VW refusing to cancel delayed order

[Maverick]

Hi,

Has anyone else had a problem with VW refusing to cancel an order that is nearly 2 months out from it's build date?

This is a problem I've having at present after VW moved my build of a GT TDI from week 10 to week 13/14 and then now week 22.

I have found another one that is supposed to be arriving when mine was due (the second date) but now the dealer doesn't want to take "ownership" of the one that I found because VW won't cancel the order for the original one that I had ordered because it's got a lot of options.

The full story is here http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45579 and I'd appreciate any feedback from others who have had similar problems.

[Thomas]

Hi Maverick, I had a very similar issue with my Jetta. Not so much with the build but rather with the shipping. My ship was going to be delayed by more than a month and that was unacceptable to me. My Jetta was also fully optioned and the stealer did not want to budge. However I kept making noise and threatened to go speak with my solicitor. 30 mins later I got a call from one of the sales reps serving me telling me the had another car with all the specs I wanted but was a platinum grey instead of black that I wanted. It was MY08 and built Nov 07. I said yes and they delivered the car within 2 days. what happened to my Black Jetta with beige leather, sunroof, sat nav and 18" wheels - It got sold to someone else.

Your dealer is being plain stupid. VW can source any car they want from anywhere in the country as long as it has not been booked by anyone else .

[Maverick]

Thanks Thomas,

It doesn't many any sense to me because if I pull out of the sale and VW won't cancel the car as they claim then they will be stuck with it anyway. Wouldn't it be better to get a sale of the one going to the other dealer, make the profit from that sale and if need be sell the one that arrives in months to someone. I can't see that they will have any problems selling it.

The car that is arriving end of may is the only car that even remotely meets my requirements, there are no other cars coming in like it.

For some reason VW and it's dealers only bring in base models, everything else it seems you have to wait 5+ months for.

[Thomas]

can i ask what you ordered? read your contract again. when i wanted to change specs during the delivery process i was told i would forgo my deposit of $1000.....thts all. who is your stealer?

[Maverick]

GT Sport TDI DSG Bi-Xenon RNS510 Alarm Reverse Sensors Ordered 18th January - ETA 5th of May
Delivery date changed to early June about 4 weeks later.
Rang dealer last Monday told now late July/Early june as build date was moved from week 13/14 by VW to week 22. Original build date week 10.

Told at this stage I could cancel.

Spent most of that week looking at options as I couldn't wait until August.

Found a car that had been cancelled and dealer agreed to take it off the hands of the Melbourne dealer, it's due start of June as per my car. I agreed to pay an additional $1890 because it has a sunroof (remember this is VW's fault as they frigged up but I need the car urgently now).

Signed new contract on Friday last week and traded car (final payment due) on basis that car would be here start of June.

Dealer tells me today that VW won't cancel my original car despite it not even being in production or near to being in production.

So far I'm already out of pocket alternative transport arrangements until the car arrives, paid an additional $1890, VW won't offer anything despite the 4 month delay (and no explanation) and now I have to waste more time on this.

At this stage my opinion of VW Australia is pretty low, they don't seem to be professional at all and seem unable to supply even reasonably close estimate on car production. If this is how they are before you buy what will they be like afterwards.

I'd rather not mention the dealer in public as I'm not blaming them for what appears to be major problems inside VW.

[jb747]

Good luck with resolving it.

I actually had the opposite problem. I ordered an R32 at the start of June 07, with an expected delivery date of Jan/Feb 08. That worked well as the previous lease was due to expire in March, and a slight overlap was ok.

Car was actually delivered in October....

[gareth_oau]

have a good read of the small print on yr contract - how legally binding is the original quoted delivery date?

If theyve failed to deliver on time, then perhaps theyre in breach of a fundamental clause?

Worth seeking some consumer affairs legal advice...

[TFSIBabyCarriage]

Dealer tells me today that VW won't cancel my original car despite it not even being in production or near to being in production.

So far I'm already out of pocket alternative transport arrangements until the car arrives, paid an additional $1890, VW won't offer anything despite the 4 month delay (and no explanation) and now I have to waste more time on this.

At this stage my opinion of VW Australia is pretty low, they don't seem to be professional at all and seem unable to supply even reasonably close estimate on car production. If this is how they are before you buy what will they be like afterwards.

I'd rather not mention the dealer in public as I'm not blaming them for what appears to be major problems inside VW.

No one else seems to have said it, but this sounds like an absolute cop out by the dealer. What VW Australia will or wont do is completely irrelevant to you. They are the wholesaler. You do not have any form of contract whatsover with the wholesaler.

Your contract is with the dealer. All you need to care about is what the dealer will or wont do for you. If they wont cancel it is their choice. If they happen to lose money on the deal or get stuck with extra stock, it is the cost of doing business. Again, not your problem. There seems to be a new trend across industries of blaming the big bad ugly upstream when it is meaningless. It is just passing the buck.

If it helps, read your contract closely as well. I am in Victoria, and my contract has an, 'estimated delivery date'. If the date blows out by more than 14 days, I am able to cancel the order without penalty.

[Angryman]

IF this is from Austral VW.......well I would read the contract from top to bottom. I'd just tell them to cram it up there ass and go elsewhere, just be quite straight forward with them If they change the terms of the contract, then you always have the option to renegotiate or can it.

SO them not cancelling the order is not your problem in so far as that you will lose any money you've given them. Talk to the ombudsmen they are really good with this sort of crap from sales staff

[DionM]

To repeat what others have said - it's your dealer, not VW Aust that is your problem. The dealer is responsible for the sale to you.

Read you contract. What does the contract say for the delivery date? What does it say if the delivery date is not met?

Hopefully you don't have "ASAP" as the delivery date ... that's a big loophole for the dealer.

[STV4SYT]

Similar thing happened to me. i bought a car and put down a deposit as it was "on the dock in melbourne" the following week after id gotten close to privately selling my old car i wanted comfirmation on date and was told that the car was on a ship and would be in melbourne in about 4 weeks. My contract had conditions on it one being that i successfully sold my car. i found the exact same spec at another dealer, called up cancelled my original order and bought the other one. had to wait a couple of weeks to get my deposit back, but in the end i had the car i wanted with a little more hassle 2 weeks before even the original one would have been ready.


What i did was actually go to the dealer that had the car i wanted, and told him my situation, he was then able to tell me exactly what i needed to do to get out so they could get the sale. may be worth using one dealer to help u get out of the other ones contract.

[bailey78]

excellent thinking 99

[DionM]

may be worth using one dealer to help u get out of the other ones contract.

Yep, good idea - ensure however that the other dealer is owned by a different parent company. Back when I was buying my Land Rover in 02, I had no luck playing the two Brisbane dealers against each other as they were both owned by the same parent company

[tezza]

Delivery Date

Maverick,

Had a similar problem a while back consulted my solicitors and he said quite plainly that as long as you have a, "DELIVERY DATE" on your contract from the dealer that is the end of it. If they fail to deliver by that date thay are in breach and you have all rights to cancel. that is why they (usually) always overstate the delivery time. If you do not get a resolution then start a small claim thru the courts they will move faster than lightening then.

Tezza

[STV4SYT]

Ony thing i guess is that mine wasnt a special order, i just had a simple spec i wanted. Silver, DSG, Sunroof.... Im just too damn impatient to order somethign that far in advance. I tend to make a decision today and need to execute it tomorrow or at the earliest convenience.