The consumer’s issue:
“I purchased a new car and the specification was agreed prior to the sale. This, amongst other things, included tinted windows. It has now come to my attention that the tinted windows haven’t been fitted. I would therefore like the business to put me back in the position I would’ve been in had they fulfilled our agreed contract.”
The accredited business’ response:
- We explained to the customer that this was an error and apologised that it hadn’t been picked up prior to delivery.
- We therefore offered to refund the £400 that the consumer had paid for the tinted windows, and said that we could arrange for a film to be applied to the windows that would give the same effect as tinted windows.
The adjudication outcome:
- The Motor Ombudsman adjudicator upheld the customer’s complaint because she said that the car wasn’t as described, and therefore recommended that the dealership ordered the tinted windows and had them fitted to the car.
- The consumer accepted the adjudication outcome, but the business disagreed.
- The seller said that having retrofitted tinted windows could potentially result in damage to the car due to other parts being impacted during the work. As a result, they would be willing to consider an alternative settlement and requested a final decision from the ombudsman.
The ombudsman’s final decision
- The ombudsman said it had taken the consumer eight months to notice that the car didn’t have tinted windows.
- She also said the only reason the customer had noticed this was due to the business sending him a copy of the vehicle order form.
- The ombudsman acknowledged that the consumer had paid for them and therefore would have wanted to have them fitted. However, she didn’t think they were detrimental to his decision to purchase the car.
- The ombudsman noted that the customer had, had the car for over a year and there were no defects with it, so didn’t think this warranted the rejection or the replacement of the vehicle.
- The ombudsman also remarked that both the business and consumer had shown concerns in having retrofitted tinted windows due to the parts that would be affected during the window replacement.
- She said there was a risk that this replacement may cause unintended damage to the car and therefore this wasn’t a feasible remedy.
- The ombudsman concluded that the tinted windows are unlikely to have impacted the consumer’s decision to purchase the car, meaning a fair and reasonable solution was to refund the money the customer had paid for the windows only.
