Car dealer shuns cooling-off period
BUYER SHOCKED WHEN ACCOUNT WAS DEBITED
THE National Credit Amendment Act has been operational since March last year, giving consumers better protection against being compelled to abide by contracts that will leave them over-indebted.
But there are car dealers who insist customers honour deals despite the consumer being over-indebted.
Noga Kobe purchased a vehicle from Auto Pedigree, who failed to properly assess whether he could afford the car he intended buying from them.
Kobe cancelled the deal within five days of signing the contract after he realised that he would not be able to meet some of his financial obligations.
He said Auto Pedigree said nothing to him when accepting his letter of cancellation but went ahead and claimed payment for the car from Kobe’s financier, even though he did not take delivery of the car.
After he had cancelled the deal, he received a text-message notification from his bank for a debit order of R5 433.
Kobe said he rushed to Standard Bank, where his account is held, to inquire about this transaction and discovered that it was a payment to Nedbank’s Motor Finance Corporation (MFC), which he immediately reversed.
He later discovered that Auto Pedigree had gone ahead and processed the sale and claimed payment from MFC, even though Kobe did not sign any documents confirming that he took delivery of the vehicle. “I wonder what would they attach if they were to try and get their car financed, as I have stopped this debit order,” he said.
The father of six said he had applied for other employment, which promised him a better salary, when he approached Auto Pedigree to buy a second-hand Toyota Hilux. He said that when the salesperson tried to get financing from his bank (Standard Bank), his finance application was rejected on the grounds that he did not meet the requirements of the affordability test.
The salesperson later approached MFC, a Nedbank vehicle finance division, which approved his finance without asking for his monthly expenses.
The car was priced at R210 000, and after interest was added the cost escalated to R253 000, Kobe explained.
With his current salary and monthly expenses it meant he could not afford to repay the monthly instalment of R5 433, insure the car or afford running costs, he said.
Kobe then cancelled the deal as soon as his prospective employment was repudiated, he said.
“I thought I was lucky, as this happened within five days after signing the contract. But surely I was wrong as Auto Pedigree does not recognise the cooling-off period,” Kobe said.
Meeting with Dirk Cronje, a regional manager at Auto Pedigree, did not help as he told Kobe that a cooling-off period does not apply when the sale is signed at the dealership’s premises.
He further told Kobe that Auto Pedigree was within its rights to reject the cancellation as they had done nothing wrong, despite his financial position and the fact that the car never exchanged hands.
Kobe said Cronje acknowledged that they received his letter of cancellation within five days of signing their contract but they were acting within their rights by not cancelling the contract as he had signed it at the dealership’s premises.
When asked for comment, Cronje initially asked his colleague Danie Snyman to draft a response. But when Consumer Line made a follow-up inquiry last Thursday, he refused to comment.
“Ma’m, it is our company policy not to comment in the media. Should you want to proceed in this format please contact our company secretary for comment,” Cronje said.
Tsheko Morakaladi, a credit control consultant who is handling Kobe’s account at MFC, asked us to get answers from Kobe.
“Please request Kobe to reply on the e-mail which was sent to him yesterday from our office. Kindly refrain from setting deadlines for our office.”
When asked for the letter MFC e-mailed him on Wednesday, Kobe said no such e-mail had been sent to him as alleged by Morakaladi.
Kobe said instead of the said e-mail, he received only an SMS notification of a demand for payment and a further threat to blacklist him at the credit bureau should he not pay.