Tribunal orders car dealer to refund booking fee to claimant

The Star

4 days ago

Jayandi claims that the salesman did not tell her the RM500 booking fee was non-refundable.
AN operations executive changed her mind a week after deciding to buy a used car and paying a RM500 booking fee.
When the car dealer refused to refund the money, she took up the matter with the Johor Consumer Claims Tribunal.
The tribunal ordered the refund to be paid back to her, minus expenses incurred by the dealer in the process of the purchase.
S. Jayandi, 58, from Larkin in Johor Baru and works in Singapore, had on Jan 6, 2025, visited the dealer's shop to buy the car.
'I decided to buy a 14-year-old continental car for RM16,000,' she said, adding that she paid RM500 to the salesman and had an invoice as proof of payment.
However, when she returned home, her son and son-in-law advised her not to buy the car as getting spare parts and components for the model would be difficult.
Jayandi took their advice and asked the dealer to refund the booking fee, but it was refused.
'I was told that under the company's policy, the money was non-refundable as written on the invoice issued to me,' she said outside the Tribunal in Menara Ansar, Johor Baru.
Jayandi claimed that the salesman attending to her did not tell her the booking fee was non-refundable and neither did she sign any documents for the intended purchase.
Having given her old car to her son, Jayandi needed one to drive to Singapore for work daily.
As the dealer had incurred cost to send the car for inspection at Puspakom and for servicing, tribunal president Hafez Zalkapli awarded only RM200 to Jayandi.
He ordered the dealer to refund the RM200 within two weeks.
Those needing assistance in regard to Consumer Claims Tribunal matters can call 07-227 1755 or 07-227 1766.