Scam!

[val101]

Hi all

 

i just wanted to warn all members here to a new scam being carried out by a company called Auto Mart Online, i have also posted this warning on the Seloc forum, here is the link if you are registered with Seloc if you are not i will copy and paste the post below.

 

seloc link -

 

http://forums.seloc.org/viewthread.php?tid=174858

 

Just wanted to share this with everyone on here. Hopefully I can help other members avoid being scammed as I have.

 

Ok as most of you will know I have recently purchased an Elise from Adrian Blyth. This was bought to replace my current car a Saab 9-3 Aero. So I advertised the Saab on Pistonheads and with Auto Trader. As usual I received email after email from various people around the world, some as far as South Africa wanting to buy my car, I use the word ‘buy’ very loosely, scam me out of my car would be a better description.

 

Anyway, I avoided being scammed via email, however, my ad in Auto Trader came to an end and I received a phone call from a sales woman, who I was led to believe was calling on behalf of Auto Trader, she said that because my ad had come to an end and that I had not sold my car she could now offer me a special deal, I could now advertise my car until sold all for £69. This sounded like a good offer so I took it up. I checked the Auto Trader website for a few days but did not see my ad, so I rang the number from which the woman had called me from and it was not Auto Trader but a company called Auto Mart Online.

 

The whole way in which their sales people present themselves would lead you to believe that they were calling you on behalf of Auto Trader, it’s very clever, and these people have obviously been trained to scam people.

 

I’ve been in touch with Consumer Direct and Trading Standards in Blackpool, that’s were the company is based; Trading Standards know about them and are investigating the company. I have tried to get my credit card company to stop the transaction but as usual they were no help at all saying that even though the money had not yet been taken out of my account they could not stop it going through, I would have to wait until the money had been taken out and then I had to fill in a form to dispute the transaction.

 

Also if you read Auto Mart Online’s terms and conditions on their website you will see that they state no refunds will be given due to the fact that the service they provide has been uniquely tailored for your needs. They quote the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 regulation 13, now if like me you have actually read the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 regulation 13 you will see that this only applies to ‘goods’ that have been specifically tailored for you, so for example if you have had a suit tailored to you and the colour is lime green with pink sequins, then it is understandable that you would be refused a refund because the suit would be specifically made to your specification. This does not apply to ‘services’ for example an advert placed on a website.

 

Trading standards have told me that Auto Mart Online are in breach due to the sales person informing me that they have certain terms and conditions after they had taken my money, they should have informed me of these terms and conditions first and then if I was happy to precede then they should have taken my money. So I am hoping that I will be refunded, I will keep you all informed.

 

In the mean time here are some links that you can read as I am not the only one who was taken in by this scam. The lesson here is NEVER give out your credit card details over the phone no matter what the person calling you tells you.

 

http://forums.gumtree.com/topic23602.html

 

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=11245375

 

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hi all

 

Just updating everyone with this scam, auto mart online said they would send me out a complaints form and hopefully this matter could be sorted out, I wasn’t holding my breath because from what I have read from others on various forums, they will send you out the form and once you have filled it in and returned it they will reply back saying that after considering your complaint, you can basically get lost and there is no chance of you getting your money back. So when their reply came through the post, I was amazed to see that after carefully considering my compliant they had decided, after much deliberation im sure, that they would not refund me, now there’s a surprise, I wasn’t expecting that!!

 

So I have now passed this matter onto my credit card company and I have also informed Blackpool trading standards. Apparently, Blackpool trading standards are getting so many complaints about this company that they have a dedicated person working on this case!

 

In the meantime I will have to fill out more forms, and send copies off all correspondence to trading standards as well as my credit card company and they will take it from there. To be honest it’s not about losing £69, it’s about not letting them get away with this. I’m sure that’s what most people do, they put it down as a life experience and move on, but im sure that’s what auto mart online are counting on, people just not bothering to follow up a compliant, so that way they get to make their money.

 

If auto mart online spend the same amount of effort into improving their website and promoting their business as they did into scamming people then I would not have had any problem with advertising with them, £69 to advertise your car until sold is a good deal, but if no one ever visits their website and you don’t receive a single phone call what good is it advertising with them.

 

I will keep you all informed of what happens next.

[Sonya]

They contacted me when I sold a car on Auto Trader about 3 years ago. They seemed efficiently professional at first but then got a very pushy very quickly. I smelt a rat and am glad I didn't consider using them now!

[L7YSE]

They contacted me when I sold a car on Auto Trader about 3 years ago. They seemed efficiently professional at first but then got a very pushy very quickly. I smelt a rat and am glad I didn't consider using them now!

 

 

Exactly the same experience here.

 

Lady on the phone didn't actually say she was from AutoTrader, but was pushy in a way that made me (or whoever) think that they were from AutoTrader. Mistake was on my part - if I fell for it that was - which I didn't, luckily, I had been forwarned (by AutoTrader IIRC)

[Harry]

I had the same experience but I got into a big arguement, they were stating it will be advertised until sold, so I asked what if they dont sell it. they replied with, we will sell another car for free, so I asked what if they cant sell that...they said they would sell another and so on...

 

so I argued if my car hasnt been sold the first time, how would I have a 2nd car to sell?

 

then I said, if your so confidenet you will sell my car with people already on ur database waiting for my car, sell it first and I will pay you double..

 

basically, I had time to kill and I thought I'd drive them crazy...haha

 

legally, they can get away with it because they make u think they are from autotrader, but if you asked them out right they will say automart, and you are paying for them to advertise on a good 100 odd websites which they will do, but sites no one ever go to! so be careful and stay away!

[Sonya]

basically, I had time to kill and I thought I'd drive them crazy...haha

 

Ahh that favourite pastime......as easy as shooting fish in a barrel but twice much fun !!!!!!!!!!!