Preferential Treatment at Audi Centre Bruma

Last week on the 5th of September I started a process of acquiring a 2017 Audi A7 3.0 TDI, going for 740K, I saw on the Autotrader website. The car is at Audi Centre Bruma . I submitted a request on the site and received a call the following day, i.e. 6th September 2018. The call was from a sales lead type of consultant as she just needed to confirm that I indeed placed the enquiry. She told me the responsible sales person (Michael) would give me a call shortly.

A few minutes later, Michael did indeed call me and we went through the initial motions of a vehicle sales over the phone. I confirmed with him that there were no other transactions currently for the particular car. Michael sent me the Finance documentation on the same day, 6th September, and I completed it and sent it back with all requisite documents. The application was forwarded to the financial institutions the same day and the process proceeded in earnest. The Saturday the 8th I was called by one of the financial houses to confirm that it isn’t ********** and I indeed I was the one doing the finance application.

By Monday the 10th, the financial houses had come back with a positive response keen to finance the deal. Then the sales person, Michael, told me that there was an issue as another person was interested in buying the car. I wasn’t concerned as I was the first one to start the purchase process. To my surprise the other person had some sort of influence and seemed to be prioritized over my purchase and all of this didn’t make sense as I initiated the purchase first and the finance was already approved. As I type this, the deal is not concluded and I’m not sure where I’m am regarding the purchase. I’m also wondering how a customer with approved finance is treated like this and left in the dark regarding the purchase.

My purchase seems to be undermined by the person who came after me and this could only happen if senior people in the dealership allow it and have something to do with it. I urgently need recourse in the matter as I spent time doing all of this and my credit record has been impacted by all of this. I’ve had a purchase before with Audi Sandton and never experienced any of this rigmarole and it seems, according to Audi Bruma, that as a customer some customers have more higher preference than others no matter who has been there before and this can only happen if the powers that be allow it.

This completely far from the type of service I’ve received, previously, and expect from Audi South Africa. The sales person is trying to come through for me but we shouldn't even be in this position in the first place.