause in there somewhere.

Reaper

[andyman]

pretty sure i have seen barloworld holden on aca or today tonight before for something dodgy???????


guy at work bought a new rodeo at holden, he went in said he wanted this this and this, for this price and with this trade in, they said its impossible and dont bother trying another dealer cause they wont do it,

he rang another dealer, rang them on the phone said what he wanted etc, they agreed, he was a lil surprised so he drove down there, sure enough, they said yep, wrote it up, got exactly what he wanted for the price, drove the ute back to the original dealer and said sucked in, apparently the look on their faces was priceless,


good luck with it tommo, id be getting a solicter to write a friendly letter to say either sell the car at what was agreed and on paper, or reimburse for your cost to break lease etc etc

[Joe Peeps]

Depends if he signed a contract of sale or not which appears not. He **might** have a chance if there is a written quote however most of those have some form of "get out of jail" clause in there somewhere.

Reaper

estoppel comes into play here. he relied - detrimentally - upon their quote and incurred costs as a result. prima facie he is entitled to reimbursement of the costs even without a contract

edit: i think!

[UFO]

ok... they renegged, but they have every right to, even though its poor customer service.
according to the trade practices act, you need:

Offer
Acceptance
Consideration.

You got the offer, you accepted the offer, but you didnt pay consideration to seal the deal.
And it's not entirely necessary that you sign a contract, although it helps a great deal. The main issue is you didnt pay anything and they didnt give you a receipt.

Lesson 1) Once you agree with a dealer, dont leave without paying something- and dont leave without a receipt.
Lesson 2) Just because "paperwork isnt ready", doesnt mean they cant write a receipt with the deal struck (including trade details).
Lesson 3) But really, once you agree, sign it up! Get them to sit down and sort it out NOW. You obviously went at a busy time and they wanted to move on to next sale. Tough shit. A sale is a sale... if they dont accept payment now, walk!

Now, although they dont have to honor anything really... good customer service normally gets you across the line.
My advice?

Make a complaint to head office, explaining everything clearly and calmly... especially on what you agreed to buy and what you were trading in (customer of holden for years bla bla bla).

Address it to:

Customer Satisfaction and Quality
Mr. Richard Miziewicz
GPO Box 1714
Melbourne Vic 3001

Calmly and maturely explain your circumstances in a letter, and wait.
You'll receive a response and at the very least an apology explaining the reason for the mistake, and quite possibly a direct contact within Barloworld with a senior sales manager, because at the end of the day they would rather you deal with them. Who knows, a deal might still be struck. But them 'offering' you the ability to walk away was unprofessional and quite frankly insulting. Might want to mention that in the letter .

[HamaTime™]

ok... they renegged, but they have every right to, even though its poor customer service.
according to the trade practices act, you need:

Offer
Acceptance
Consideration.

You got the offer, you accepted the offer, but you didnt pay consideration to seal the deal.
And it's not entirely necessary that you sign a contract, although it helps a great deal. The main issue is you didnt pay anything and they didnt give you a receipt.

Lesson 1) Once you agree with a dealer, dont leave without paying something- and dont leave without a receipt.
Lesson 2) Just because "paperwork isnt ready", doesnt mean they cant write a receipt with the deal struck (including trade details).
Lesson 3) But really, once you agree, sign it up! Get them to sit down and sort it out NOW. You obviously went at a busy time and they wanted to move on to next sale. Tough shit. A sale is a sale... if they dont accept payment now, walk!

Now, although they dont have to honor anything really... good customer service normally gets you across the line.
My advice?

Make a complaint to head office, explaining everything clearly and calmly... especially on what you agreed to buy and what you were trading in (customer of holden for years bla bla bla).

Address it to:

Customer Satisfaction and Quality
Mr. Richard Miziewicz
GPO Box 1714
Melbourne Vic 3001

Calmly and maturely explain your circumstances in a letter, and wait.
You'll receive a response and at the very least an apology explaining the reason for the mistake, and quite possibly a direct contact within Barloworld with a senior sales manager, because at the end of the day they would rather you deal with them. Who knows, a deal might still be struck. But them 'offering' you the ability to walk away was unprofessional and quite frankly insulting. Might want to mention that in the letter .

Cheers

Nice to see a good old Offer, Acceptance and Consideration conversation come up again. Business Law was my favorite subject this year at uni.

[Cobez]

some holden dealerships are just morons.

Only decent ones i know is Ralph De Silva and Cranbourne Holden.

know people who have been stooged from most of the others

Yep, i got stooged by Booran Holden in Dandenong a few years ago. Dad got his VE SS ute from Barry Bourke Holden in Berwick, he reckons they are pretty damn good. Traded in his Rodeo, got $19,000 for it, and he got the VE SS ute, black and 6 speed for $34,000 drive away. Not too shabby i thought. But that was just before the release of the newer ones like your old man got.

I'd say they were trying to clear out a few of the series one's, but he didn't give a shit, he just wanted the manual 6 litre

[Cobez]

pretty sure i have seen barloworld holden on aca or today tonight before for something dodgy???????


guy at work bought a new rodeo at holden, he went in said he wanted this this and this, for this price and with this trade in, they said its impossible and dont bother trying another dealer cause they wont do it,

he rang another dealer, rang them on the phone said what he wanted etc, they agreed, he was a lil surprised so he drove down there, sure enough, they said yep, wrote it up, got exactly what he wanted for the price, drove the ute back to the original dealer and said sucked in, apparently the look on their faces was priceless,


good luck with it tommo, id be getting a solicter to write a friendly letter to say either sell the car at what was agreed and on paper, or reimburse for your cost to break lease etc etc

Were they the Holden dealership who's apprentices smashed up a customers car while they were test driving it after they did some work to it?

[Joe Peeps]

ok... they renegged, but they have every right to, even though its poor customer service.
according to the trade practices act, you need:

Offer
Acceptance
Consideration.

You got the offer, you accepted the offer, but you didnt pay consideration to seal the deal.
And it's not entirely necessary that you sign a contract, although it helps a great deal. The main issue is you didnt pay anything and they didnt give you a receipt.

Lesson 1) Once you agree with a dealer, dont leave without paying something- and dont leave without a receipt.
Lesson 2) Just because "paperwork isnt ready", doesnt mean they cant write a receipt with the deal struck (including trade details).
Lesson 3) But really, once you agree, sign it up! Get them to sit down and sort it out NOW. You obviously went at a busy time and they wanted to move on to next sale. Tough shit. A sale is a sale... if they dont accept payment now, walk!

.

Go do some more research beyond simple contract.

like i said before, He has equity on his side.

[UFO]

Go do some more research beyond simple contract.

like i said before, He has equity on his side.

if you're going to shoot me down, at least provide a little more information! explain yourself....

[UFO]

estoppel comes into play here. he relied - detrimentally - upon their quote and incurred costs as a result. prima facie he is entitled to reimbursement of the costs even without a contract

edit: i think!

lots of big words that sound good, but what does it mean?
not having a go- genuinely interested.

[Joe Peeps]

i wasnt having a dig at you either although i apologise if thats how it came across.

heres a good definition of promissory estoppel:

"In the law of contracts, the doctrine that provides that if a party changes his or her position substantially either by acting or forbearing from acting in reliance upon a gratuitous promise, then that party can enforce the promise although the essential elements of a contract are not present"

read here for a brief history of estoppel PROMISES BINDING IN THE ABSENCE OF CONSIDERATION.

promissory estoppel is what you want to pay attention to

[GetToDaChopa]

i wasnt having a dig at you either although i apologise if thats how it came across.

heres a good definition of promissory estoppel:

"In the law of contracts, the doctrine that provides that if a party changes his or her position substantially either by acting or forbearing from acting in reliance upon a gratuitous promise, then that party can enforce the promise although the essential elements of a contract are not present"

read here for a brief history of estoppel PROMISES BINDING IN THE ABSENCE OF CONSIDERATION.

promissory estoppel is what you want to pay attention to

But then it's just one persons word against another. And if you take it to court than you might or might not get anywhere at all with it.

[Joe Peeps]

But then it's just one persons word against another. And if you take it to court than you might or might not get anywhere at all with it.

this is true. nothing in life is gauranteed though, it depends on how far you want to make a stand on principle.

a gentlemen i know once spent $100k+ on legal costs for a $10k contract.

my theory is you arm yourself with all the information, then attempt to negotiate knowing where you stand -