Deposit not return...

todea20

Junior Member
Messages
198
Hi guys! Before reading further i must say this is got nothing to do with Maserati but i'm looking for an advice..
Long story short...i was looking for a summer toy and got my eyes on an SL55.I was in Greece at that time and decided to give the owner a call.After 10 mins on the phone we agreed on a price and i've paid 200£ in his bank account by bank transfer to keep the car for me untill i'll get back.I have told him i will collect the car on Friday(thats 5 days later after paying the deposit)but looking at his address i have noticed that he's really close to Gatwick airport and would be handy to collect on Wednesday just after we landed.I have txt him and asked if it's ok to collect Wednesday and he said yes would be fine after 6pm.Went to see the car and found out that the keyless start button wasn't working on one of the keyless button on the door was missing and covered with black tape.I know that's an expensive fix and i have asked him to drop the price to cover the fix.He said no and thats because he already dropped the price.At that point i've said i'm sorry but i can't buy it like that and asked him to refund my deposit back.He said no worries i'll get your deposit back but can't do it right now as his phone wasn't working.Never got the deposit back and it's not responding to my calls or txt.I have told him that i will report him to the police and fill in a claim at the small claim court..and still no reply back.I believe the police got nothing to do as it's a civil case so my only chance is small claim court.Is it worth it?What other options do i have?
 

2b1ask1

Special case
Messages
20,223
https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

There you go, will cost you to set it up but the guy will have to pay that as well or it is not settled.

Had to take a client all the way earlier this year and he paid in full literally the day I pushed the go button for a judgement. Silly sod to let it go that far as it ended up nearly doubling the original contract value.
 

BuckRog64

Member
Messages
334
Agree with others that this is the route to trying to get your deposit back. Sorry to provide a negative view but I'm not sure you will win the case unless you have written evidence that there were no faults with the car. Small claims may go with the defendant in that a used car of a certain age can expect to have some faults and it was up to you to inspect the car and satisfy yourself as to its condition. Seller can also argue that he lost opportunity of a sale to another party by holding the car for you and the £200 was simply a holding fee until you viewed and paid for the car.
 

Scaf

Member
Messages
6,513
I know what I would do, but I guess it depends how far away from Gatwick you are:as007:
 

allandwf

Member
Messages
10,958
You paid a deposit to buy a car unseen at the advertised price. Perhaps seller could have sold it while waiting for you to return, but waited. Sorry to sound harsh but in my view it's a risk you took.
 

azapa

Member
Messages
1,300
In similar cases I would say "this is my offer assuming the car has no more defects other than what has been mentioned" and send him an email backing that up. If, on seeing the car, it is not so, you have your email to back up an eventual claim.

Having said that, I have still been ripped of so many times it hurts to even think about how stupid one can become when bedazzled!
 

todea20

Junior Member
Messages
198
I know what I would do, but I guess it depends how far away from Gatwick you are:as007:

I don't really wanna go that route..it's not my type or style! Having said that it's amazing that he's taking that risk for 200 quid.I have had deposits taken against my cars and if the buyer wasn't happy i was prepared to refund the deposit before they were leaving.You don't know who you're messing these days and it's not worth it for few pounds.By the look of his toys and house he wasn't short of money...
 

todea20

Junior Member
Messages
198
Small claims online. Its dead easy and has worked for me. Used it 3 times.

I will go this route as it's only 25£ to fill in the claim but if he's refusing or doesn't agree with what i'm saying what's the next step then?Can i just leave it as it is or i will need to go further?Don't really have the time going to court now for 200£..
 

todea20

Junior Member
Messages
198
You paid a deposit to buy a car unseen at the advertised price. Perhaps seller could have sold it while waiting for you to return, but waited. Sorry to sound harsh but in my view it's a risk you took.

I can understand that but he's car was for sale for a while and i've paid the deposit on Monday and i was there on Wednesday.He could have just said you've messed with my time that's going to cost you 100 pounds and i will refund 100 back.Fair enough....
 

rockits

Member
Messages
9,167
You can cease the action/ case at any time.

Like others I have used this route when required and pushed by non paying customers. More often than not you reach a settlement before it goes to court.

Normally we sent late payment admin charge & interest on top of debt for a while. The comes MCOL if no response or acceptable settlement.

I did have a case that went to court last year I think. They spent maybe 5-10k on a large solicitor then more for the day for a barrister as well. All for the sake of about 6k I think it was. We won...they paid...all settled.

I would ask the guy what he suggests as a settlement & give him a chance to respond or offer a settlement in writing before taking MCOL action. Will always help & be in your favour as the case develops & shows you tried to settle. Send it in a written letter registered signed for post & maybe email/message as well. Clearly give some offer or suggestion of his offer & clear timeframe of.maybe 7 days to respond or you will take MCOL action.

Be fair and clear as the court will expect & respect this.

As I write this I am looking & thinking I would chalk this down to experience & leave it be. Unless you have tons of time on your hands. I couldn't justify the time for 200 quid personally.

Have you got a copy of the ad/description with details? Also pic of details of what was not as per the ad? If not there is a lot of hearsay & things are not clear & open to interpretation. Not a good starting point for litigation if not.
 

todea20

Junior Member
Messages
198
I don't wanna go to court for 200...but it's annoying when you meet this kind of people.He didn't even said the reason why it's not refunding.All of what he said that he did not write in the description that the car has keyless go and i have replied back with no but you can clearly see it in the pictures and this is what i was looking for.And if it's not working doesn't mean it doesn't have it! I have txt him about 2 weeks ago saying that i will take him to the court if he doesn't refund my deposit back so there's a chance he would fix that as nobody will buy it like that.Yes i have taken pictures of his advert and description.
I think i will register the claim and if i'll get nothing back...bad luck!
 

rockits

Member
Messages
9,167
Sounds like a plan and worth doing.

Sounds silly but I had this issue with keyless go not working on the SL55 I bought a few years back. I'm sure you know & don't mean to tell you how to suck eggs but you did have your foot on the brake when pressing the keyless go button on the top of the gearstick? It was something silly like that why mine didn't work. I held my foot on the brake & it worked fine after that.

I personally now am less worried if a car has keyless go now. We know it is less secure than a conventional system and the Merc ones do go wrong. My E55k I had needed 3 handle replacements. The only one left working before I ordered 3 more was the rear passenger side which was useless! They are 125 unpainted each or 170 painted I think. At least SL55 has only 2!
 

SPX

Junior Member
Messages
271
The KeylessGo handle is a less than £200 fix, how much did you actually think it was going to be when you said it was an expensive fix?
 

MarkMas

Chief pedant
Messages
8,796
Where was it advertised? If eBay, you could ding him there with a dispute. Don't know about AutoTrader etc.
 

todea20

Junior Member
Messages
198
Sounds like a plan and worth doing.

Sounds silly but I had this issue with keyless go not working on the SL55 I bought a few years back. I'm sure you know & don't mean to tell you how to suck eggs but you did have your foot on the brake when pressing the keyless go button on the top of the gearstick? It was something silly like that why mine didn't work. I held my foot on the brake & it worked fine after that.

I personally now am less worried if a car has keyless go now. We know it is less secure than a conventional system and the Merc ones do go wrong. My E55k I had needed 3 handle replacements. The only one left working before I ordered 3 more was the rear passenger side which was useless! They are 125 unpainted each or 170 painted I think. At least SL55 has only 2!


I've had one before so i knew almost everything about the car..what to check and at what to pay attention.The first thing i did is to try the keyless start and surprise! At that moment he said that's not working! The button on the door handle was missing and he covered with black tape! On the passanger side was working.He clearly knew about this and i have clearly asked over the phone does all the electrics working?