HymerVan Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 In other threads it has been suggested that in order to obtain credit card protection deposits should be paid by credit card. Protection is afforded by Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. This advice is sound HOWEVER sadly the protection ONLY APPLIES to transactions between £100 and £30,000 and in certain circumstances may no apply then . People ordering vehicles at shows will most often be buying new and there can be very few new motorhomes which cost less than £30,000 and many second hand ones will also cost more that £30,000 even after discounts. Consequently in many cases perhaps the majority there will no protection. I am afraid I cannot suggest any better or more secure alternatives other than refusing to pay a deposit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 Having never bought new(.and here comes the daft question.. :$ ),do you have to pay in full at the time of ordering?...I don't think I'd fancy that much... :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HymerVan Posted October 18, 2011 Author Share Posted October 18, 2011 I have bought new three times (counting the Van I have ordered but not yet taken delivery of). In each case the dealer demanded a deposit and I paid it but before doing so I looked at the publicly filed accounts and other credit info for the dealer. In other words I took a conscious but informed risk. There is no guarantee that checking accounts gives security because filed accounts are historic not in real time and in the current climate the fortunes of a business can change in a short time. I doubt that a dealer would ask for payment in full and I certainly wouldn't pay it and I would suggest that nobody should. The more common case would be where a vehicle is being traded in. Certainly I would no hand over a traded in vehicle before completion of the purchase. Incidentally it is the total price of the vehicle that counts for protection so if the customer is buying a £50,000 vehicle and getting £30,000 for his trade in i.e. paying a balance of £20,000 there will be no protection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 Normally you have to take a bit of a risk with the deposit, when paying the balance do so on the day of collection. In the UK you can pay with a debit card when you pick up the van, in our case we paid our Belgium dealer with a bankers draft. I say this because about 5 years ago a friend paid a dealer the balance with a cheque at the start of the week went to collect the van at the end of the week when the cheque had cleared, dealer closed, receivers in. To add insult to injury the receivers offered to sell him the van he had already paid for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter James Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 I paid £500 deposit by credit card, then the balance by debit card when I collected the van. There was a bit of a problem in that the Dealer got a different spec to what I ordered (which I later agreed to accept at a reduced price) But in the meantime I spoke with Barclaycard who admitted they would have to refund my £500 if the Dealer didn't keep his part of the contract. (Incidentally, The deposit of £500 weas on a standard commercial van, I would expect to pay a higher deposit when ordering a specific motorhome, and I would not expect to get the deposit back if I changed my mind and cancelled. I believe a deal is a deal, and a matter of honour that you see it through whether its good or bad. Unless of course both sides are happy to cancel) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HymerVan Posted October 18, 2011 Author Share Posted October 18, 2011 Paying a deposit by credit card and the balance by debit card would be a common scenario and in some circumstances payment of PART i.e. the deposit by credit card puts the credit card company into liability (in parallel with the dealer) for any breach of contract even though the balance is paid by other means. However that is a different point and :- the main and perhaps only point I was trying to make was that if the total contract price was over £30,000 there is no protection. I appreciate that the vehicle you bought may well have cost under £30K and so Consumer Credit Act protection may well have been available to you had you needed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HymerVan Posted October 18, 2011 Author Share Posted October 18, 2011 Paying a deposit by credit card and the balance by debit card would be a common scenario and in some circumstances payment of PART i.e. the deposit by credit card puts the credit card company into liability (in parallel with the dealer) for any breach of contract even though the balance is paid by other means. However that is a different point and :- the main and perhaps only point I was trying to make was that if the total contract price was over £30,000 there is no protection. I appreciate that the vehicle you bought may well have cost under £30K and so Consumer Credit Act protection may well have been available to you had you needed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 Am I missing something, surely if you pay a deposit by credit card ( which is I presume protected ), you could then say to the dealer that you are paying the deposit subject to ONLY paying the balance on the day you collect the vehicle. If they are not happy with that I would just go elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HymerVan Posted October 18, 2011 Author Share Posted October 18, 2011 "1 foot" I am not sure if you are missing the point or not ! I agree with your comments except for the words which you use referring to the card payment when you say "( which is I presume protected )". Your presumption about protection would be wrong and consequently you are or would be missing something IF the total price in the transaction was over £30,000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 The only protection I'm aware of if total price is over £30,000 is if deposit is paid into escro account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 Ah!...So...we are saying,that if you leave a deposit,with a credit card(for say £500-£1000)but it formed part of a transaction TOTALLING more than £30,000,then it wouldn't be covered? ;-) (..initially,I thought you meant that folk paid for their vans in full,at the time of ordering!? (lol) ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HymerVan Posted October 18, 2011 Author Share Posted October 18, 2011 Yes that is what I am saying and obviously the combination of a deposit of say £2000 for a van costing over £30,000 would not be unusual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyishuk Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Any reason why you could not pay two credit card payments of £15000 ? Extra charges may apply, but you may be covered ? Rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 tonyishuk - 2011-10-19 8:52 PM Any reason why you could not pay two credit card payments of £15000 ? Extra charges may apply, but you may be covered ? Rgds No, if the total deal is over £30,000 then any amount paid on credit card is not covered. i.e. van costs £40,000, you leave £1000 as deposit, firm goes bust before van is delivered, you are not covered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HymerVan Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 Agreed Colin and whilst I agree with you regarding with you also concerning your "escro" (escrow) point in practice I doubt if it is likely to be practicable with a dealer who is likely to claim it is too difficult/too much of a hassle and also wants your deposit to reduce his overdraft . Who would actually hold the money and on what terms etc. etc.? Certainly solicitors would have a problem with it due to issues like that, money laundering issues and problems of identifying who is their client. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliB Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 tonyishuk - 2011-10-19 8:52 PM Any reason why you could not pay two credit card payments of £15000 ? Extra charges may apply, but you may be covered ? Rgds The merchant agreement to allow us to take credit cards in our shop states that we cannot accept 2 tranactions for 1 order. I would imagine this is a standard agreement. So the dealer would be breaking his contract. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliB Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 HymerVan - 2011-10-20 9:18 AM Agreed Colin and whilst I agree with you regarding with you also concerning your "escro" (escrow) point in practice I doubt if it is likely to be practicable with a dealer who is likely to claim it is too difficult/too much of a hassle and also wants your deposit to reduce his overdraft . Who would actually hold the money and on what terms etc. etc.? Certainly solicitors would have a problem with it due to issues like that, money laundering issues and problems of identifying who is their client. Most bank will offer an escrow service or issue a simpler "Letter of Intent". That is how we pay for imported goods from China. Once the goods are in the hands of the shipping company our bank releases the funds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.