[wmarci2000]

I placed a deposit at a dealer in January for my Ody that is due to arrive in late April or early May. At the time the dealer did not indicate that this deposit was nonrefundable. However, after giving my Credit card number, I was faxed our agreement and "nonrefundable deposit" was written on the invoice. I was initially nervous, but have since accepted what I thought would come out of my credit card 3 months from now. I received my statement yesterday and it was charged to my account the day I placed my order. I have never placed a deposit on a car before and other purchases I have made and left deposits, I have not been charged until I receive the product. I am concerned that this may become a problem if they do not deliver when they said they would. I placed the deposit on my credit card so that I could be protected in case there were issues (like them not delivering within the agreed time period - this date is written in the invoice also). However, I understand that there is only maybe a three month window on a credit card in which you can protest a charge. Is it really customary for them to charge me at the time of the agreement for the deposit? How can I protect my purchase if the delivery is so far in the future? Any advise is greatly appreciated!

 

[cmmeyers]

Well, I guess it's too late in your case, but the first thing I asked my dealer when they asked for a deposit was, "is it fully refundable?". When you received your agreement, I would have immediately called the dealer and debated the non-refundable deposit, if in fact it was never discussed. There is such a demand for the Ody that he would have absolutely no problem immediately selling the vehicle if you backed out of the order.

I paid my dealer deposit via credit card over the phone and it was charged immediately to my card just as yours was. When we received the order invoice reflecting our deposit, it plainly said "refundable".

In your particular case (a non-refundable deposit), of course the dealer is going to bill your credit card immediately....they want their money. I would check with your credit card company to inquire about the "window of opportunity" for protesting a charge.

Good luck.

 

[dvpatel]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by wmarci2000:
I placed a deposit at a dealer in January for my Ody that is due to arrive in late April or early May. At the time the dealer did not indicate that this deposit was nonrefundable. However, after giving my Credit card number, I was faxed our agreement and "nonrefundable deposit" was written on the invoice. I was initially nervous, but have since accepted what I thought would come out of my credit card 3 months from now. I received my statement yesterday and it was charged to my account the day I placed my order. I have never placed a deposit on a car before and other purchases I have made and left deposits, I have not been charged until I receive the product. I am concerned that this may become a problem if they do not deliver when they said they would. I placed the deposit on my credit card so that I could be protected in case there were issues (like them not delivering within the agreed time period - this date is written in the invoice also). However, I understand that there is only maybe a three month window on a credit card in which you can protest a charge. Is it really customary for them to charge me at the time of the agreement for the deposit? How can I protect my purchase if the delivery is so far in the future? Any advise is greatly appreciated! </font>

I thought that in NC (I do live in Charlotte) there is a law that there is no such thing as a non-refundable deposit. Maybe I was wrong. But in no case is the dealer supposed to charge your card unless he delivers the product. I would call the dealer and ask them to reverse the charge. If they don't I would contest the charge and that will cancel the contract and then look for a new dealer. I told you in your earlier post that I have come to Southern States Nissan to buy my Maxima. Why don't you come down here to Rock Hill Honda dealer and buy your Ody from here. I hear they had a few in stock a couple weeks ago but they were all GG and MB EXs.

 

[viper001]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by wmarci2000:
I placed a deposit at a dealer in January for my Ody that is due to arrive in late April or early May. At the time the dealer did not indicate that this deposit was nonrefundable. However, after giving my Credit card number, I was faxed our agreement and "nonrefundable deposit" was written on the invoice. I was initially nervous, but have since accepted what I thought would come out of my credit card 3 months from now. I received my statement yesterday and it was charged to my account the day I placed my order. I have never placed a deposit on a car before and other purchases I have made and left deposits, I have not been charged until I receive the product. I am concerned that this may become a problem if they do not deliver when they said they would. I placed the deposit on my credit card so that I could be protected in case there were issues (like them not delivering within the agreed time period - this date is written in the invoice also). However, I understand that there is only maybe a three month window on a credit card in which you can protest a charge. Is it really customary for them to charge me at the time of the agreement for the deposit? How can I protect my purchase if the delivery is so far in the future? Any advise is greatly appreciated! </font>

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Why are Honda dealers taking hard deposits on these vans, just to be put on the wait list? And to even think about the deposit being non-refundable is ludicrious. If you ordered the van, and had them install a bunch of accessories or something I could maybe see them holding a deposit and keeping it if you back out. But with vans straight off the truck, why would they do that? It's a hardship to go down the list and call the next guy to sell it to him instead?

Basically, has anyone here lost a deposit on an Oddy?

 

[chaslee]

I also ordered from Hendrick Honda in Feb. and asked about the nonrefundable deposit. I was able to get them to agree to refund the deposit if they were not able to deliver by a certain date in April. It isn't much, I wished that I could have gotten them to reduce the price by $1000 or so if they couldnt deliver. You might be able to amend your agreement with them on this. Good Luck.

 

[moose]

I put a deposit on 2/12 and I am now looking at the contract faxed to me. It says, "NOTICE TO CONSUMER: If the vehicle is not delivered in accordance with this agreement within 30 days after tge estunated delivery date and the delay is not attrubuted to you, you have the right to cancel this agreement and to receive a full refund of your deposit" The dealer I purchased this through did not fill out the estimated delivery date. I can't imagine that I can't get out of this if I wanted to. Also when I ordered it, it was a phone order, I said contingent on a test drive and they agreed to that. I know that was verbal, but this contract is too loosely done so I would think the law would side with the consumer. I am not a lawyer, but I think that they have a backlog and wouldn't care if I backed out. Ofcourse, I have no intentions of backing out as long as I have it by the end of May. They promised delivery by April or early May.

 

[FrontierOdy]

I ordered my Ody through Hendrick in VA. My deposit is 100% refundable.

------------------
"You can call me anything, but never call me late for dinner!"

01 Nissan Frontier SE CC
02 MB EX-L RES (End of March)

 

[wmarci2000]

Just to follow up, we are hopefully all set as we have been offered a van and are going to pick up the van on Saturday (hopefully all is well). However, after I posted this question, I called the consumer protection agency in NC and got some surprising answers. They indicated that yes I would not have the right to get my deposit back after leaving it unless there were some kind of misconduct from the dealer. When I asked about the date written on the purchase agreement, he did not seem to feel that that would be enough to lock the dealer into a timeframe. He even went so far as to say that a deposit was automatically implied nonrefundable even if it was not written that way! I was truely surprised at the lack of protection offered to consumers at least in this state. Thankfully, my dealer has been good to work with so far, but they did mention that the customers that were suppose to get the van we're getting lost their deposit. I haven't heard about too many others losing their deposits, but consumers beware and be sure of your choices! Thanks for all the posts!
Wendy

 

[SuperDad]

I can see the other folks losing their deposit in this case. It sounds like the other customer waited until the van was available before deciding they did not want it. Clearly the dealer risked having a van on-site that no one wanted, and they deserve compensation.

On the other hand, had the other customer called three weeks ago and cancelled, I'd think they would be entitled to a refund, based on the dealers limited exposure.