Car Finance Agreement Cancellation Problems.

[Remi]

Hello ! Glad to be here. I just found this forum. I though ill give it a go and see if you guys can direct me a little bit.

2 weeks ago i decided to buy a car from a dealer i found on Autotrader. I spoke to him about car finance, i needed only £1000. He got his broker to contact me about it and he then said minimum is £3000, so i was ok. Lets do it anyway. He then sent me a link where to register my application, create an account etc. and at the end was the actual agreement i had to agree to if i want to proceed. So i did.
They asked me to send copies of my driving licence (EU licence) copy of passport and proof of address. I sent it all via whatsapp... This should trigger some red flags. Big mistake on my part.


A couple of days later after i agreed to the the price and all, they have contacted me saying my driving licence is expired and they cant proceed with the deal. It wasn't expired - its valid till 2033. After few messages and phone calls they said they can still give me the loan but only if i pay a little bit more. I immediately said i don't want to proceed in this case, please cancel the whole agreement etc. I had the right to withdraw from it within first14 days of accepting it (according to their terms and conditions on the agreement they sent me) , this was day 3 or 4. I have also sent an email about cancelation to the bank that lent the money (Lender). The guys who dealt with this, over the phone and messages are from a broker company.

Bank responded that agreement has been cancelled and I have until 25 of April to pay back £3000....

I have never received any money from them. I tried on several occasion (phones, emails, online chats) get the information to whom they sent the money. Each time they dodged the answer by saying the company who is handling this deal is Carki. That's it. no more information from them. I immediately contacted the car dealer. Explained the whole problem. He said he will contact his broker ( the first guy who contacted me when i started the process) and he confirmed over a text messages that i should speak with a guy, gave me his number and name of the company.

I contacted him and he said cancellation is being processed. That was friday 28th. week ago. Since then i ve spoke to him every day , each day he said they are wrapping this up, sorting it out, chasing it etc etc. Not a single information about anything actually being handled. Then finally someone send me an email with one sentence :
Good Afternoon,
Please accept this email as confirmation that your finance agreement has been cancelled.
Many thanks
Carki

Email came from a generic Carki Partners email with no information who that carki partner is. No names, no way to identify them.
Yesterday and today i have sent 3 formal emails: one to Carki - Explaining the situation briefly and demanding that the money will be sent back to the bank and i will receive a written confirmation. If this will not be sorted in 7 days i will contact FOS and FCA.
One letter to the Lender - Zopa Bank, and one to the company car dealer mentioned in a text message - Jigsaw Finance.

Ive been talking with the bank representatives on online chat on their website several times. They said my agreement hasn't been cancelled but i do have an email confirming that it in fact has been cancelled plus that email from carki also stating agreement had been cancelled. I dont know if this email can be used as a proof in this case. It all seems like a scam to me.

I hope this all makes sense. But basically all i need to know if this sounds like a big problem and i need a lawyer or should i wait and see if they sort it out within 7 days ? If they wont sort this out between themselves should i first contact FOS and FCA ?

Or is it just a massive elaborate scam ?
Thank you in advance.

[echat11]

Hi Remi

Welcome to LB

When you contact them via chat on Monday, ask for their complaints procedure.
Make a formal complaint, follow their complaints procedure - Dealer and Carki.
It should be straightforward to resolve.

[Remi]

Hi, thanks for a reply.
It could take up to 8 weeks according to their terms and conditions, to resolve a complaint. The bank expects money by 25th of April. Also Carki was unreachalbe today - their line should have been open on saturday (phone line) and they don't have a chat. The chat i used was with the Zopa bank - the lender. They expect the money.

[Remi]

Also what could I complain about in this case, really? I don't know if they are or aren't trying to finish the whole process. From my point of view they haven't done anything wrong. Yet. But the way it's all going doesn't look great. So even if I'll complaint about anything they will simply disagree.
The one thing that I could complain is the fact they haven't given me any details of whom received the money. But I don't understand why they can't just do that. They are avoiding providing full details. I don't see how formal complain will work here.

[echat11]

Hi, thanks for a reply.
It could take up to 8 weeks according to their terms and conditions, to resolve a complaint. The bank expects money by 25th of April. Also Carki was unreachalbe today - their line should have been open on saturday (phone line) and they don't have a chat. The chat i used was with the Zopa bank - the lender. They expect the money.

a) It could take up to 8 weeks according to their terms and conditions, to resolve a complaint.

That is correct, they have 8 weeks to look into the complaint, if you aren't happy with their response, you can lodge a complaint with the FOS.

b) The bank expects money by 25th of April. Also Carki was unreachalbe today - their line should have been open on saturday (phone line) and they don't have a chat.

You raise a dispute with the bank, so by the 25th April the bank is aware of the dispute. Carki has a message facility.

c) The chat i used was with the Zopa bank - the lender. They expect the money.

Raise a dispute with them.

All these entities will respond to your complaint, they should all comeback with the same response, that the agreement is cancelled and no monies is owed.

[echat11]

Also what could I complain about in this case, really? I don't know if they are or aren't trying to finish the whole process. From my point of view they haven't done anything wrong. Yet. But the way it's all going doesn't look great. So even if I'll complaint about anything they will simply disagree.
The one thing that I could complain is the fact they haven't given me any details of whom received the money. But I don't understand why they can't just do that. They are avoiding providing full details. I don't see how formal complain will work here.

Your complaint is that you've cancelled the contract, you haven't been given clear information form all parties that the agreement has been cancelled.
The email you've received is 'generic' in nature, so you seek further clarification.

[Remi]

Thank you for this. Really appreciate clarifying this for me.
I'll do exactly that.

[Remi]

a) It could take up to 8 weeks according to their terms and conditions, to resolve a complaint.

That is correct, they have 8 weeks to look into the complaint, if you aren't happy with their response, you can lodge a complaint with the FOS.

b) The bank expects money by 25th of April. Also Carki was unreachalbe today - their line should have been open on saturday (phone line) and they don't have a chat.

You raise a dispute with the bank, so by the 25th April the bank is aware of the dispute. Carki has a message facility.

c) The chat i used was with the Zopa bank - the lender. They expect the money.

Raise a dispute with them.

All these entities will respond to your complaint, they should all comeback with the same response, that the agreement is cancelled and no monies is owed.

Actualy, one more question: ive sent them these types of letters of Friday and Saturday, one to the bank one to carki. Do you think this can be considered a complaint ?

[echat11]

Actualy, one more question: ive sent them these types of letters of Friday and Saturday, one to the bank one to carki. Do you think this can be considered a complaint ?

You've given them 7 days to respond.

When you lodge a complaint, you follow their complaints procedure.

You've made your concerns known to them.

Await their response, update the thread in 7 days.

[Remi]

I shall. thank you.

[Remi]

Hi, again. Bit late but an update. They sorted it out finally. Money was sent back to the bank. Although Carki has never replied to me about anything. I tried calling them loads of times on 2 separate numbers, no one ever answered. One of the lines was Customer Complaints lines, the official one. Well anyway, somehow they managed to handle it. Thanks for help again. Lesson learned - I will never do car finance again... Bank loan sounds a lot easier and cheaper.

[echat11]

Well done on getting it sorted, thanks for letting us know.