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General Compensation

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General Compensation

Why would a scrappage deal take priority when ultimately Fiat make more profit on a straightforward deal. With the scrappage the taxpayer puts in a grand ( there is no such thing as government money which some of our citizens fail to grasp) and Fiat put in a grand.
 
Murano16v said:
Why would a scrappage deal take priority when ultimately Fiat make more profit on a straightforward deal. With the scrappage the taxpayer puts in a grand ( there is no such thing as government money which some of our citizens fail to grasp) and Fiat put in a grand.
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Might be a condition with the govt that they do?
 
Fiat customer services admitted to me yesterday on the phone that scrappage cars are taking priority as they have to complete them within strict time scales. If you look on the Fiat website at the forum then the official line from Fiat Marketing is:
"It's not a case of prioritising individual customers however scrappage orders must be completed within the government timeframe in order to be eligible so this is having a knock-on effect on other orders".

Fiatdownunder you are contradicting yourself by saying that unfortunately you have ordered a car which is very popular - your Clio, Focus etc that you bought previously were run of the mill cars which are mass produced. The fact that the Fiat 500 is popular surely makes it a run of the mill car. Also, the more there are of them surely devalues the car & certainly seeing BSM using them devalues the car even further.

Also I did ring my dealer on just under 10 weeks to advise him I'd sold my car as was having lots of problems with it (3 starter motors in 4 months at a cost of over a grand) & was advised at that stage that the orders were coming on schedule.

The Fiat 500 is a lovely looking car which loads of extras for a good price. However, it is basically a soupped up Micra & if it was more expensive, say the price of a Mini would it be as popular? Probably not.

If Fiat & the dealers were honest with people when they order the cars & tell them that its a six month wait I doubt very much whether they would have the same orders they currently have.
 
julest said:
Fiat customer services admitted to me yesterday on the phone that scrappage cars are taking priority as they have to complete them within strict time scales. If you look on the Fiat website at the forum then the official line from Fiat Marketing is:
"It's not a case of prioritising individual customers however scrappage orders must be completed within the government timeframe in order to be eligible so this is having a knock-on effect on other orders".

Fiatdownunder you are contradicting yourself by saying that unfortunately you have ordered a car which is very popular - your Clio, Focus etc that you bought previously were run of the mill cars which are mass produced. The fact that the Fiat 500 is popular surely makes it a run of the mill car. Also, the more there are of them surely devalues the car & certainly seeing BSM using them devalues the car even further.

Also I did ring my dealer on just under 10 weeks to advise him I'd sold my car as was having lots of problems with it (3 starter motors in 4 months at a cost of over a grand) & was advised at that stage that the orders were coming on schedule.

The Fiat 500 is a lovely looking car which loads of extras for a good price. However, it is basically a soupped up Micra & if it was more expensive, say the price of a Mini would it be as popular? Probably not.

If Fiat & the dealers were honest with people when they order the cars & tell them that its a six month wait I doubt very much whether they would have the same orders they currently have.
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The 500 is absolutely nothing to do with a Micra.
 
306maxi said:
It is an unreasonable change in timing though you have to admit. I personally think that if the car isn't already built or of a really specific spec that the dealer should just give back the deposit. If it were a Yuck Yuck Green with red leather interior, 16" multispokes, bodykit and rear spoiler I could understand them not wanting to budge but this is a 1.2 BNW Lounge with side rubbing strip which will sit on the forecourt for a week at most before someone wanders in and buys it because they can take it there and then.
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Absolutely right, what a bloody cheek the dealerships has. Doubling the delivery time is clearly unreasonable and due cause for cancelling and refusing a deposit back is a joke.

Cancel the order, buy a second hand one tomorrow and take the dealership to the small claims court for being *ankwers. As stated above they would have no trouble selling "your" car even if had been started to be built at the factory.

I have no sympethy for dealers who behave like this and Fiat should jump up and down on thier heads.

Fiat CS should also be ashamed of themselves too. They seem to have washed thier hands of you with the statement that its between you and the dealer. :mad:
 
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Jake_in_notts said:
Absolutely right, what a bloody cheek the dealerships has. Doubling the delivery time is clearly unreasonable and due cause for cancelling and refusing a deposit back is a joke.

Cancel the order, buy a second hand one tomorrow and take the dealership to the small claims court for being *ankwers. As stated above they would have no trouble selling "your" car even if had been started to be built at the factory.

I have no sympethy for dealers who behave like this and Fiat should jump up and down on thier heads.

Fiat CS should also be ashamed of themselves too. They seem to have washed thier hands of you with the statement that its between you and the dealer. :mad:
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Yeah it's all a bit silly. If that car sat on the forecourt for more than a week I'd be VERY surprised.
 
Your dealer is in breach of his own contract. On the back of your order form it very clearly states that if your car is not delivered when said, that you are entitled to a refund of your deposit if the delay is unreasonable, which yours is.

I had a similar situation to yours and got a refund with no hassle at all. You need to go in, make some noise and demand to see someone in charge... dont let them walk over you. BTW, letters rarely have any effect in my experiences with Fiat, but show them you arent messing about and hey tend to get the picture.

Your dealer is breaking the law by refusing to refund you.
 
i would go in, tell them you view them holding your deposit as theft of your monies and threaten to call the police there and then. ive used this tactic several times with retailers/salesmen and, although the police wouldnt be in the slightest bit interested if you actually called them, it usually works a treat :)
 
get your money back,
stop whinging
forget anything to do with compensation and walk away.
Do not pass go, do not collect 200.

The Fiat 500 is not a run of the mill car like a focus, clio, micra etc. It is designed as something a little bit niche.
Everyone wants one and it is becoming very popular because of that.
Over there maybe it isnt priced same as a Mini, i know here it is and i am still selling plenty.
 
fiatdownunder, you sound like a typical UK dealer! I think me & others in my situation are entitled to complain given how we are being treated by Fiat
All I want is my deposit back & I dont think I'm being unreasonable given the circumstances & the delay.
 
As i said, get your deposit back but dont expect or feel you are entitled to anything else.
You could quite easily have taken a car that they had in stock but you wanted to order your own specific car, that was your decision.
Yes, it has taken longer than expected, yes your dealer hasnt kept you informed, yes you sold your car before you had any confirmation of delivery, no you are not entitled to compensation.
 
fiatdownunder said:
excuse me?
I find that very hard to believe.
i am telling you as it is from our point of view.
I have many happy customers over the 9 years of selling Fiat & Alfa Romeo, everyone is entitled to their opinion however.
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How about you reverse the situation, you phone the customer to tell him the car is ready, customer says actually I'll hold off for a couple of months as I have something else more important to do. They arrange to collect it, but then change their minds a few times and don't bother to tell you.

Would a dealer put up with that, I don't think so. How would you like it if the customer said stop your whinging and walked away after signing to buy a car. I have a feeling you might take action against them to stop them doing it, do you think you would be entitled to anything in terms of compensation ?

It's a two way street and to be honest, be interested to hear why you think the customers point of view is so unreasonable when it is exactly the same as yours. By the way the 500 is a mass produced car, not a hand built niche car. Nothing wrong with having long lead times, but tell the customer don't make up delivery dates you can't meet. At the time of placing an order Fiat should know how long it will take to build (+/- a couple of weeks) with their production management systems. So either the dealers or Fiat are not being 100% honest or they are moving the slots around for other business reasons to maximise opportunity, in which case they should compensate customers they let down. They are probably sticking to shorter leadtimes they can't meet to stop putting people off ordering !!!!
 
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Thank you poggy!

Seems like fiatdownunder is worried that all the bad publicity might put people off buying the Fiat 500 & hence hit you in the pocket.

A 26 week wait for a car is ridiculous. My colleagues at work find it hilarious that the director of the company next to ours got a Ferrari in 21 weeks!
 
julest said:
Thank you poggy!

Seems like fiatdownunder is worried that all the bad publicity might put people off buying the Fiat 500 & hence hit you in the pocket.

A 26 week wait for a car is ridiculous. My colleagues at work find it hilarious that the director of the company next to ours got a Ferrari in 21 weeks!
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Lets not speculate as to people's reasons for holding their opinion.

Fiatdownunder is quite right with some of the things he says though. It was your choice to sell your car and really that's the issue here, if you hadn't sold it sure you'd still have a wait but you wouldn't be needing to take the bus, train etc etc.
 
In the same position as you now Julest - asked for my deposit back due to the unreasonable change in delivery date (now looking at 22 weeks) and the fact the delivery date is now outside of the Scrappage Scheme 4 month period, and was told no!

Fiat don't want to know, saying they can't get involved!
 
MaxedOutMan said:
In the same position as you now Julest - asked for my deposit back due to the unreasonable change in delivery date (now looking at 22 weeks) and the fact the delivery date is now outside of the Scrappage Scheme 4 month period, and was told no!

Fiat don't want to know, saying they can't get involved!
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What you need to do if you're on scrappage is get them to resubmit the order to BERR. There is still scrappage money so essentially all it will do is reset the 4 month scrappage period.
 
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