********* and Indifferent Service

Item: Audi Centre Pietermaritzburg
Rating: 1

This is the complaint that I forwarded to Audi South Africa - they were very helpful and polite but stated that all dealerships are private and they can therefore only act as an intermediary for the complaint and nothing more. The response that Audi SA got from the dealership contained blatant lies and offered no compensation. The dealership also did not have the decency to contact me and simply responded to Audi SA only. I hope that getting this out there will prevent anybody else from purchasing or dealing with Audiu PMB. (there is already a similar complaint about the same dealership and staff on this website - I should have checked!!) "I was looking at buying a second hand Audi A3 (VIN No. WAUZZZ8P68A097923) from them, that was first advertised on Friday 28th April 2017. I phoned on Monday 1st May 2017 and spoke to Mandla Mhkize to find out details about the car and arrange a viewing. I live in Durban and wanted to get as much information as possible before making the trip to PMB. The car was due for its next service already and as Mandla explained, part of the used car protocol at Audi is to have the car's service up to date before selling. I therefore suggested that I wait for the service to be completed before driving up to view the car. At this point Mandla suggested that if I wait, the car would probably be sold, even before the service was complete. (on agreement that it would be done before transfer of ownership) I took his suggestion and made the trip the next day, Tuesday 2nd May 2017. I arrived first thing in the morning, met Mandla, viewed the car and took it for a test drive. I was happy with the car, so I offered R105000 (cash sale). This was immediately declined as Mandla said a previous meeting with the used car sales manager had him state that nothing under R110000 should be accepted (this was the advertised price). I then made some enquiries as to an aftermarket warranty, called Optimum Supreme Warranty, that the dealership offered through Motorite. The warranty option that I chose was priced at R13600 (if memory serves me correct, as I chose the double-up option). After some consideration, I made a verbal offer of R120000, with the warranty included. I then left the dealership with Mandla's assurance that he would get back to me by the end of the day (he did not accept or reject the offer). Mandla did not get back to me by the end of the day - I then emailed my confirmation of the offer the next morning, Wednesday, 3rd May 2017. After not getting a response again, I phoned the dealership on Thursday 4th May 2017 and requested to speak to Mandla who was not in. I told the gentleman who answered the phone that I was following up on my offer to purchase the car above, at which point he informed me that it was already sold. I expressed my confusion as I did not understand how the car could have been sold without even the courtesy of rejecting the offer that I had made. The gentleman then explained that he too was confused as an offer of R110000 was already made on the car prior to Tuesday 2nd May 2017 and that the dealership was merely waiting for finance to be approved. I then asked to speak to the used sales manager - I was told that he was busy but that he would call me back (my email and phone contact was easily available as I had emailed Mandla more than once). To date my call has not been returned. My complaints: (1) Mandla did not get back to me as he said he would on the Tuesday. He also did not have the courtesy to reply to my email offer that was sent the next day. (2) The used car sales manager still has not returned my call. (3) If an offer was already made on the car, and only financial approval was pending, why did Mandla urge me to come to view it? (4) Why was Mandla not upfront about the other offer? If, for example, he told me that the only way I could purchase the car would be to make a cash offer at the asking price (thereby "bettering" the offer on the table that required financial approval), then I would have agreed to do so - after all, the offer I made was a mere R3600 under the asking price. I hereby ask if it is common practice to continue to "offer" a vehicle that has already been sold, subject to financial approval? If that is so, should it not be ethical due process to inform the prospective buyer that there is an offer on the table? I obviously now have no recourse to still purchase the car, but I feel that I should be compensated for my time and petrol expense as well as offered an apology for the indifferent service I received from Mandla and the used car sales manager. I trust and look forward to Audi South Africa making the right decision in regards to my complaints. Kind Regards Audi *****"

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