Heartlessly exploited and financially ruined.

In October 2023 I financed my vehicle an A5 Audi 2022 model valued at R669000 through Wesbank (Audi Financial Services). The application was submitted by Mr Shimon of Audi Menlyn, and as I am based in Welkom all communication and documents were sent via WhatsApp. I was asked how much I could afford and I indicated R11000 to R11500 per month.

I was duly informed by the salesperson that my application had been successful and proceeded to commute from Welkom to Pretoria to collect the car. I was informed that the car dealership's system was 'off line' and that I had to sign an e -contract which would be emailed a day later. This was done in haste as I had to drive back to Welkom with the following.

I was informed that my monthly installment was R11 717 over 72 months. I was later to discover when I requested the e-contract 5 months later that I had signed for a balloon payment of a whopping R267 998.00. This effectively meant that I was paying this exhorbitant amount for a debt of (669 000 - 267 998.00) R401 002. I am 62 years old which means I am only left with 3 years of active employment and worried about this arrangement I frantically approached Wesbank and offered to either refinance the deal or restructure the contract offering to pay an installment of R15 000.00 but was summarilly told that I had signed the deal and the bank could not do anything about it. It was only when I asked whether they would rather lose the deal to another bank that they started talking and offered that I could pay the R15000 I offered and hope that it will cover the balloon payment at the end of the 72 months term, nothing else no refinancing no restructuring. I feel hard done by the banks attitude to me as I have had over 20 years of uninterrupted and well-serviced vehicle finance accounts with them and I lso have a very good credit record that at the end of the day counts for nothing as they are hellbent on extracting as much as they can from me rather than consider my request for refinancing this highly inconsiderate and at my age unsustainable deal. I feel abused and exploited by the car dealership in cahoots with Wesbank.