Mercland committing fraud? And unauthorized use of customer vehicle

[Vinyardino]

In addition to a previous post - Mercland has the worst customer service | General Discussion - Here is my experience

Dear fellow MB-ers,

I have an odd situation, and hopefully I can explain it well without to much fuzz. My question at the end will be, what would you do now and it’s concerning 3 things.

• I brought the car (in my opinion) within the warranty period and Mercland says no
• Mercland has sold me a warranty that never existed
• Mercland has driven my car after confirmation it’s repaired for personal use

Jan 2023 I bought an s205 estate with extended warranty at Mercland.

Jan 16 2023 I had my car delivered from Mercland (Nuneaton) at my home and could then say that I was (and still am) a super proud owner of a Mercedes-Benz s205, 64 plate. Within a few days I noticed the car cranked longer than it should do on a normal start. This was the start of a 7 Months up-and-down driving to Mercland where I missed the car for 6 weeks in total and almost 2000 miles extra miles on it for 'test driving'. I write it like 'this' because I got penalty fines in the mailbox from missing toll payments in London (almost 3hrs away / 140miles from Mercland) which I thought is odd since there was a high chance of the car getting in limp mode. After those 7 Months, the car was fine and all repairs were under Mercland's own 6 Months warranty, fine.

Sept 2023, the Audio 20 system failed. Not an uncommon failure I discovered online. Mercland advised me this is now covered by the extended warranty (RAC) and not with Mercland anymore. Ok. I didn't know this, because I have never received any info on RAC and was until then in the assumption the warranty for the whole duration was with Mercland. Looking at the RAC website, it says the garage will send all information of the repair and thought I would be contacted. I paid for the service at Mercland and as time progressed I forgot about it.

Jan 7th 2025, I brought the car to Mercland for a major service. Jan 11th, in the morning, my car didn't start (at my home). This is where it gets interesting.

The AA through my insurance arrived Jan 12th in the early morning and was not able to find the fault. An emergency vehicle was called to take my car away. I called Mercland, since the car in is service there AND I bought the warranty with them, to ask if they can take the car. That was possible. When the car was on its way to Mercland, I wrote an extensive e-mail to explain what happened with the car to help the mechanics. Also, I asked for the details on my warranty since it would expire the 16th (2 years later). They didn't reply on it. On the phone I asked for it and the person on the phone would e-mail me the information as soon as possible, but never received it.

My thoughts were, that Mercland would contact RAC (since that is what I saw on the RAC website) and that Mercland would take car of it then. But after so many days it started to bug me and asked for it again via email. Jay replied that they stopped sales and the system is difficult to get in but would sent me the information as soon as possible. Also, he said the warranty would have expired now anyway. I still need to receive any info on the warranty and replied that the warranty is now expired yes, but not when I brought the car in and that I would call him the next morning. So I did. In the meantime I had contact with RAC by phone and email and via both ways I received a reply that they were unable to find any information on me or the car. I did made them aware the warranty would have been expired by now.

Got Janki on the phone and she said, you bought the car on Jan 4th, so the warranty started then. I was stunned. I said the car was delivered on the 16th but she kept saying the 4th is the day. With some arguing on the phone I started a hypothetical scenario. I buy a car on Jan 1 without an extended warranty, so 6 Months only. I will receive the car March 1. Is the then 2 Months of warranty wasted? Janki said no that is to extreme, 1 or 2 days will be the day of purchase, but this is extreme. I said, mine is 12 days, where do you draw the line?? She never answered the question.

The car is fixed after more than 4 weeks (that means the car has been at Mercland more than 10 weeks in 2 years) and when picking it up I asked for the warranty information again. She started with the 4th again and that it is expired now. I acknowledged and said that is not what I asked. I want to see the information of the warranty, because how do I know I actually ever had warranty with RAC like you said I had? She would sent the information the following day. I didn't receive it and sent a friendly reminder at the end of the day that I want it the following day. Also no reply.

I sent an e-mail to RAC, the National Conciliation Services and to Mercland. I wrote that I would take steps as this is fraud . Mercland has sold me something that has never been there. It costed me extra money and I would never service my car all the way with Mercland if the warranty was not with them (there are Mercedes specialists closer to my home).

When I had the car returned, I looked at the dashcam footage. Here I can see many different journeys with my car by the owner after Mercland had informed me the car is ready to be collected. For example journeys to their home or bringing a parcel to be posted. This all without informing me.

So here it is, the end of my story and the question I have, what would you do now? To reclaim the money paid, but also to make whoever aware that Mercland has committed fraud and paying me for the use of my car?!

Many thanks everybody for your time!

Regards,

Vinyardino

PS - I did sent an email before I was going to pick up the car that this is my first car purchase in the UK and would like Vish (who sold me the car) to go through the paperwork with me.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

I am not a solicitor. If I was I would charge you a three figure sum for this commentary.

An allegation of fraud is not "fraud." It is your allegation. It's only fraud after the police have investigated the evidence of an allegation, deemed it valid, agreed with the Crown Prosecution Service to take the case to the Magistrates Court, then taken it to Court (probably in 2026) and then ONLY if the Magistrates agree that it's fraud.

Purchase takes place when contract is signed and payment made, not when delivery takes place. The item becomes yours when you contract to take it, not when you receive it.

From what you've said, I'm pretty sure that the police wouldn't take it to the CPS, and that the CPS wouldn't take it to the Magistrates Court. If they did, you'd be looking at 2026 before it reaches the Magistrates Court, after spending a fair chunk of time and money preparing all the paperwork involved.

Sorry that it's not the news you want to hear, but it's the cost and nature of the legal process.

 

[Vinyardino]

First of all thanks for replying and 100% agree. This is all my interpretation , no court or any official entity has been involved to back-up my interpretation, hence the question marks.
If it is true it's the day of signing then that is what it is of course. But long story short, long and most likely unsuccessful process is what I understand?
Thanks

I am not a solicitor. If I was I would charge you a three figure sum for this commentary.

An allegation of fraud is not "fraud." It is your allegation. It's only fraud after the police have investigated the evidence of an allegation, deemed it valid, agreed with the Crown Prosecution Service to take the case to the Magistrates Court, then taken it to Court (probably in 2026) and then ONLY if the Magistrates agree that it's fraud.

Purchase takes place when contract is signed and payment made, not when delivery takes place. The item becomes yours when you contract to take it, not when you receive it.

From what you've said, I'm pretty sure that the police wouldn't take it to the CPS, and that the CPS wouldn't take it to the Magistrates Court. If they did, you'd be looking at 2026 before it reaches the Magistrates Court, after spending a fair chunk of time and money preparing all the paperwork involved.

Sorry that it's not the news you want to hear, but it's the cost and nature of the legal process.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

First of all thanks for replying and 100% agree. This is all my interpretation , no court or any official entity has been involved to back-up my interpretation, hence the question marks.
If it is true it's the day of signing then that is what it is of course. But long story short, long and most likely unsuccessful process is what I understand?
Thanks

I have similar "ish" advice for people who are furious on other minor purchases and issues with contractors. It's really tough, expensive, and "heavy on the laundry" to take stuff to Magistrates Court, and it really should be avoided where possible. Because you end up burning a lot of energy and money trying to support your side of the case, which probably won't win when the administrators and lawyers start climbing over everything. The usual cliche is that "there are two sides to every story."

 

[whitenemesis]

Purchase takes place when contract is signed and payment made, not when delivery takes place. The item becomes yours when you contract to take it, not when you receive it.

Not necessarily the case, one needs to check the sales T&Cs. As an example, from a well know retailer website..

"7.8 Each Product remains our property until you have paid for it in full or we have provided the Product to you (whichever occurs later), whereupon you will own the Product."

 

[ALFAitalia]

It's not like that with cars and caravans.... the car purchase and transfer of ownership is the day of collection not the day the order is signed.....the warranty starts that day too. Been like that everywhere I've worked.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

It's not like that with cars and caravans.... the car purchase and transfer of ownership is the day of collection not the day the order is signed.....the warranty starts that day too. Been like that everywhere I've worked.

I stand corrected. Apologies...

 

[m80]

I'm guessing that while you would like someone to kick their butt for being corrupt,
it is the financial compensation that is a greater concern. That bit is separate from any illegal considerations and comes under County Court or High Court.
County Court, imo, is clumsy and often frustrating due to being inept, but 'might' be worth a punt. Originally designed to be a less formal way to achieve resolution it has become as procedural as the more formal.

The High Court is a greater gamble due to the outlay required to get there. The many £,000's to do that may be more than the losses.
And awards for expenses can be just as much a gamble.

Of course with both these routes the defender may not call your bluff and instead go for settlement by negotiation.

All in my non professional, but cynical through bad experience, opinion.

 

[philnewmerc]

I wouldn't comment on an individual or company I don't know. All I will say is every single time I've bought from a trader my opinion of them has been extremely low. And whether through luck or instinct every deal done with a private seller/buyer has gone very smoothly. Personally I'd recommend you sever relations leave a review and move on, as fighting this sort of thing is very draining, however justified it is. (And to be clear, I'm not saying who's in the right here.)

 

[markjay]

Sorry to hear about your troubles.

If I understand correctly, then a 2-Year RAC warranty was either bundled into the car's price, ot was sold to you separately when buying the car, is this correct?

And, you are suggesting that said warranty was never purchased for your car by the seller?

If my assumptions above are correct, then what is your financial damage here?

The question is whether the seller fixed all issues FOC to you within the 2-Year period, or have you paid out of your own pocket for repairs that would have been covered by the RAC warranty, had it been purchased for your car?

From your post, it sounds as if you had to pay the seller the cost of the last repair done, is this correct? If so, by how much are out of pocket?

 

[morzov]

Vinyardino

There appear to be a few crucial details missing from your chronology regarding the second episode of repair commencing Jan 2025 which makes it difficult to be clear about what has happened.

As far as I can see regarding the breakdown on Jan 12 2025, you don't give any details of the repair work or the cost and importantly who paid for the repairs.

If you paid but consider that it should have been covered by an RAC warranty (or failing that by Mercland themselves) then presumably you wish to recover that cost.

Which route you would take for potential recovery will probably depend upon the amount involved.

Just seen Markjay beat me to it! - you need to give more info

 

[Fastcar155]

I wouldn't comment on an individual or company I don't know. All I will say is every single time I've bought from a trader my opinion of them has been extremely low. And whether through luck or instinct every deal done with a private seller/buyer has gone very smoothly. Personally I'd recommend you sever relations leave a review and move on, as fighting this sort of thing is very draining, however justified it is. (And to be clear, I'm not saying who's in the right here.)

I believe that is very good advice