Car salesman cops ban for crooked deal
A GOLD Coast car salesman has been banned from selling vehicles for six months after he tried to charge a woman for repairs on a car she decided not to buy.
It is the 13th time Pravis Amiri has been disciplined for his behaviour as a car salesman. Amiri, from Gold Coast Automotives, was suspended for six months, fined $1000 and ordered to pay the money he had taken for a mechanic for the latest indiscretion.
The incident involved him promising to have a used Volkswagen Beetle fixed before Rachel Wasiak bought it in mid-2017. She had put down a $2000 deposit but then changed her mind.
Amiri would only pay her back $1600, claiming the rest was needed for repairs made by the mechanic.
The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) declared Amiri was “not a suitable person to hold a licence” after hearing how he breached his obligations as a motor dealer four times during the transaction with Ms Wasiak.
QCAT was told Amiri was disciplined on 12 previous occasions for breaching his duties as a salesman, including by failing to give receipts, acting as a salesperson while unlicensed and not keeping a transaction register.
“He shows little remorse for his behaviour,” QCAT Member Michael Howe said in his judgment.
He described Amiri’s conduct as “unacceptable”.
The tribunal was told the incident began when Ms Wasiak wanted to by an $8000 Beetle she had seen advertised on the website Gumtree on May 27, 2017. The car had no windscreen but she was told it would be fixed within a week.
She could put a hold on the car if she put down a $100 deposit. Ms Wasiak returned on June 3 and the car was still not fixed. “(Mr Amiri) promised to fix the windscreen and repair wheel rims and have the vehicle ready by 10 June 2017 but only if she put down a deposit of $2000 to purchase the vehicle,” the QCAT documents said.
Amiri also signed Ms Wasiak up for a three-year warranty. She was not given paperwork for the warranty or the deposit.
Two days later Ms Wasiak decided she no longer wanted to buy the car. Mr Amiri told her the cooling off period had expired and they were using her warranty to fix the transmission on the car.
On June 7, Amiri told Ms Wasiak the repairs cost $2000 and to tell the warranty insurers she had bought the car and the transmission started playing up. After a number of emails, Amiri paid $1600 back to Ms Wasiak but kept $440.
Mr Howe ordered Mr Amiri’s car sales licence be suspended for six months, he be fined $1000 and he pay Ms Wasiak $440.