Trying to buy a car from SK Performance ... stand by to be insulted ...
I wanted to buy an Aston Vantage. I found one that I was interested in advertised at 34k on Pistonheads. I was told by the vendor by email that it was at SK Performance and that they were selling it for him. I wanted to view the car on Saturday and I tried to ring the garage throughout the week before. I couldn't get through; the phone rang but was not picked up and did not go to answerphone. I contacted the vendor again by email and he told me that he, and other interested customers, had also been unable to get an answer on the phone through the week. I emailed SK Performance but got no reply.
I drove to SK Performance on Saturday, and that took me about 2 hours from my home in the Midlands. I got there about 09.30.
Their web site said they opened at 9.00 on a Saturday. But they were shut. At about 09.50 as I was on the point of leaving in frustration, a man arrived and rather frostily let me in.
I said I was interested in viewing the Vantage and that I'd had trouble getting any answer on their phone all week.
He said it must have been Monday that I'd called when they'd had an issue. He said the phones had been fine later in the week.
I said that I, the vendor and other interested potential buyers, had also not been able to get through later in the week either.
I wasn't moaning - I was simply telling him that his phone might not be working properly and that the hours of opening as published on his web site need updating. It became clear from his replies that they leave at 5-5.30 on a Friday (not 6 as it said on the site) and don't start til 10 on a Saturday (not 9 as it said on their site).
He dismissed all of this with complete indifference and kept saying that if we couldn't get through, it must have been Monday that we'd all rung.
We briefly sat down in the office. He thumbed through some files.
I asked how the purchase process worked, and would it be possible to have a drive in the vehicle.
He was terse. He snapped that we needed to talk first an
Jonathan_Mills
2015-05-24