Bought a car. Dealer wont move plates or take my calls.

[PoolHustler]

YOU CAN STILL TAX AND INSURE THE CAR AT ANY dlt WITH A COPY OF THE BLUE BOOK, i KNOW THIS DOES NOT SOLVE YOUR DILEMNA BUT AT LEAST YOU WILL BE DRIVING AROUND LEGAL sorry caps

[konying]

YOU CAN STILL TAX AND INSURE THE CAR AT ANY dlt WITH A COPY OF THE BLUE BOOK, i KNOW THIS DOES NOT SOLVE YOUR DILEMNA BUT AT LEAST YOU WILL BE DRIVING AROUND LEGAL sorry caps

Tax and Insurance is not the legal problem, the ownership is

[konying]

Wife called but said they could do nothing unless they saw the paperwork. We gave them no contact info. Will do so tomorrow.

May be dealer is a member of this forum and read this thread

[ChaangNoi]

The car is insured. Too much money to have lost cuz some drunk ran into.

[Jack Mountain]

Pssstt want to buy a motorbike? Very cheap ...

[ChaangNoi]

Went to the office and they told us to write and send a certified letter of our demands. He said he needed proof that we tried to resolve this. After two weeks if the problem is not fixed he will call them.

He seemed to think this was not a big issue and we should not worry too much. Im not really worried but glad to get the ball rolling.

[ChaangNoi]

Part of the reason why he did not think it was a big deal is that we had all the paper work and the shop is very well known and the docs were signed by the head guy. From time to time he sells Lambos and the like.

[kartman]

Went to the office and they told us to write and send a certified letter of our demands. He said he needed proof that we tried to resolve this. After two weeks if the problem is not fixed he will call them.

He seemed to think this was not a big issue and we should not worry too much. Im not really worried but glad to get the ball rolling.

He is oblivious that you need a copy of the previous owners visa then.

[ChaangNoi]

He might or might not. But he said he cant just go after people with no proof we tried to fix the problem. Seems reasonable. The dealer could just say the issue was resolved and we were just making problems. Anyway in two weeks I hope to have a new update.

[Lancashirelad]

Having read all the comments: I'm thinking this car, which the OP has chosen not to name is something quite tasty & not cheap. Chance of: Grey import, dodgy registration, duty never paid.

OP does not say what Land Rover was purchased, Freelander, Defender, Range Rover Sport, Range Rover or Evoque. Have you seen the price of new Land Rover's in Thailand? Will make your eyes water!

Some mentioned the original owner's wife having "sold" the car, hinting it may have been without her husband's knowledge. Surely she has not "sold" it, but has part exchanged it? (always a good way to lose money).

If the Original French owner is an oil rig worker he probably doesn't need a visa as he will likely be in & out every 3 weeks.

If the dealer wouldn't answer the phone to your & wife's numbers, why did you not get a friend to call or call yourself from a friends phone?

OCPD (who many here thought did not exist in Thailand) sounds like a very good idea.

[ChaangNoi]

Will give an update but before that yes, the car is pretty nice and we did use different phone numbers. He would just hang up and even refused calls from an ex-employee of his. He also rsupposidly imported the car new years ago so should be aware if it is a grey import or the duty never paid.

Anyway went to the lawyer to right up the letter. Lawyer said "Don't be silly, it has been 2 months and that guy is just being lazy. Go back and tell him he needs to do his job." So we went back and told him what the lawyer said. He then asked who our lawyer was and he did a 180. He is now sending the letter and if there is no responce or positive outcome the dealer will have to come to Chiang Rai in person. The OCPD was very clear that this was now a top priority for him. Anyway we will see. Thailand cracks me up sometimes.

Oh, also we asked the OCPD that we get the book in one week from today or we needed the full refund of the car, plus the full refund of the insurance plus a 3,000 baht a day storage fee, plus 100,000 baht lawyer fee, plus a refund for our travel to buy the car and 3,000 baht for each hour we had to spend resolving the issues. Honestly we really just want the book but since he asked what we wanted to fix the problem that is what we asked for

[Robert24]

thanks for the update ChaangNoi. Just out of interest, did the dealer ever mention to you what the actual problem was with the blue book?

[ChaangNoi]

thanks for the update ChaangNoi. Just out of interest, did the dealer ever mention to you what the actual problem was with the blue book?

Yes. He more or less told me he lied when he said he owned the car, and that the real owner was not in Thailand and did not have the correct documents to be able to move the book into my name.

He told us this right after we messaged him we were going to the police the next day because "the only reason why he would not take our calls is that the car was stolen". Seemed to get a bit of a responce out of him. Anyway he thinks we should wait a month or so while he sorts this out. I'm not willing to wait a few months more only to find out he never came back to Thailand or that he did not know the wife traded it in.

[ChaangNoi]

Updating this as I said I would.

Went in today to see what was going on. The guy had literately done nothing and was up front about that. He told us that he could not do anything until the first three cases were dealt with by this sort of traveling Judge/Police guy who comes to the area only some times. I asked if he had at least called the dealership and he said he was forbidden by law to do so and that he must only send documents via certified mail. I was pretty upset and assumed this guy was just being lazy however we called the head office in BKK and they pretty much backed him up.

Either they are not playing by the rules or konying misrepresented what their powers where. Honestly I don't know.

Anyway the Judge/Police guy is coming on Wednesday and the guy we gave the paperwork to will talk to him about our case then. We will go back on Wednesday and see what information we can get.

[ChaangNoi]

Update: They set a local meeting here for late this month. Both I and the seller need to be here. The seller is 1000 Kilos plus away but evidently he still needs to come. The guys mailed of a letter to the seller on Wednesday so it will be a couple of days before he gets the good news. The seller then is able to call the guys and try to get it resolved over the phone. Our stand is more or less we will take the book any time before the meeting, at the meeting we want a full refund plus costs.

No idea what happens if he does not show. Will keep you all in the know.

[stevenl]

For clarification: do you mean with 'seller' the previous owner or the dealer?

[Robert24]

one would think that legally the seller is the car dealer. Usually you make a contract with the dealer but not sure if in this case the dealer was just acting as an agent....sounds all quite crazy to me.

[ChaangNoi]

For clarification: do you mean with 'seller' the previous owner or the dealer?

Sorry for not being clear. I only have interaction with the owner of the car dealership and he is the seller in my mind. I have a receipt and documentation from the dealer that he would sell me the car. He also told me he owned the car when he sold it to me.

Later I have learned that the current owner of the car is a French guy who is not in Thailand. I have no idea if he even knows the car has been sold. As far as I know the car has been stolen from him.

Anyway the dealer sold me a car he does not own and is now having problems moving ownership into my name. It has been a full 3 months and he is unable to comply with the request to give me the book. I was told I would get it the first week of December so if he resolves the problem then fine, if not, I will demand a refund plus damages.

[ChaangNoi]

one would think that legally the seller is the car dealer. Usually you make a contract with the dealer but not sure if in this case the dealer was just acting as an agent....sounds all quite crazy to me.

It is a bit crazy. I should not have trusted the dealer but honestly I doubt he will do a runner over such a small amount. It seems he has a significant amount of assets and would currently like to keep his operation going. But this is Thailand, who knows.

[BSJ]

As farang I take the view that all Thai's are trying to rip you off. My situation is back when I thought Thai's maybe honest I rented a shed off a guy who has been happily taking money off me every month for the last 3 years but now we want to move our stuff out he tells the wife he is keeping one months rent for cleaning up and damages. What! It was filthy when we went in and there is no damage. But without a written contract what can we do????

[stevenl]

As farang I take the view that all Thai's are trying to rip you off. My situation is back when I thought Thai's maybe honest I rented a shed off a guy who has been happily taking money off me every month for the last 3 years but now we want to move our stuff out he tells the wife he is keeping one months rent for cleaning up and damages. What! It was filthy when we went in and there is no damage. But without a written contract what can we do????

Enjoy your life.

[Jack Mountain]

Keep the car in a safe place otherwise there's nothing to return so no refund ...

[ChaangNoi]

It turns out, if the guy does not show up to this meeting the next option is to sue him in court. Something I was trying to avoid. The court thing can take years and honestly will be a pain in the ass. If they guy can't give me the book by the time of the meeting he has no reason to show up. It seems this org has no teeth what so ever.

I guess it will however look good in court that I did try to resolve it before court but honestly I wish I had started this sooner.

[konying]

It turns out, if the guy does not show up to this meeting the next option is to sue him in court. Something I was trying to avoid. The court thing can take years and honestly will be a pain in the ass. If they guy can't give me the book by the time of the meeting he has no reason to show up. It seems this org has no teeth what so ever.

I guess it will however look good in court that I did try to resolve it before court but honestly I wish I had started this sooner.

What do you mean it does not have teeth who keeps feeding you wrong information? Would not be your lawyer? would it?

[ChaangNoi]

It turns out, if the guy does not show up to this meeting the next option is to sue him in court. Something I was trying to avoid. The court thing can take years and honestly will be a pain in the ass. If they guy can't give me the book by the time of the meeting he has no reason to show up. It seems this org has no teeth what so ever.

I guess it will however look good in court that I did try to resolve it before court but honestly I wish I had started this sooner.

What do you mean it does not have teeth who keeps feeding you wrong information? Would not be your lawyer? would it?

Either you or the OCBP. Lawyer has not been involved other than to tell us we did not need to send a letter. Honestly I have no idea but the OCBP people who I have called in BKK is backing up what the local guy is saying. I assumed you knew what you were talking about and this guy was just being lazy.

Do you have any information or someone who I can call to make sure things are on the level?

The dealer was asked to come but if he does not agree to the terms (or not even bother to show up) we were told we will need to take this to a civil court.

If you know a better way to deal with this, or someone higher up to talk to I'm willing to try it but honestly so far this looks like a waste of time. I want to point out that the dealer is not Thai and my wife is Thai so I really don't think they are going out of their way to screw over a local Thai.

If you have any information on what they have the authority to do, even in Thai I would be happy to look it over. Anything really would be helpful.

Thanks

[konying]

It turns out, if the guy does not show up to this meeting the next option is to sue him in court. Something I was trying to avoid. The court thing can take years and honestly will be a pain in the ass. If they guy can't give me the book by the time of the meeting he has no reason to show up. It seems this org has no teeth what so ever.

I guess it will however look good in court that I did try to resolve it before court but honestly I wish I had started this sooner.

What do you mean it does not have teeth who keeps feeding you wrong information? Would not be your lawyer? would it?

Either you or the OCBP. Lawyer has not been involved other than to tell us we did not need to send a letter. Honestly I have no idea but the OCBP people who I have called in BKK is backing up what the local guy is saying. I assumed you knew what you were talking about and this guy was just being lazy.

Do you have any information or someone who I can call to make sure things are on the level?

The dealer was asked to come but if he does not agree to the terms (or not even bother to show up) we were told we will need to take this to a civil court.

If you know a better way to deal with this, or someone higher up to talk to I'm willing to try it but honestly so far this looks like a waste of time. I want to point out that the dealer is not Thai and my wife is Thai so I really don't think they are going out of their way to screw over a local Thai.

If you have any information on what they have the authority to do, even in Thai I would be happy to look it over. Anything really would be helpful.

Thanks

I do not understand who told you to take it to civil court?

OCBP has the power to take it to the next level, including legal action if needed, so i am struggling to understand who is telling you to go to court

Just open their website and look at the claims process and what happens at each step of the way.

The first meeting is to try to agree, after that there there are levels and process to follow, but its certainly not "you go to court"

For your "damages claim" yes i agree, you would have to go yourself, but regarding the car, it falls under OCBP jurisdiction.

One thing i can tell you, Thai are funny when it comes to compensation and amounts.

From personal experience and i am about to face my problem at Chonburi OCBP, with a really big company, much bigger than 1 dealer, is my humble approach and demands.

When asked what i wanted, i said either refund in cash or credit note for the full amount, plus all the money paid for the warranty works which is suppose to be free.

It was very welcomed by the officer.

They sent out a letter to the other party, who replied that he could not attend, to which they basically told him "tough luck", if he did not show up, they would take it further and give in to all my demands.

He(the other party) quickly found the time.

I believe their willingness to assist was due to me being reasonable and appearing to just wanting money for the faulty product, instead of trying to make money out of the deal.

SO just a heads up. If i was you, i would not be seeking compensation for travelling, time invested and all the fluff, it simply comes across as you wanting to make money.

Now i am not saying you should not be compensated for that, but to OCBP it looks like money making scheme and nobody likes people like that.

You are asking for compensation, and OCBP does not deal with that. Have you actually filed the claim? have a reference number?

From what i read, you are speaking to customer service reps.

You now have the meeting, is it official meeting? again do you have the reference number?

I have an official letter with both partied involved, reference number and full details of other company.

You say dealer is not a Thai, that raised a number of questions, including WP and his status to come to a meeting. If he is NOT Thai, what language would be speak?

You need to post more information on what is actually happening, as with every post it gets more confusing, who is who, who sold what and who said what

[ChaangNoi]

Before I post more I am going to visit the OCBP to make sure that I understand everything correctly. Also I will request this letter and reference number. Wife tells me he will mail us one but its only been 1 business day but I do have a date later this month to meet with the OCBP guy, some sort of traveling judge related to the OCBP but with police like powers and the Dealer who took my money, gave me a car but failed to send the book. The Dealer claims he can not give me the book becasue the real owner is not in Thailand and thus does not have the right visa.

The dealer has been in business for over 20 years and I would assume he has a work permit but I do not know that for sure. They sell high end used cars (ex Lambo's/Ferrari's) regularly and he speaks Thai.

I understand about looking like I am trying to make money off of this but that was just to get the attention of the dealer so he would meet our real demands, either get us the book or a full refund. It would be nice if he paid for the 1 year warranty as well. That was not cheap but not something I would sue him over. My thought on it was at the meeting just demand the money back or the book and then if things drag out and we did need to sue him we would just shoot for the moon becasue why not? He would have more to risk so it would be in his interest to just pay what we asked. I might have done this wrong but that is what I was thinking at the time. Anyway this whole thing will be moot if he gets us the book before the meeting. If he does that we will drop all the claims we have.

I will look over the website and then go into talk with the OCBP guy who was behind the counter and is the only person who I have meet with. He seems to have limited power and maybe just does not understand what he should be doing. Also I could have just totally misunderstood everything or just be asking the wrong questions.

Thank you for your help, really hope to get this resolved.

[konying]

Before I post more I am going to visit the OCBP to make sure that I understand everything correctly. Also I will request this letter and reference number. Wife tells me he will mail us one but its only been 1 business day but I do have a date later this month to meet with the OCBP guy, some sort of traveling judge related to the OCBP but with police like powers and the Dealer who took my money, gave me a car but failed to send the book. The Dealer claims he can not give me the book becasue the real owner is not in Thailand and thus does not have the right visa.

The dealer has been in business for over 20 years and I would assume he has a work permit but I do not know that for sure. They sell high end used cars (ex Lambo's/Ferrari's) regularly and he speaks Thai.

I understand about looking like I am trying to make money off of this but that was just to get the attention of the dealer so he would meet our real demands, either get us the book or a full refund. It would be nice if he paid for the 1 year warranty as well. That was not cheap but not something I would sue him over. My thought on it was at the meeting just demand the money back or the book and then if things drag out and we did need to sue him we would just shoot for the moon becasue why not? He would have more to risk so it would be in his interest to just pay what we asked. I might have done this wrong but that is what I was thinking at the time. Anyway this whole thing will be moot if he gets us the book before the meeting. If he does that we will drop all the claims we have.

I will look over the website and then go into talk with the OCBP guy who was behind the counter and is the only person who I have meet with. He seems to have limited power and maybe just does not understand what he should be doing. Also I could have just totally misunderstood everything or just be asking the wrong questions.

Thank you for your help, really hope to get this resolved.

Something is wrong with your arrangement. but i can not figure out what it is.

This is how OCBP works.

First you lodge the claim, then this claim goes to investigator.

Investigator does not sit at the front desk and does not meet with people.

Once investigator takes the case on and finds there is a merit, they set up initial meeting with both parties.

Before meeting is set up, but case has been assigned to an investigator, you get your reference number with details of time frames and what happens.

So, now investigator decided there is a merit for case, they send out official letter(court alike) summons for both parties to attend with date and time.usually giving 30 days.

With your case, it would appear no such procedure took place and who ever spoke to you, took it upon himself to deal with the matter by having a meeting., its not a bad start but not an official way of doing things.

If you are in small town, very possible the OCBP representative decided NOT to follow the procedure, because it actually requires work and lots of paperwork.

If thats the case, you must go over his head to Bkk and lodge the complaint with BKK direct.

In my case, i live in Pattaya, OCBP rep at city hall, told me nothing he can do and just deal with other party directly.

When i went over his head and case was filed, they called from Bangkok to ask what was the reference number from Pattaya.

They were shocked and surprised to hear that no case was open and no reference was given

When i case progressed to the next stage, they called again to ask what notes Pattaya rep took and again were shocked that none what so ever.

From there, its been really smooth and pleasant sailing.

They asked me to come in and show some evidence of my claim, and as i said an official summons.

If you want, PM me full details of what has happened and i can try may be to figure out what is happening, but does not sound like it's an official meeting or that the case has been opened

[Lancashirelad]

I think your compensation demands are a bit steep, 3000 bht per hour? 3000 baht per day for storage? You wouldn't get that even in England. Of course if charging for storage you can't also be using it. As i see it either you have the use of the car OR charge (a fair & reasonable amount) for storage.

Personally I would take my wife (If only I had one ) and go to the dealers. Walk in the office, sit down and refuse to leave the premises until the issue is resolved. Take coffee & sandwiches! That usually gets results. If any promises are made, get it in writing.

Have you phoned or written to the wife of the previous owner and explain the situation to her?

[ChaangNoi]

Thanks for letting me know how this should work. I'll talk to them on Monday just to make sure I know what is going on. I'm also going to ask for the case number. If there is not a case number I will know I need to go to BKK.

Letters could have been sent out and just not received yet because of the holiday and weekend. He claimed he mailed it out to the Dealer on Wednesday but did not say when he would mail one to us. I might get it tomorrow if he did send it on Wednesday.

I'll let you know what I find out.