A large number of UK firms are engaged in 'car matching' services here, writes David Labanyi
The Office of Fair Trading is examining a number of complaints about UK firms claiming to be able to find buyers for cars being sold by Irish motorists.
More than 80 complaints a week are being made by motorists in Ireland about the activities of a number of so-called "vehicle matching" companies. These firms guarantee to match a buyer and seller in return for a fee.
Complaints have also been brought to the attention of the European Consumer Centre (ECC) and the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation.
Vehicle matching firms trawl though adverts in magazines such as Car Buyers Guide, Autotrader or online car sites Carzone.ie and then phone private car sellers offering to put them in contact with a buyer if they register, or pay a deposit.
But the problem, says Mary Denise Reilly, an ECC spokeswoman, is the promised buyers often don't materialise. "Our main argument against these companies is that what is promised over the phone is not delivered and they hide behind the terms and conditions in their contracts."
Aiden Cronin, sales manager of Car Buyer's Guide said the company is receiving in excess of 30 complaints a week over unsolicited sales calls from companies in the UK. "These companies claim to have potential buyers within a 10-mile radius of your location in Ireland. Upon payment of a fee, often in excess of €100, they promise to disclose this contact list. Not one of our customers has ever obtained that list or been contacted by people on it."
Denis Aldritt from Co Laois was contacted by one such firm after placing an ad for two cars he wanted to sell in an Irish magazine.
"I got a phone call from this company in England basically saying they had a buyer for my type of car at just €200 under the asking price. So I jumped at it. They were pretty pushy so I gave them my credit card details there and then on the phone.
"I thought there would be buyers queuing up to the door. But that was it. No one. Basically I was naive, and after a couple of days it dawned on me, but by then it was too late. I rang to complain but they said they had placed an ad on their website and that was their service."
To understand how these firms operate, Motors placed an ad with Car Buyer's Guide. Ten days later Motors was called by an agent from one of these firms.
He explained he was from a "vehicle matching company" and was calling because "we have accumulated enough interest on the type of vehicle you are selling in your area. We can also get you the full asking price."
When asked if he had a buyer for the car he replied: "Yes. The only reason we would have called you is that we can guarantee to keep on sending you buyers out for the car you are selling at the full asking price."
Motors paid the £79.99 (about €115) registration fee and a couple of days later received an advertising receipt stating terms and conditions. This specified: "We try to aid you with a sale by advertising your vehicle but there are no guarantees of sale."
The firm did place the details of our vehicle on its website but not a single call from a buyer on the company's database was received. When the company was subsequently asked if they had overstated the likelihood of a sale, a spokesman said the sales pitch had been given to the company by the UK Trading Standards Office. However, he was unable to provide a copy of this script or read through it to see how it compared with the approach used with Motors.
He said the company's sales team did not state a specific number of possible buyers, or a specific timeframe for the deal to be completed, as this would be misleading, according to rules from the Office of Trading Standards.
The spokesman was unable to say how many Irish-based people have registered with the service, or how many complaints the company had received from Ireland.
Some ehicle matching companies operate close to the edge of consumer and data protection rules. To circumvent rules on cold calling, most preface their sales pitch with a number of questions. This allows them to term the phone call as marketing, rather than a sales pitch with the objective of selling a service.
However, the key difficulty appears to be the verbal nature of the contract which leaves many consumers with the strong impression that a sale is almost confirmed, whereas the terms and conditions of most of these companies make no such claim.
Because the companies attracting these complaints operate outside of the Republic, the ECC has referred the complaints to their UK colleagues.
The difficulties associated with proving a sales call is misleading has led the Office of Fair Trading scambusters team passing many of the complaints to local trading standards offices.
The ECC has also brought the issue to the attention of the Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs and the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation. Complaints have been made about 14 different companies.
An ODCA spokeswoman said because the companies were outside the jurisdiction, they could not investigate. "Someone telling us they were verbally told their car would be sold is no good to us. It is no evidence of any sort. The companies are cleverly staying within the bounds of the law."
However, the ODCA website carries a warning about unsolicited phone calls offering help to sell a car. It suggests consumers should thoroughly check any offer before committing.
"Scammers will ask for either a deposit or full payment, in cash or by credit card. They will fail to tell you about your legal rights. They will want to rush your decision and not provide you with any terms and conditions before you pay," the ODCA says.