Advertised with a catchy jingle as the speedy way to sell your motor, Webuyanycar.com supposedly offers attractive rates on used vehicles. Unfortunately, almost no customers receive as much for their car as suggested, according to the Office of Fair Trading.
The website has been disciplined by the consumer watchdog for misleading 96 per cent of its customers over how much it would pay for their cars when they applied for a valuation online. In some instances expected payouts were reduced by hundreds of pounds. Sellers were led to believe that if an inspection of their car at one of Webuyanycar’s depots matched the condition of it entered into its website, the seller would be paid the online valuation price.
However, the OFT found evidence that between July 2009 and June 2010 customers visiting the company’s 114 branches were told that other factors such as “market conditions” would reduce the price offered. Some inspectors were given incentives to knock down the original valuation by as much as 25 per cent.
The company also gave sellers the impression that their initial online quote would be valid for only seven days, encouraging them to make appointments quickly and take snap decisions to accept reduced valuations.
The directors of Webuyanycar.com told the OFT that they believed their business practices complied with the law. However, after the investigation they have agreed to sign undertakings promising to make clear to customers that the website valuation was not the price at which the company was offering to buy the customer’s car.
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They have also promised not to set targets for vehicle inspectors, which have the potential to encourage reductions in valuations for inappropriate reasons. Other criticisms raised during the investigation included failures by the company to assess customer complaints in a “fair, reasonable, consistent and professional manner”. The OFT also said that Webuyanycar.com did not make clear to customers that its next working day payment service, which costs £24.75, was optional. The website has promised to clarify this.
This is not the first time that the company has faced criticism from consumer organisations. Last year Which? Car magazine investigated Webuyanycar.com’s pricing practices and found that valuations were substantially lower than main high street dealers. Richard Headland, the editor of Which? Car said: “In three out of five instances it gave us a below trade valuation for our cars, then tried to reduce these offers even further when we took the cars to their depots.”
Richard Harrison, the chief operating officer of Webuyanycar.com, said that the OFT findings did not reflect current company practice. “The company has launched a new website with clearer explanations about its service and the choice of more in-depth and accurate valuation,” he said.