Hi everyone, I wish I had seen your forum before buying a vehicle from Pennine Autos. I had looked around at loads of Land Rovers, the bad and the ugly, you will all know what I mean !
I thought I had found the one, 1 owner, right mileage, top spec and in the condition to match the top price I paid.
As other members have written, I also had to wait a week, for a Mot, service, new cam belts and under seal!
After only having the car 2 days, IT Rained ! All 3 sunroof windows let water in like a sieve !!!
The car was returned to Pennine Autos for repairs ASAP, it also needed 2 other repairs as well.
Some days later I was told the car was ready for collection, problems sorted! Well no! The 2 smaller jobs done sort of ok. So this was the HSE model opening sunroof,
No! No! No! Pennine autos had disconnected the sunroof and sealed it in with black Silicone !!!
'I could not believe it'
I then spoke to the Citizens Advise, they told me I could ask for a full and complete refund under the faulty goods act and not to a satisfactory quality, it was within 30 days money back.
I went straight back to Pennine autos and asked for a refund, the said NO and they needed time, so this went on over the Christmas break, I asked again for my money back they still said No, I sent them emails and asked them again for a refund, they still said No.
I was told by Citizens Advise to report them to Visa card Cash back, which I have done, they also said it is a criminal offence not to give a refund!!!
This is on going so if anyone has any pointers please post.
I'm not quite sure about the accuracy of the advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau as there is no such thing as the faulty goods act (they're probably referring to the Consumer Protection Act 2015), refusing to issue a refund would not be considered a criminal offence, if it ended up in court it would be a civil rather than criminal hearing.
From the little detail you have given it sounds like you have exercised your right to a repair under the Consumer Protection Act 2015 [Part 1, Chapter 2, section 19(3)(b)] however, that repair did not address the issue and the fault(s) remain so you are now trying to reject the goods for a full refund under Consumer Protection Act 2015 [Part 1, Chapter 2, section 19(3)(a)].
Without the full details I cannot say with absolute certainty, however, if your refund request was made clear to the trader within the first 30 days of taking initial collection of the vehicle then you are most likely entitled to reject the goods for a full refund under the Consumer Protection Act 2015 due to the fault(s) present. After 30 days, and depending on circumstances, you may still be entitled to reject the goods for a full refund under the Sale of Goods Act 1979.
If you are happy with the vehicle other than the faults mentioned, you may (depending on time) still be able to pursue a repair under the Consumer Protection Act 2015 or (if 30 days has past) the Sale of Goods Act 1979.
If you intend to pursue a full refund I would advise you stop using the vehicle immediately as continuing to use the vehicle would most likely constitute acceptance of the goods and may invalidate your right to reject (but not to a repair or perhaps a partial refund).
This is all great in theory, however, when you end up dealing with a trader who refuses to recognise your consumer rights, the reality is the only person that will enforce those rights is yourself through legal action, don't expect any help from Trading Standards (it's not their remit, although some are more helpful than others) or much help from Citizens Advice Bureau.
From my own experience with Pennine Autos, it is unlikely they will resolve the issues unless forced to do so, if they've already declined your refund request I would not expect merely citing consumer law to yield any discernible result. I bought a vehicle from Pennine Autos which had some problems, they attempted to ignore me (I assume in the hope I would simply get bored and go away). In the end I did get a full refund plus fully compensated for all my quantifiable expenses and a further small amount of compensation for the inconvenience of the whole scenario, however, it was only after they were served with court papers did they make any attempt to contact me and resolve the issue.
VISA Chargeback (if it's an option for you) is a bit of a lucky dip from what I have seen of it. It is administered by the individual card issuers (banks) under VISA guidelines and they all seem to have differing interpretations of those guidelines. You would have to pursue it under reason code 53 "Goods not as described or defective" which, depending on circumstances, can be quite difficult to satisfy all required conditions even when the issues with the goods are seemingly black and white. Chargeback for debit cards when offered is based solely on VISA's guidelines and does not take into account consumer law at all.
If you paid any amount of the cost via credit card then you may have further protection and another possible avenue to a full refund.