Wed 13 15:20 Phone Leon Willemse

David Joffe PO BOX XXX XXX XXX (012) XXX-XXXX (o/h) 23 November 1999

Alfred Nel,

Following is a summary of my experience buying a used vehicle from Martin Jonker Motors, from Constant Brandt. I received horrible service, and I was lied to repeatedly, despite the fact that I never had any major problems with the car itself. Constant was at all times unwilling to do anything at all to help me, making excuses to avoid doing repairs as small as replacing a R3 light bulb.

I felt that you should probably know how customers are being treated, since no business can continue to turn a profit indefinitely under such circumstances.

Wednesday 22 nd October:

I came in to test drive a 1997 Nissan Sabre 160 GX (which is the car I bought.) I was told by Constant explicitly that it is the policy of MJM that I would have to get pre- approved finance in order to be allowed to test drive the vehicle, "for insurance reasons". I had already test driven cars at two other agents, and neither of them had any such policies; I was also unable to later confirm that this policy exists. I had gotten a feeling that Constant did not believe I could afford a car, that I was wasting his time; that I wasn't really interested in buying a car. My feeling was soon confirmed when Tina Janz (a temp working in finance at that stage) called Constant to ask him about the abovementioned "policy", and during their conversation I heard her explaining to him that I was actually capable of affording the car, telling him my occupation, education and salary.

After a couple of hours filling in forms, I got to test drive the car, and I decided I wanted it. Amongst the things that were agreed upon when signing the deal were:

(a) The installation of a gear-lock [1] (b) Patching up a small but ugly mark on the passenger door by the door handle [2] (c) Wheel alignment (including the report printout), which I was told I would get. (d) Re-attachment of the plastic handle (which had come off) that is used to adjust the tilt of the driver seat backrest [3]. (e) Replacement of the front left wheel cap, as the existing wheel cap had some nasty scratches on it, which seemed to be a result of the car having been bumped against something (I also noticed the bumper looked a little loose, and that some paintwork had been done above the bumper [4].) (f) I was told I would get the registration papers etc, as well as get an opportunity to work through the pre-delivery checklist upon delivery of the vehicle

All of the above can be confirmed by a colleague of mine who was with me. Monday 4 th October:

I was told that I could come pick up the car. When I arrived, Constant handed me the keys and immediately rushed off again, telling me that he had other things to do, and that he would get me the registration papers "by tomorrow". It was a mistake of mine to accept the car without properly checking it first, but acting in good faith (and excitement at having bought my first real car) I took the vehicle.

Tuesday 5 th October:

By this time I had noticed the following relatively minor problems with the car:  The gear-lock (see [1]) had not been installed.  The passenger door would not open.  The plastic handle (see [3]) for the driver seat backrest had come off as soon as I tried to use it.  The light inside the boot did not work.

I phoned Constant to ask him about the gear-lock; he apparently 'had not noticed' that there was a gear-lock on the order form, despite the fact that we had discussed it when I bought the car. I then had to come in to Gear-lock City Wednesday morning on my own time to have the gear-lock installed, after having paid to have this done for me.

Wednesday 6 th October:

While waiting for Gear-lock City to install the gear-lock, I walked to MJM and told Constant about my problem with the passenger door not opening. He told me that this was “impossible”. I suggested to him that perhaps when they opened things up to patch up the mark on the passenger door (see [2]) that they had forgotten to put something back properly afterwards. He told me that they didn’t remove anything to fix the mark [A]. He then told me to bring the car to him later to see this problem for himself (not right away as he was ‘off to get the registration and license papers’). I also asked if I could get the wheel alignment report, and was told I could pick it up when I came to get the aforementioned papers.

After the gear-lock had been installed I brought the car to him to pick up the license and registration papers (which had still not been done), wheel alignment report, checklist etc, and to tell him about the (small) problems I had had so far with the car:

 The light in the boot - he responded by telling me that that light 'wasn't standard'.  The plastic backrest handle - he insisted that this was impossible, as he ‘had put it on himself’.  The steering alignment (the steering was skew) - he responded with a fairly long technical story about why the steering cannot be centered; that because of the way it works the steering wheel will either be skew one way or the other. He told me that it is thus normal and common for steering wheels to be skew.

I asked what to do at least about the door. He told me to speak to Terry at the workshop, who was unavailable, so I made an appointment with Leon Willemse for Monday morning. I asked Leon Willemse (for a second opinion) if centering the steering was problematic, and he told me that it wasn’t, that it wouldn’t take long to do, and that I should just make a list of my problems and bring the car in. Sunday 10 th October:

After driving the car on the weekend, I noticed that the front bumper by the left wheel (which had looked a little loose before) had come out, standing roughly an inch from the car body (see [4]). Since this seemed to derive from a problem that was present when I bought the car, and since it was a relatively inexpensive repair, I thought that MJM should be prepared to fix it.

Monday 11 th October:

7:00: I dropped the car off at the workshop for the following repairs:

1. Left front door not opening 2. Center steering wheel 3. Secure back rest lever 4. Check light in boot not working 5. Repair front bumper left side

At 9:00 I got a phone call from Constant. He asked me, "who is going to pay for this bumper?" When I replied that I thought MJM would pay, he exploded angrily, telling me flat out that he “refuses" to pay. He told me that the car was fine when he delivered it, and that the damage had been done in the “last two days” (i.e. on the weekend.) He told me that he could prove this, claiming that there was concrete and scratches on the bumper, and that he would be happy to take this to court. I told him that there was no concrete and dirt on the bumper (I knew there were some scratches, but they weren't fresh) when I took delivery of the car, and from the way Constant had described the "fresh scratches", it sounded to me as if there had been some new damage to the bumper sometime that morning. Twenty minutes later I received another aggressive call from Constant, telling me that he had booked the car out of the workshop, and that he refused to continue any work on the car until I personally came over so that we could ‘sort this thing out’, as 'I was accusing them of damaging the car'. Since I had no means of transport at that stage, I asked him if he could at least have the other things repaired in the meantime, and then sort out the bumper later, but he refused. At one point in this conversation he told me that 'I am a child', that 'he is an adult' and that 'he has been selling cars since I was a baby'. He also contradicted himself during this conversation; initially he told me that I 'couldn't complain about the bumper because I could see when I bought the car that the car had been bumped there’ (based on the wheel cap and bumper scratches, the paintwork repairs etc); but then later he told me that the bumper was fine when I bought it.

I made an arrangement to meet with Constant and with Sakkie Visagie at 14:00. Andre Joubert was also present during this meeting. All three lied to me repeatedly, all insisting that they knew for sure that the bumper was fine when the car was delivered, although I know that it wasn't. Nonetheless, there wasn't much I could achieve by arguing, so I agreed to have the bumper repairs done myself, and the rest by the workshop. I also asked at this meeting that in future I work through Sakkie Visagie rather than Constant for things like repairs.

During this meeting, a colleague of Constant asked him about the door not opening, and he replied that when they fixed the mark on the door they had to remove the lock and that they didn’t put it back properly. This contradicts what he told me (see [A]). He also told me during this meeting that there was no wheel alignment report; that if they don't need to do wheel alignment then they don't print anything out. This meeting left me feeling cheated - that the two-year warranty I paid for was meaningless, since for any repairs that need to be done in the future, I will probably just be told again that I am responsible for the damage. It seemed that everyone on the sales floor was more than willing to lie to avoid paying for anything.

The car was booked into the shop again, and at around 16:40 I received a message from Leon Willemse that the car was “ready”.

8:00: I arrive to pick up my car. The following repairs had been carried out: 1. Steering wheel centered 2. Light bulb in boot replaced 3. Plastic handle for seat lever screwed on

However, upon testing the door I discovered that neither of the two front doors could lock with the key from the outside. At this stage I asked Terry if this was normal, and he said it wasn't. I left the car with Leon again, and told him that I would come back to pick up the car in the afternoon, once the door had been fixed.

At about 14:00 I phoned Leon Willemse, who informed me that they were busy working on the problem, and that he felt that they were nearing a solution.

At about 15:30 I phoned Leon Willemse again to find out if the door was fixed yet. He asked me “didn’t Constant phone you?” I told him no, nobody had phoned me. Leon then informed me that Constant had again booked the car out of the workshop and had all work stopped on the car. Constant had told Leon that this particular central locking system (third party installation) really did work that way, that this behavior (not locking with the key) was normal, and that you had to "manually override it" if you wanted to lock the car with the key (e.g. if the remote batteries were flat), by pushing the remote jack in under the steering wheel.

I then phoned Nissan Manufacturing SA to try confirm this. I spoke to someone at their workshop, who told me that none of the central locking systems installed in either the Sentra or the Sabre worked that way; that you had to be able to lock the car from the outside with the key. This made more sense to me, and is also what is stated in the car manual itself; so I phoned Leon again. Leon seemed to want to help me, but was unable to do any work on the car without Constant’s authorization. This was despite my agreeing with Sakkie that Constant no longer be involved with my car.

I then phoned Sakkie Visagie, and told him all of this. He seemed willing to help; and agreed with me that the doors should be able to lock, and told me that he would go right away to the workshop to have the problem sorted out. At this point I re-iterated my request to no longer be involved with Constant.

I assumed that work would now continue on repairing the vehicle.

Nobody had called me to let me know what was happening, so I assumed the door was busy being repaired. At about 15:20 I phoned Leon Willemse to find out the progress. He told me that no work had been done at all on the car, and told me something about 'waiting for management to tell him what to do'.

I then phoned Sakkie Visagie to find out why no work had been done on the door. He told me that he had discussed the problem with the workshop manager, Shane van Niekerk, who had informed him (lied to him, rather) that the central locking does work that way.

I then phoned Leon Willemse again, and we decided that perhaps they had misunderstood what the problem with the doors were; that both front doors did not lock from the outside with the key, and he said that he would take a look at it.

Nobody at MJM seemed to be able to agree how the central locking worked, and since I needed my car, I decided I would pick up my car the next day, find out myself how it should work, and then bring the car back again. (I was also told varying stories at varying times about whether the central locking was third-party or factory fitted - nobody at MJM could agree on that either.)

While picking up my car I spoke again with Sakkie Visagie, to get the registration and license papers. During this conversation I got to see the pre-delivery checklist for the very first time, on which my name had been "signed", presumably by Constant. According to the date on the checklist, he had made this false signature the day I test-drove and bought the car. Yet the items on list could not have checked out as OK on that day, since (a) the AA roadworthiness report a few days later showed a brake-light repair, and (b) the vehicle was delivered with doors that did not open or close properly. Thus I can only conclude that nothing on the checklist had really been checked (see points 15 and 22 on the checklist). The warranty papers had also been "signed" by me in the same manner as the checklist.

Later that day I phoned Shane van Niekerk, and he told me (lied to me) that the locks were behaving as they should, that 'it is normal for the lock to be stiff after the central locking is installed'. Nonetheless, we arranged the following over the phone: (a) he would find out for me how the central locking should work; (b) we made an appointment to book the car in for the morning of Tuesday 26th to be repaired properly; and (c) he would arrange a courtesy vehicle for me for the day. He lied on all counts.

When I arrived I learned that Shane was on leave, that no booking had been made at all for the car, and that no courtesy vehicle was available.

I brought the car in, and this time they fixed the door. The lock was apparently jammed, and they simply replaced the lock. By this time, the amount of money wasted in manhours probably significantly exceeded what the cost of repairs should have been if the repairs had been done properly and promptly the first time.

The bumper still hasn't been repaired; I will be doing that at my own cost.

Leon Willemse seemed to do his best under the circumstances to be helpful to me, and Sakkie Visagie also later on seemed interested in helping me get the car working; but I had to first get through a ridiculous number of lies, phone calls, meetings and frustration. Buying my first real car turned out to be an ugly experience, rather than the enjoyable experience it should have (and could have) been. I would appreciate it if you could follow up on this. I would prefer to no longer be involved with this matter, as I feel I have already wasted too much of my time and energy on this.

Since the car technically belongs to Bankfin, I am sending them a copy of this letter to let them know. I am also sending a copy to the consumer board.

Regards,

David Joffe