A Strandfontein ou is gatvol of waiting for a liquidated car dealer to refund the R120 000 he spent on a faulty Ford SUV.
Alroy Meihuizen has been waiting since the National Consumer Tribunal (NCT) ruled in his favour on 23 April.
The owner of Bessie Bester Motors, however, claims he was in a coma for months and refuses to pay the refund.
According to a document Alroy showed the Daily Voice, the NCT had ordered the Brackenfell-based dealership to refund and pay for costs suffered by Alroy.
The document reads: “The Tribunal makes the following order: the Respondent is to refund to Mr Meihuizen, an amount of R120 000 within 15 business days of the date of this judgement.
“After payment has been made to the Applicant, the Respondent may collect the vehicle, the 2009 Ford Territory 4.0i ST AWD A/T, from the repairer, at its own cost; the Respondent is interdicted from further breaches of the CPA.”
However Alroy, 37, says the dealership has ignored the ruling.
“The dealership is taking people for a ride.
“They still haven’t paid me.
“The situation is inconvenient as I am paying for a car at the bank.”
Alroy found the dealer on Gumtree, but two months after buying the Ford SUV, it wasn’t starting properly.
“They told me if the problem worsened, I must let them know. After four months, the car broke down,” he explains.
“They told me to take it to a mechanic, which I did, then they refused to pay the cost.
“It was still within the six months warranty for them to cover the cost.”
Although the dealership owner, Bessie Bester, confirmed that he’s aware of the ruling and the problem with the car, he says: “My business was liquidated in November last year and I was in coma for two months between May and July, so I don’t see how I am supposed to refund him.
“I was not even part of the hearing. I still want to give my side of the story and be heard.
“He took it to his mechanic without our knowledge and wanted us to pay a ridiculous amount of over a R100 000; we could have taken it to a workshop at a cost of between R20 000 and R38 000.
“We told him to fetch the car and bring it to us but he didn’t.
“All he wanted was to rip us off.”
nomzamo.yuku@inl.co.za