Cancelled S4

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Ad72

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A few weeks ago I had reason to cancel my S4 Saloon order. The reasons being one of the then current personal situation and the other that it just want sitting right with me. The dealer did nothing to try and convince me other wise, I haven't even test driven one and getting my deposit back has been a nightmare. Having only managing to get half back after escalating it to the dealer principle. So I'm £500 down, no Audi UK help in retrieving my deposit and a dealer who clearly doesn't care I've had a complete rethink. My personal situation worries were a false alarm and I was soon back in the market for a new car, maybe an Audi or something of similar value to the S4 but having been treated IMO less than professionally I've been looking at other makes. I've done the tour of various dealers, new and used and one stood out for courteousness, professionalism and most of all the product. So I've placed an order for a CLA 45 AMG shooting brake. I await you your comments of it only being a four banger engine and the iPad stuck on the dash but I just jelled with it. It's expensive for what it is with poor discounts but IMIO different enough to stand out and the way it drives was enough to seal the deal.
I however think that if my dealer had been more attentive I'd still be in an Audi


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Sorry to hear of your bad experience. The worst part of my ownership was the dealer. I how the Mercedes makes you happy.

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You was lucky enough to get something back from Audi, Mercedes would be no different if you cancelled a car order with them. Look at the small print. Ordering a car requires a deposit which 9/10 is non refundable. This is up to the point you collect your car. That contract is not like a mobile phone where you have a 14 days cooling off period. I don't think the likes of Ford or Vauxhall would have given your deposit back, so in my eyes Audi have behaved fairly. They didn't have to refund you nothing, they didn't force you to order the S4.

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I'm glad you're now happy but my observations on this episode are these. The dealer is under no legal obligation to return your deposit even though you feel aggrieved that they've only given you 50% back. But more shocking was your admission that you never even had a test drive! My god, you're spending at least £45,000 and you didn't go for a test drive. Don't you think you were under some obligation to ensure this was the car for you? Placing a signed order is not a statement of intent, it is a contract. And I have a nagging suspicion that (pre) buyer' remorse is maybe more of the reason why you changed your mind. Perhaps suddenly the CLA looked a better bet for you?
I do think that dealers often get a bad press and in many cases rightfully so but I also think that sometimes we treat them badly.
Anyway I'm glad that you're happy with your new CLA.


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I'm not surprised by some of the typical Audi response above
I'm fully aware of the small print and the contract. I ordered to secure a build slot and promised a test drive, the test drive never happened as they couldn't locate a car, sales guy off etc even though they had an S4 on site. The point of the post was that IMO car dealers of late, especially Audi are loosing a bit of good old customer service and selling due to low interest rates and big discounts.


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Refund must be at the discretion of the dealer, before they were released I put £1k down on an SQ5 plus, then started second guessing myself. Admittedly dieselgate played a big part and about 3 weeks later I cancelled the order. The car was already locked so Perth were committed to take it in my spec, including a towbar, but they willingly refunded me in full.

About 1 week later I reordered it, despite my faffing about they couldn't have been more helpful.
 
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Ad72 said:
I'm not surprised by some of the typical Audi response above
emoji3.png

I'm fully aware of the small print and the contract. I ordered to secure a build slot and promised a test drive, the test drive never happened as they couldn't locate a car, sales guy off etc even though they had an S4 on site. The point of the post was that IMO car dealers of late, especially Audi are loosing a bit of good old customer service and selling due to low interest rates and big discounts.


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Click to expand...
I think if you shine a mirror on yourself you just might see that not all the fault lies with Audi (if any!). Do you really think that you just changing your mind is good enough reason for Audi to give all your deposit back.
 
Ad72 said:
I'm not surprised by some of the typical Audi response above
I'm fully aware of the small print and the contract. I ordered to secure a build slot and promised a test drive, the test drive never happened as they couldn't locate a car, sales guy off etc even though they had an S4 on site. The point of the post was that IMO car dealers of late, especially Audi are loosing a bit of good old customer service and selling due to low interest rates and big discounts.


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Click to expand...
I wouldn't judge them as being 'typical Audi response' but being good advice if I was you. However perhaps the best is, now you've made your choice, to move on. There are always going to be good and bad dealerships, and I know of some in here who have had equally a 'poor' deal with Mercedes to end up buying an Audi....
 
I read a successful thread on the MB forum where a guy ordered a C43 but then lost his job, he managed to get someone to take on the order, so got his deposit back.
Personal circumstances change, but the fact you ordered a Merc sounds like you might have cried wolf a bit early, I assume you tried to get your deposit back on distance selling regs, but normally you have to take delivery before that takes effect. Or there's a 14 day cooling off period? Outside of this getting 50% back you've done well.

I owned the c class with the stuck on iPad, and actually I thought it was fine from a design and useable perspective, my criticism is the MB software is slow and not very intuitive. My criticism of Mercedes in general is that they are shocking, especially when there seems to be manufacturing defects.

At the end of the day, what's done is done, the cla is a nice car, so enjoy it, and maybe in future you'll return back to the Audi fold.
 
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The big question is at what point the order was cancelled. Audi's small print may well state that the deposit is non-refundable, however that is only reasonable if it is to cover costs. In the package holiday industry there have been many cases where a holiday needed to be cancelled and then the tour company resold it. After legal action the deposits were returned because it was proved that the tour company had not made a loss.
 
glospete said:
I think if you shine a mirror on yourself you just might see that not all the fault lies with Audi (if any!). Do you really think that you just changing your mind is good enough reason for Audi to give all your deposit back.
Click to expand...

I didn't just change my mind, maybe you should read the entire post!


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cuke2u said:
I wouldn't judge them as being 'typical Audi response' but being good advice if I was you. However perhaps the best is, now you've made your choice, to move on. There are always going to be good and bad dealerships, and I know of some in here who have had equally a 'poor' deal with Mercedes to end up buying an Audi....
Click to expand...

Good advice on what? Reading the small print? As said I was aware of the contract etc but good will and retaining future business through good customer service goes a long way.


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Ad72 said:
A few weeks ago I had reason to cancel my S4 Saloon order. The reasons being one of the then current personal situation and the other that it just want sitting right with me. The dealer did nothing to try and convince me other wise, I haven't even test driven one and getting my deposit back has been a nightmare. Having only managing to get half back after escalating it to the dealer principle. So I'm £500 down, no Audi UK help in retrieving my deposit and a dealer who clearly doesn't care I've had a complete rethink. My personal situation worries were a false alarm and I was soon back in the market for a new car, maybe an Audi or something of similar value to the S4 but having been treated IMO less than professionally I've been looking at other makes. I've done the tour of various dealers, new and used and one stood out for courteousness, professionalism and most of all the product. So I've placed an order for a CLA 45 AMG shooting brake. I await you your comments of it only being a four banger engine and the iPad stuck on the dash but I just jelled with it. It's expensive for what it is with poor discounts but IMIO different enough to stand out and the way it drives was enough to seal the deal.
I however think that if my dealer had been more attentive I'd still be in an Audi


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Click to expand...
So from Audi A6 you decided to go down to S4 and ended with A class

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Dropped the A4 for a CLA45 AMG SB Eh.... It's a bit marmite but personally quite like it myself.

Funnily enough, last time I looked in an A4 I saw an Ipad stuck to the dash :whistle2:

Hope you enjoy it though should be a blast.
 
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Simonb1975 said:
Dropped the A4 for a CLA45 AMG SB Eh.... It's a bit marmite but personally quite like it myself.

Funnily enough, last time I looked in an A4 I saw an Ipad stuck to the dash :whistle2:

Hope you enjoy it though should be a blast.
Click to expand...

Thank you and yes it's Very marmite. From some angles however it's wheels look way too small from others it's very nice IMO of course. It looks like iPads stuck on dashboards is the way things are going.


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I get the impression you're only looking for people to agree with you so I won't offer my opinion
 
Just looked at a few images on Google. No idea what it's like as a car, but I love the looks. Boring it ain't! I can imagine it would make quite a statement in my local Morrisons car park.
 
glospete said:
I'm glad you're now happy but my observations on this episode are these. The dealer is under no legal obligation to return your deposit even though you feel aggrieved that they've only given you 50% back. But more shocking was your admission that you never even had a test drive! My god, you're spending at least £45,000 and you didn't go for a test drive. Don't you think you were under some obligation to ensure this was the car for you? Placing a signed order is not a statement of intent, it is a contract. And I have a nagging suspicion that (pre) buyer' remorse is maybe more of the reason why you changed your mind. Perhaps suddenly the CLA looked a better bet for you?
I do think that dealers often get a bad press and in many cases rightfully so but I also think that sometimes we treat them badly.
Anyway I'm glad that you're happy with your new CLA.


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Click to expand...

I ordered my S4 without a test drive- it wasn't even in build when I ordered it. However, I agree with the above- lucky to get any of your deposit back- the dealer will be landed with your car and have to try and sell it on. Luckily with an S4 that shouldn't be too hard but dependent on spec it might not move very quickly.

Moral of the story- don't sign on the dotted line unless you are committed to buying!


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Total agree, only sign if your 100% and whilst I'm grateful to get some of my deposit back the dealer was far from helpful in sorting a test drive out which was always part of the deal. Taken in isolation they have done northing wrong but the combination of it all is not what I'd expect from a premium brand


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Meh, like most Mercs it looks nice on the outside but I couldn't live with that interior. And at the end of the day it's an A class

Would have stuck with the S4 personally or gone for a C43 estate
 
To be fair though, Merc don't make cars for people to sit in and fawn over the interior (That's an Audi thing). Even the super doopa S class has a so so fussy interior design. Albeit high quality.
 
You cannot just take interior out of equation.

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The E class actually has a very nice interior that's grown on me, it's just a shame the software is absolute garbage
 
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Ad72 said:
Good advice on what? Reading the small print? As said I was aware of the contract etc but good will and retaining future business through good customer service goes a long way.


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Goes without saying, however that varies from dealership to dealership and whether they're interested in any future business from you.
 
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