ASA rules against dealership

Unhappy bakkie owner wins battle

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has told dealership InspectaCar Derick Roodt Motors in Klerksdorp to stop advertising its “superior after-sales service” after a client complained it he never received any.

Brian van Niekerk‚ a Klerksdorp resident‚ bought a bakkie from Derick Roodt Motors that he found overheated and had a litany of problems.

After the dealership would not help him in the way he had expected‚ he turned to the ASA and complained the dealership advertised high quality vehicles and excellent after-sales service‚ neither of which he received.

InspectaCar sells used cars and is a division of Wesbank.

According to legal papers filed at the ASA‚ Van Niekerk’s bakkie had many problems.

These included:

● The headlamp was cracked and had water inside;

● The mirror covers (which contain the indicators) were both cracked;

● One of the mirrors did not work electronically;

● The vehicle was 50 000km behind on its service schedule;

● The rubbers on the doors were loose;

● There was a dent in the step-bar on the side and scratches all over the vehicle;

● The front bumper was poorly resprayed;

● The number plate light was missing;

● There was no locking mechanism in the tail flap; and

● The locking mechanism of the passenger door fell out.

When Van Niekerk complained his bakkie overheated‚ the company fixed it but did not give him a courtesy car to drive while it was being fixed. The dealership also told him it was seeking legal advice on the matter.

InspectaCar did not reply to the ASA in order to give its side of the story, so the ASA ruled on the complaint by only hearing the customer’s side.

The ASA said it could not objectively determine what a “high quality vehicle” was and therefore could not rule on whether the high quality advertising claims were true or false.

But it said that it could rule on the claim that the dealer would provide excellent after-sales backup.

“From the complainant’s submissions‚ it would appear that no after-sales service was provided‚” the ASA found.

InspectaCar did not respond to queries about whether it would abide by the ruling.