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Charged $500 for not signing a contract to lease a car.

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harry88

Junior Member
I was trying to lease a car and found a dealer online in the state of Nebraska and I live in another state. The sales guy over the phone asked for my credit card number to secure a car at another dealership. I do not recall us ever talking about cost if I did not sign the contract nor did I ever sign anything authorizing the charge. I ended up not going through with the deal and told the dealer I was going to pass on the deal. The dealer told me over text message he would charge my card $500 dollars because they had to trade with another dealer and had to pay to have it shipped over to there dealership. Before I dispute the charge on my credit card, I wanted to see if they have any right to charge me this fee. Again I never signed anything and nothing was ever sent to me explaining that a deposit was non refundable or that I would be charged. The only thing I sent them was a driver license and my insurance card and credit card over the phone.
 


quincy

Senior Member
I was trying to lease a car and found a dealer online in the state of Nebraska and I live in another state. The sales guy over the phone asked for my credit card number to secure a car at another dealership. I do not recall us ever talking about cost if I did not sign the contract nor did I ever sign anything authorizing the charge. I ended up not going through with the deal and told the dealer I was going to pass on the deal. The dealer told me over text message he would charge my card $500 dollars because they had to trade with another dealer and had to pay to have it shipped over to there dealership. Before I dispute the charge on my credit card, I wanted to see if they have any right to charge me this fee. Again I never signed anything and nothing was ever sent to me explaining that a deposit was non refundable or that I would be charged. The only thing I sent them was a driver license and my insurance card and credit card over the phone.
Excuse me, but do I understand your situation right? You handed over your credit card number, your driver's license number and your insurance card to someone online without discussing anything about costs first?

Yikes.

What state in the U.S. do you live in?
 

harry88

Junior Member
cost

We discussed the cost of the car but not a cost if i did not go through with signing the contract.
 

OHRoadwarrior

Senior Member
You made a verbal contract. State laws regarding verbal contracts matter. You recourse will likely be to dispute the charge through your CC company. They will asses the situation and decide.
 

latigo

Senior Member
You made a verbal contract. State laws regarding verbal contracts matter. You recourse will likely be to dispute the charge through your CC company. They will asses the situation and decide.
Well bless us all! OH has it partially right for a pleasant change.

At least to the limited sense of his “guessing” that an “oral contract” was struck between the OP and the Nebraska dealership.

And that “State laws regarding verbal contracts matter”.

Other than that, and unless the over the telephone “discussions” were about a car lease for a term of less than 365 days and particularly in view of one particular Nebraska “state law” he has missed the mark again.
_________________

"2006 Nebraska Code - § 36-202 — Agreements; writing required, when.
Section 36-202


Agreements; writing required, when.

In the following cases every agreement shall be void, unless such agreement, or some note or memorandum thereof, be in writing, and subscribed by the party to be charged therewith:

(1) Every agreement that, by its terms, is not to be performed within one year from the making thereof": (Emphasis supplied)
_______________

What sayeth now, roadkill?
 

LeeHarveyBlotto

Senior Member
You made a verbal contract. State laws regarding verbal contracts matter. You recourse will likely be to dispute the charge through your CC company. They will asses the situation and decide.
You left out "may have". There's not remotely enough information given to make this declaration with certainty.
 
are you guys wrong much? It depends on your CC company as to whether or not you can get the charge back. Private cards like AMEX and Discover are a lot more understanding when it comes to these sort of things. You did not get goods/ services for your money. What I would do if I backed out of a deal later would be to ask them to credit back half the charge of my deposit and they could keep the rest. They can always change the terms of the deal later and you have to be able to walk away. If they do not go for that then I would open a dispute with the CC company and it does not matter about any verbal agreement, you could agree that the world is flat and they could disagree, they have to prove that you agreed to the terms and conditions and unless they have you audio tape or a signed receipt they can not do that. You have options, good luck.
 

OHRoadwarrior

Senior Member
Nice try Latigo, unfortunately this was not a contract to lease a car. This was a contract to obtain the car to lease. They can be considered two different activities. One for which I am sure could be accomplished in less than a year. :cool: Thx for playing though.



Well bless us all! OH has it partially right for a pleasant change.

At least to the limited sense of his “guessing” that an “oral contract” was struck between the OP and the Nebraska dealership.

And that “State laws regarding verbal contracts matter”.

Other than that, and unless the over the telephone “discussions” were about a car lease for a term of less than 365 days and particularly in view of one particular Nebraska “state law” he has missed the mark again.
_________________


_______________

What sayeth now, roadkill?
 

harry88

Junior Member
RESOLUTION to this issue

This is for everyone out there that has bean ripped off by a dealer or had a security deposit unfairly taken.

To my knowledge every state has a (department of dealer licensing). Every dealership has to register with the state they are located in. You need to google "department of dealer licensing nebraska" for example. Call this department and tell them what happen. They will tell you how to file a complaint. Apparently dealers can not sell cars if their license is taken away for to many complaints, so they will most likely comply with request to resolve the issue from this government department.

Hope that helps all the people who have been dealt with unfairly while trying to procure a car.
 

quincy

Senior Member
This is for everyone out there that has bean ripped off by a dealer or had a security deposit unfairly taken.

To my knowledge every state has a (department of dealer licensing). Every dealership has to register with the state they are located in. You need to google "department of dealer licensing nebraska" for example. Call this department and tell them what happen. They will tell you how to file a complaint. Apparently dealers can not sell cars if their license is taken away for to many complaints, so they will most likely comply with request to resolve the issue from this government department.

Hope that helps all the people who have been dealt with unfairly while trying to procure a car.
And the name of your state is what, exactly, harry88?

You provided the name of the dealership's state (which was nice) but where you reside can matter, too. That is why this forum requests of all visitors who come here with a question to provide the name of their state.

Thanks.
 

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