Payment before collection

[VWmaindealer]

My dealer asked me for a bankers draft.

I paid for mine by bankers draft. It's as good as cash and if something is wrong with the car, just rip up the draft!

That's why in my group we don't accept them!

It is getting increasingly common practice for dealers to request payment a few days prior to collection. Although the money leaves your bank straight away, it doesn't land in the dealers bank straight away. We don't accept cheques at all and bankers drafts are accepted but we'll allow 5 working days to ensure it's not a fake. In my group we have recieved fake bank drafts so the policy is very rigid.

We occasionally do debit cards same day but only usually if we have dealt with the customer before and know that they are genuine. I won't reveal where I am in the UK but we do see some unsavouries around our way and for this reason we have to be very strict.

One thing we do always do however, is show the customer their new car at this payment visit to make sure they are happy. Almost a mini pre-handover if you will. This allows us to a) make sure there isn't any extras you want and b) make sure we haven't forgotton anything. 

If you are concerned that once paying for your car, your dealer will then not care if the car is damaged or not worry about the handover, then I think you should use a different dealer. We are not all w4nkers.

VWmd

[Radek]

That's an intresting point.

Some dealers make it sound as it is a safety issue but it seems to me (maybe just my personal experience) that it has more to do with forcing someone to take the delivery of a car. If you have paid your money and you don't have the car you are in a very difficult position to reject it if something is wrong with it. And I'm not saying a missing wheel but even a simple scratch. Is easier to motivate a dealer to fix your car before you've paid.

The dealer has your money and would probably refund it but I would bet it would take them the maximum allowed 30 days. Can you allow to be without a car and money?

There are ways to ensure a safe payment - go to the bank together and make a payment from one account to another. If you use CHAPS and you do it before 3.30PM the transfer is instant. Safe and sound.

In my case (that ended well, for what I'm really thankful to the dealer - thx guys) I wasn't told about the payment at any time when I placed the order. I learned it the hard way. But as far as I know the only legaly binding terms were these written on the back of the order form plus Sales of Goods Act. They didn't mention anything about payment before collection.
And there is a good reason for that - they would be considered unfair stright away by any court because they give unfair advantage to the Seller at the cost of the Buyer well beyond what is required to protect commercial interests.

"A term is unfair if:

Contrary to the requirement of good faith it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations under the contract, to the detriment of consumers.
'Good faith' means that traders must deal fairly and openly with you.

Although standard terms may be drafted to protect commercial needs, they must also take account of your interests and rights by going no further than is necessary to protect those legitimate commercial interests."

If I knew that no one is allowed to pay on the day that would be fine with me but knowing that it is possible with sums going into £25000 begged the question - if there are some who accept the payment why can't you?

That's my 2p

[AlanH]

A payment by debit card is the same as paying by cash, and is based on cleared funds. The transfer is immediate and the funds cannot be returned to the originating bank. That's a fact of life. As far as I'm concerned, when I walk into the dealership to pay the balance owing, and my card has been swiped, then I have every right to insist on driving away my new car.

[VWmaindealer]

We make sure that our customers are completely aware that they need to pay early when they order the car. This raises any concerns/objections very early on. It isn't really fair for a dealer to not mention this until shortly before the car is due to be collected.

This removes the potential problem on the day such as that from AlanH (Above). At any of our dealerships, you wouldn't be taking your car that day. Crucially though, you would know that 3 or 4 months before hand....

It amazes me that in this day and age, there are still main dealers out there who jsut don't communicate with their customers.......

[jaydubveedub]

It amazes me that in this day and age, there are still main dealers out there who jsut don't communicate with their customers.......

It doesn't amaze me. I am only going my own experience but I have used various different VW dealers over the years and only ONE gave service that I thought was acceptable (i.e. communicating with me and treating me decently!). Oh, and they let me pay by debit card when i collected the car and after I had inspected it (although the balance was only £11k).

If all the dealers gave the same standard of service as them (and you) then I wouldn't feel too concerned about paying in advance because I would have confidence that any issues would be dealt with in the correct manner.

[AlanH]

Sorry, but VWmaindealer's last post still doesn't explain satisfactorily why I should drive to my dealer, pay for my new car by debit card (the equivalent of paying by cash), drive home again, drive back to the dealer the next day and only then be allowed to take delivery. Not only is this a waste of my time and my petrol, but I don't see this policy being applied anywhere else within the retail environment. Consumers wouldn't accept traveling to Currys, PC World, John Lewis, the nearest Apple Store etc, paying for an item that was in stock, and then being told that they would have to return the following day to collect said item.

[Radek]

You would be lucky is that was the next day! Payments take 3 working days (if you stick to the policy mentioned ealier).
If you pay on Friday the funds are transfered to another account on Tuesday the earliest so that'd the collection day.

[keelaw]

I presume that by pcp'ing it, I'll be able to drive away on the same day?  Though I suppose there is the deposit I need to pay...


When I got my last car, debit cards were fine and I got the car straight away.

[VWmaindealer]

A lot has changed regardin card fraud over the last few years and a large proportion of dealer groups are just covering themselves. A fraudulent transaction for £25000 has significantly more impact on a business than a £100 iPod at the Apple Store.

I'm not saying it's right/wrong/fair, I'm just explaining that this is what is happening.

Incidentally, from next year, Volkswagen is recommending to dealers that even if you finance your car with Volkswagen, funds will need to be transferred to the dealers account befire releasing the vehicle (three days).

We've turned the pre-collection visit into a positive though, we get all the paperwork out of the way, give the customers the book pack for the new car etc etc. We also double check all the paperwork for the part ex to make sure the customer hasn't forgotton anything etc.

Being absolutely honest, we don't have any customer complaints about them paying prior to handover BUT as I said earlier, this never comes as a surprise to our customers because we tell them when they order it. We also give them a timeline checklist which details what happens next. Order car, receive weekly updates, arrange insurance, come in and pay, collect car etc etc.

I am not high enough in my dealer groups food chain to contest the idea or change it. I just have to make the best of it. So far so good.

[jaydubveedub]

Sounds like you've got your internal processess pretty well nailed down.

Perhaps i'll buy my next one from you...........