Poor customer service, poor communication

There are numerous things to be discussed and mentioned.

I would firstly like to start off with the previous vehicle, the Grand I10. During the process of purchasing the new vehicle my intentions were to trade off my vehicle. Among the offers was one from Wheele, I had been communicating with Dean Chutel and had sent him the pictures of my vehicle and he said the offer from them would be around R170 000.00. I had chosen to go with Wheele and was going to get the deal finalised with them when Dean came back and said they'll match the offer I received from Wheele. The offer from Wheele was as the vehicle was. Dean had not mentioned anything regarding them inspecting the vehicle or that the offer was based on inspection. Furthermore Dean should have agreed the vehicle to be inspected before agreeing to match the offer I received from Wheele.

The new vehicle was supposed to be delivered initially on the 30th of April 2024. However, there was a delay on the dealership side. After speaking to Dean I was told there was a mix up with the paperwork had they had invoiced the wrong vehicle and then was told the vehicle which was going to be purchased by me was sold. On the 3rd of May 2024 Dean had sent me a message to get the delivery receipt signed which I did and was going to sign another one when the vehicle is delivered on the 5th of May 2024. Then during the course of the day everything suddenly changed and there was no driver apparently to deliver the vehicle yet he got me to sign the delivery receipt earlier that day and confirmed the delivery and signing of other documents upon delivery. Due to the vehicle intially being promised to be delivered on the 30th of April 2024 I had arranged for insurance for the vehicle and then was told it was going to be in the Sunday, the 5th of May 2024 and I had arranged for the insurance to start a bit later and payment for the insurance was taken on the 3rd of May 2024.

After all the delays Dean contacted me and said due to the fact that I had signed the contract and the Grand I10 was now paid up for they required the vehicle. Due to my work I had asked Dean if they could do the switch on the weekend of the 11th of May 2024, he responded saying that it was to high risk for me to be driving the vehicle had it no longer had insurance on it at this time I had still not received my vehicle due to Chery SA putting a axel on the vehicle for testing which Dean had only told me about on the 7th of May 2024 which I later found out from his manager that they had known about it since the the 20th of April 2024 yet Dean had not mentioned anything about it prior. I had arrangements for Dean to pick up the vehicle on the 8th of May 2024 from my workplace after making arrangements at my employment. On the morning of the 8th of May 2024 I had confirmed with Dean regarding the picking up of the vehicle and them having due give me a courtesy car due to the all the delays on their side and he had said yes its all set up and confirmed the time and I had sent through the address(screenshots are provided). Then an hour later he messaged me asking if they could pick the vehicle up on the morning of the 9th of May 2024, considering the arrangements I had to make to accommodate the picking up of my vehicle I asked Dean to pick up the vehicle on the 11th of May 2024(Saturday) as it was just a day away and much more convenient for me.

On the 10th of May 2024 I had messaged Dean to find out if there was a time frame when my new vehicle would be ready and he rep**** saying that I would have it by Friday the next week. On the Saturday when the courtesy car was dropped of and before Dean had being communicating with me and after the vehicle was dropped off called me and asked me if everything was good and I told him it was and then we had a conversation about the delivery of my vehicle and I told him I was available on the Thursday and Friday which would be the 16th and 17th of May 2024 he then responded he would get back to me on Monday after speaking to his manager. On the Monday after not receiving any communication from Dean I then messaged him to find out about the delivery which he didn't respond to but brought up the Grand I10. On Tuesday the 14th of May 2024 I then reached out to Dean who didn't respond and it came across that he was ignoring me. On Wednesday I again reached out to Dean who didn't respond. It was only after attempting to call him he had responded saying he'll check with his manager. After trying to contact him and the manager I then received communication that the vehicle would be delivered on the Saturday which I had communicated to Dean that I was not available. I had requested previously to speak to the manager and was told by Dean it would happen and he'll follow up, only to find out that the manager had not been told about the getting in touch with me.

After speaking to the manager it was arranged for the delivery on the 17th of May 2024. The manager had contacted me for my address but failed to tell me that the vehicle would be driven up as this now breaches the contract I had signed which stated that the vehicle had 0 kilometers on it. I immediately contacted the manager Dean Smook and asked where it was agreed upon that the vehicle would be driven up because on my invoice it states that the vehicle is new and has 0 kms which is now incorrect and the vehicle is no longer a new vehicle. We spoke and came to an agreement that they would pay my first instalment to make up for this and they would still keep the previous agreement of paying my first insurance instalment. Upon inspection of the vehicle I found the passenger side mirror damaged. I again called the manager and sent him evidence of the damage and we had a conversation which concluded that they would still keep the first two agreements, a replacement vehicle would now be given and I had told him that there needs to be a further discussion regarding compensation for all this inconvenience they have caused me.

This has been the most stressful, frustrating and inconvenient past 3 weeks. I only dealt with this dealership through recommendation but I would never recommend them to anyone. The amount of stress and inconvenice they have caused me in 3 weeks is something I would not want for someone. Considering the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 which regards fair and honest dealings as well good quality from suppliers this doesn't meet the act and is going to be taken further.

There is no professionalism and customer service is poor. I was told that the Sales agent would be getting a warning and I hope this is carried out but I don't feel that's good enough considering everything.