Guyanese consumers continue to be victims of multi-million dollar scams perpetrated by unscrupulous motor vehicle dealers who employ various schemes to cause car buyers to pay hundreds of thousands more for vehicles than was originally agreed.
In an interview with Stabroek Business earlier this week, Director of the Consumer Affairs Division of the Ministry of Tourism Muriel Tinnis and Consumer Affairs Officer Kirshana Archer provided details of some of the harrowing times that some consumers experience after purchasing vehicles from used car establishments. Stabroek Business was given the name of one local motor car dealer whom the Consumer Affairs Division officials say is “notorious” for unscrupulous deals.
Consumer woes, according to Archer, frequently begin with them signing blank “agreements” based on a verbal understanding with the dealer regarding the cost of a vehicle. “The dealer may, for example agree to take a relatively small deposit, say, $100,000 and agree to accept monthly payments of $50,000. As far as the consumer is aware the price of the car may be $1,400,000.”
However, Archer told this newspaper that once the verbal deal is done, the completed, legally-binding contract could turn up with a different price that could be double what the consumer originally understood the price to be.
Asked why consumers would run the risk of signing blank contract forms Tinnis said that it very often has to do with the fact that they are taken in by “the deal” which they think that they are being offered in the first place. “In most cases people accept because they simply want to own a car after which time of delivery [which could be three to four months] and interest rates arise. People should not sign blank contracts.”
And according to Archer while several such cases have been brought to the attention of the Consumer Affairs Division, the best that it is able to do is to secure a partial refund. “There is a particular dealer who is aware that we know what he is up to. There is, however, little we can do in the absence of evidence. In fact, we are aware that one commercial bank has stopped lending money for car purchases from that particular dealer.”
Archer told Stabroek Business that there are cases in which consumers end up purchasing “seriously defective vehicles” on account of their failure to make sound judgements. She explained that there are instances where consumers may have become so overwhelmed at the thought of owning a car that they neglect to “have the necessary mechanical checks done. “Sometimes you are inclined to believe that some of these cars are rigged in such a manner as to get you from the dealer to your home. After that they cease to function properly,” Tinnis said.
And according to Archer consumer dissatisfaction in the motor vehicle industry arises out of “warranty issues.” She explained that in many instances cars purchased from local dealers only benefit from partial warranties. These, she said, “frequently apply to repairs that would not cost the dealer very much. You rarely get a warranty for defects that have to do with your engine,” for example.
And while both Tinnis and Archer told Stabroek Business that the Department has been able to respond to “an increasing number of cases” they insisted that much of the problem can be eradicated if only consumers would take the precaution of reading. They explained that while consumers might find the idea of reading contracts tedious, taking the trouble to read can actually save them a great deal of worry and money.
