So....after paying a viewing deposit of £99 I arrived at the Sheffield branch at just after 5pm. I waited a little while to be greeted by a sales agent we will call Tom. We went for a quick chat I had made it plain on a couple of emails prior to my arrival I did not need any finance/loan for the vehicle and I had made it equally plain that I had done my own online history checks of the vehicle (Audi) before arrival....Big hint here to all - Always pay for an online car check report as it could save you thousands and lots of heartache and it gives you plenty of information on the car...anyway car keys were produced and we went off for a short test drive...all seemed good. On return I was left to look over the car and had printed out my own vehicle check list and spent a good deal of time checking the vehicle over to some bemusement of a couple of sales staff! Surely they would do the same themselves if buying a car I thought. Next was the expected sit down sales chat....ooh yes the add ons..which I knew were coming....first the £149 admin fee......supposedly on another post they were told it was optional...uh no never ever was it mentioned it was optional by Tom..mmm I thought what do I really get for that admin fee: a) oh the car will come with a valet....so every car I have previously bought has always been clean and sparkling when handed over at no cost..so I am basically asking for it to be handed over clean then ! b) next V5 paperwork....aaah you mean fill in the slip for change of ownership and hand it to the new owner so they can put it in an envelope and send it off to DVLC (cost = first class stamp) c) HPI check - I told the agent I had done my own due diligence check and paid for that the day before (cost 3 checks for £5.00 online each so what did they need to check that I had not already? d) 114 point inspection...well this is surely the basics if I owned Car Shop I would be obliged to undertake an inspection before selling on the car...not pass this cost onto the future customer...better option for customers to take an experienced mechanic with you if you can and let them do the vehicle inspection for you as it will be truly independent and should provide you piece of mind. Tom then spent an inordinate amount of time walking back and forth around the dealership and not really concentrating on just the one customer...me. Tom spent a number of times at either the front sales desk or had to go and speak with what appeared to be another customer. At one point I could see there was a heated exchange between himself and one of the probable business managers and I pretty much read this as you are not selling it hard enough to the customer. I then caught up with him at the sales desk and asked what the delay was but he promised he would be back soon as I was to be handed over to a business manager.....I sat down for another 20 minutes wait! Tom returned..... Now back to another part of the admin fee....and I asked about the following: e) Checks on documentation supplied and service history - So I asked for the MoT certificate and I was verbally told a date for the last MoT and shown a certificate which showed no advisories...in fact it had very little information on it ! Service history - surely they could produce this important piece of documentation.....aaaah no not really we don't have that and told that it could have previously been a fleet car and therefore I think to myself who buys a car without fully knowing and seeing evidence of the service history ! So we get onto the extras....GardX....mmm £299....uh perhaps not I have a very good friend who has a professional car valet business who does it for less. Tom disappears returns and offers what about £50 less off the GardX....perhaps Tom has had a long day I thought and again said No. I then requested and received the Car Shop checklist for the car....tyre treads I spot...2mm...so I ask what is the legal limit....mmmm pause...types in Google...answer 1.6mm....oh so I stated it would not be long before I need to replace both rear tyres then ? Well we don't let vehicles leave the dealership with illegal tyres...so what does that 2mm figure mean...ie 2mm above the legal limit or just 2mm ? Answer received - We would have replaced and put new tyres on the car....my answer - Really ? I asked Show me the paperwork of tyre purchase and fitting.....(pause) well they may not be new tyres.....So I reply which one is the real answer....New tyres fitted or not so new tyres? Look of confusion on sales agents face and I reply 'You don't which it is and I don't believe you and this is where I stop. I got up and started to leave and one of the possible senior sales agents asked on my way out if everything was alright I said No I am leaving. So the moral of the above blog and some free advice : 1. If you pay are thinking of paying any sort of deposit on a car that is less than £30000 use a credit card and pay a minimum of at least £100 you are then protected by Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Card Act...so if you then pay the rest of the balance of the car off by other means = bank transfer etc the initial paid deposit on your credit card will ensure that any additional payment of balance is also protected = any dispute you have with Car Shop you can directly pursue through the credit card company = much less pain. 2. Do your homework on the car you are going to buy...it's not a small purchase and you don't want it to be a dud - Check paperwork/history meticulously - take an experienced mechanic with you if you can. 3. Consumer Rights Act 2015...easily found on the internet = Knowing your rights = Good Read 4. Perhaps you could follow my own previous route and search out the CEO's contact details and contact them as they are usually not that hard to find. This move unsurprisingly usually provides the major impetus for someone a lot higher than your sales agent to contact you directly from the company to deal with your complaint in a much more expedient manner than it may have done otherwise. 5. If all else fails then there is Trading Standards, Motor Industry Ombudsman and sometimes best of all the small claims court for legal recourse to recouping your money.....so don't wait forever on promises of getting your money back. I deal with many international customers on a daily basis...as I said to the sales agent 'Managing the Customer relationship' is fundamental and key in my line of work. Underpinning this is ensuring the customer feels completely valued at all times which was an ultimate fail and an Alan Sugar 'Your Fired' moment on this occasion. The baseline of my day-to-day work revolves around true facts and meticulously sourced hard evidence and could never be based solely on the words of someone I have never met or worked with before.