A MAN made an advance payment to buy a car at an auto show, but when he arrived at the 4S store, the dealer was unable to provide the car as agreed and instead asked him to pay more for another car of the same model, the Shenzhen Evening News reported.

The man, surnamed He, signed a letter of sales intent with a car dealer at the auto show and made an initial payment of 10,000 yuan (US$1,454) for an SAIC Volkswagen sedan after checking the details with the salesperson.

According to He, the salesperson had promised that there were cars available to pick up at the shop before he signed the agreement, but it was a different story when he got to the shop.

“The seller failed to provide the car and even asked me to pay 2,000 yuan more. The reason they gave was that the salesperson had calculated the price wrong,” He told the reporter with the News.

He said the seller took a very tough stance and said he could only get a refund for the initial payment and wouldn’t receive any compensation if he refused to pay more.

According to the letter of sales intent provided by He, the package price of the car was 238,000 yuan, and it stated that the car was in stock. “My appeal is very simple. Sell me the promised car or pay me 10,000 yuan for the loss after refunding the initial payment,” He emphasized.

The reporter later contacted the salesperson surnamed Tang at the 4S store. He explained that after the exhibition, the sales department checked and found the car mentioned in the letter of sales intent had been sold.

Tang said they had asked He whether he could make up the price difference for a different car and also proposed an alternative solution to He, but the customer refused both proposals.

“We are willing to refund the advance payment in full. But we find it unacceptable that the customer not only asked for a refund, but also a compensation of 10,000 yuan. This is the main dispute at present,” Tang told the News.

But He insisted that the customer shouldn’t be responsible for the 4S shop’s mistake. Currently, He has lodged complaints with both Shenzhen Consumer Council and SAIC Volkswagen Automotive Co. Ltd.

You Runhui, a lawyer with Guanghe Law Firm, said the payment referred to in the letter of sales intent is an advance payment according to the interpretation of relevant laws, which is paid as a unilateral guarantee.

You said that only a security deposit is paid as a bilateral guarantee and if the seller proves to be the defaulting party, it would be forced to return the deposit plus an amount equal to the deposit as compensation.

The car seller is at fault because he not only failed to meet the consumer’s needs as promised, but also asked the latter to pay more for another car, according to You. (Zheng Ruilin)