Carcraft Experiences

i`m not the only one who`s had a Carcraft Experience.

This is just a quick collection of other peoples woes with this company.
Some have been sent to me, others I`ve found on other consumer forums.

This is what other people are REALLY saying about Carcraft!

** DISCLAIMER **

This is a collection of newsgroup / forum postings pulled off the internet
which have been posted by various people.  As such, none of the sources
can be verified.  Nothing here should be assumed to be of absolute truth.
The views written here are simply opinions that reflect the individuals 
that wrote them and do not have any thing to do with MyCarcraftExperience.co.uk.
Any claims written here cannot be substantiated and should not be taken
literally.  The site exercises the basic human right of the Freedom of Speech
available to anyone living in the United Kingdom.

If you want your Carcraft experience adding to this file, then i invite you
to email me. You will have to specifically state you want it adding otherwise
I will assume your privacy.



from Martin 12 January 2005

I've just come across your excellent Carcraft site whilst browsing through 
the Sheffield Forum (www.sheffieldforum.co.uk).
 
I thought I'd just let you know about my experience with Carcraft of Sheffield 
a few years ago.
 
I was looking to buy my first car after passing my test and upon seeing the 
glossy Carcraft ads in various motoring magazines & local newspapers, I 
decided to venture down to their flashy showroom at Sheffield Airport to 
have a look round.
 
At first glance, the whole place looked pretty impressive. A large flash 
aircraft hangar with signs everywhere saying 'Over 1500 Cars in Stock'. I 
parked up and proceeded to enter the building with the intention of just 
looking and definitely not to buy there and then.
 
As soon as you walk up the ramp, a slick sales person homes in onto you 
like a cruise missile. I was told that before my unforgettable Carcraft 
experience could begin, I need to sit down and listen to his 'all about 
Carcraft' presentation. In fact this was more on the lines of 'look how 
good our finance deals are type of pitch. The first questions were: Do 
you think you would be driving a car away today? How much can you afford 
etc. My answer to all of these was NO.
 
We then proceeded to look around the showroom (with sales person in tow). 
I looked at the cars and ummed and ahhed at most of them. What confused me
the most was the various weekly payment options and the various APR amounts 
quoted giving you no idea whatsoever as to how much the car really was going 
to cost. We must have spent half an hour looking at all the cars and I said 
a few times that I liked a certain car. As time went by his sales pitch was 
becoming ever more desperate. We eventually came to a little red Rover 
hatchback that I really fancied and he suggested I take it for a test drive.
 I thought why not seeing that I had nothing to loose. We duly took it on 
a test drive and the car seemed OK. We got back to the showroom and he 
invited me into the 'finance' area where we could discuss a few finance 
options. Again I thought, OK lets see what deal they could do. I told him 
what my current budget situation was and he worked out a few calculations 
and came up with a weekly figure of around £150. I asked him whether this 
could be lowered any further. He ummed and ahhed and said that he must 
talk to the finance manager about it. The finance manager duly came across 
and said yes they could do me a much lower deal but it would only be valid 
for the rest of the day. He then shook my hand and said 'pleasure to do 
business with you'. This should have sent the alarm bells ringing. The 
sales rep then asked me to fill in a 'provisional' order form so that the 
car could be secured. I'm pretty sure it had the words provisional stamped 
across the top of the form even though I found out later that it was a 
legally binding contract. Stupidly enough I asked the sales rep for 
confirmation that it was just provisional before signing the form. He 
said 'Yes' even though he knew it was a bare faced lie. What I had in 
fact signed was a contract finance agreement. I won't make that mistake 
again. He then asked me for a  £100 deposit to fully secure the car for 
the rest of the day should I decide to purchase. I asked him whether I 
would get a full refund if I later decided that I didn't want the car. 
He said 'YES'. This, of course was another bare faced lie. He also asked 
me whether they could run a credit check to see if I could be approved. 
It would make purchasing the car much quicker if I came back later that 
day. I duly waited over an hour before they told me that having credit 
though one of their partners was OK. I only realised later that what they 
had done was get the formal finance agreement from their credit company. 
By this time I just wanted to get out of the place because I had had enough 
of their behaviour.
 
I got home and started to make some enquiries on the net. Sure enough, I 
found the same make and model much cheaper else where. I then phoned 
Carcraft to say that I wasn't interested in their 'top deal' anymore and 
that I wanted my £100 refunded. I got a shock when they said that the car 
was currently being valeted and that it would be available for collection 
tonight. I tried to argue that I had only entered into a 'provisional' 
agreement and that I was promised my money back if I didn't want the car.
This, of course was to no avail. I decided to then go back down to 
Carcraft and have it out with the manager. The manager then pointed out 
the small print on my 'provisional order form' which said that any deposits 
would be forfeit if I cancelled the agreement. I explained to him that I 
had been blatantly deceived, but he didn't listen. I was so pi$$ed off that 
I just stormed out of the building thinking I'd lost my £100 for ever.
 
The following day I did some research on the Internet surrounding the 1974 
Consumer Credit Act. It's true that if you go in person to the sellers 
premises and enter into a contract with them, then there is no redress 
for a return of the refund. However, I noticed that by law if they ask 
you to sign a credit agreement (dressed up as a 'provisional order' in my 
case), then by law they have to give you a carbon copy of the agreement. I 
then realised that in my hurry to leave the building (when I went down to 
complain), I had forgotten to take the paperwork with me.
 
Gottcha.
 
The following week I wrote an email to the Sheffield Trading Standards 
Office complaining about my treatment by Carcraft and explained to then 
exactly what had happened. Why didn't it surprise me when I found out 
from them that they have had 100s of complaints about Carcraft since it 
came to Sheffield? They said they'd look into the matter and hey presto, 
the following week I was rewarded with a check for £100 with compliments 
from Carcraft. Trading Standards had contacted them and Carcraft couldn't 
prove that they had given me a carbon copy of their credit agreement when 
I left the building following my first visit.
 
I must, however, admit that I was naive in thinking that I had signed 
a 'provisional order'. I've never had anything on credit before and 
just didn't know how the system worked or how the law operated. That 

certainly won't happen again.

I will never ever go to Carcraft again in my lifetime. I would advise 
everyone out there tempted by the glossy adverts to think again because they:
 
1. Will use any and all means to get you to drive a car away within an 
hour of you stepping foot onto their property.
2. Will use lies and deceitful tactics to hoodwink you into signing their 
credit agreements
3. Are stupendously overpriced and use financial wizardry to make deals look 
better than they should
4. Will use very high pressure selling tactics to grind you down until you 
get so fed up with them that you will sign up for anything just to get them off your back.
5. They are a bunch of gangsters and con artists who think they are above the law
 
Carcraft are in serious need of investigation by the Office of Fair Trading and 
should be shut down if they are found guilty of malpractices. At the very 
least they should have their credit broking license terminated and leave for 
people to sort out their own finance arrangements. There also needs to be a
 cooling off period for goods purchased on the premised and not just via phone 
/ internet.I honestly don't know how their directors can sleep at night.
 
I hope you have found this info useful. Please keep up with your Carcraft 
campaign and expose them for what they are. You've got an excellent website.
 
Regards,
 






from Colin and Mary 29 October 2004

Dear Sirs,

Please find the enclosed detailed diary of the experience we had when we 
visited CarCraft, Rochdale on Saturday 23rd October 2004.

 

FRIDAY 22nd October

We telephoned Car craft to find out whether the vehicle we preferred was 
in stock. We were happy with the service received on the phone and were 
delighted when we the Customer Service Representative said she would send 
us a voucher for £300 which could be redeemed against a car or taken as 
Cashback. 

SATURDAY 23rd October

Arrived at 2.00pm to honour our appointment time. 

Greeted by = who offered to assist us.

Very impressed with the initial High Tech demonstration of the services. This 
showed Carcrafts Customer Services to be of a high standard and a great warranty 
: two years for any car purchased.

At this stage we were asked our budget. We said £30 a week and that our absolute
 maximum was £34 a week. We have worked out this prior to coming to Car craft as 
we are responsible and realistic with our finances.

We started to look round and were soon being hovered around by =

We found a car that was suitable and quick fast were marched to the buying area.

Here, we asked very clearly what the options were in finance. A flat 10% was the reply.

We thought that was ok and then watched as = scribbled different options upside 
down on a piece of paper to ensure we kept to our budget.

He then took all our work details.

At this point we passed over the voucher which stated £300 off a car or £300 cash back.

The salesman asked us how much deposit we wanted to pay. We said £1,000.

He asked how we wanted the £300 - we replied CASHBACK.

He then said 'ok, pay me just £700 now and Ill arrange the finance so you have 
actually paid £1,000 so youve got your cashback today. I asked if we could pay 
£1000 and have cashback. = said that was too difficult to arrange and this 
way we have the cashback that day. We agreed.

Then the waiting game began.

We were taken to the Finance counter. There = asked us to sign 
forms agreeing to the application. He also asked us for £700.

I got out my cheque book and he asked for just my Bank card which has Visa 
Debit on. He said that was the only way to arrange the finance.

We waited in the 'Departure Lounge' for over an hour. We had around four visits
saying 'problems with the lenders computer system were to blame'. Later we were 
introduced to =. He took us into a tiny cubicle and started the 
high pressured psychology of selling the Extended Warranty.

The sales pitch started for the Payment Protection - which we did not require. 
He was clearly annoyed when we said we did not want it and said 'look, four other 
companies refused you credit, this company agreed, but want you to take Payment 
Protection.' I was annoyed at this point and said firmly that I was surprised we 
had been refused credit, and was he insinuating the deal was off if we didnt take 
out the Payment Protection?? He marched off for another half hour to take off the 
Payment Protection option.

I checked my credit record since and four other companies were not even approached 
and did not reject us for credit.

When he came back he began the sales pitch for the warranty. Outlining how much 
things cost and pressurising us he kept on and on until finally we agreed to the 
£6 a week he said it was. He told us that the two year policy was basically rubbish 
as it didn't cover electric's which is half of what goes wrong on modern cars. I 
now feel the 2 Year Warranty is a huge con which is not worth anything.

I said very clearly over and over, 'will we have anything else to pay for 5 years 
if we take out the warranty such as SERVICES , MOTS etc.'. Robert Scott looked 
right at me and said 'you wont pay a penny guys'

Anyway we agreed the £6 a week and the signing began.

We were horrified at the figures presented to us.

19% APR!!

I said this was not what we had agreed to. 

I said why does it say 19%? : below is the incredible rubbish he spouted out 
for another 15 minutes.

''We offer it at 8% to you as a great deal.''

''APR does not mean the interest you pay''

''Its just rounded up so 8% is doubled to 16% which is why it says 19% on the form !!???!!!''

''You dont actually pay that on the form. You have ACTUAL rate at 8%''

'' The 19% quoted on the form is another figure. ACTUAL rate of interest is 8%. 19% is not 
the ACTUAL rate and APR is nothing to do with the figures.

By this time we had been there 3 hours. My daughter and my elderly father in law had had 
enough. We were worn out and fed up of waiting and we agreed.

He then said we would get a survey through the post and could we select 
'Very Good/Good/Fair/Poor' rating the Financial explaining he had done. He gave us a 
copy of this form to see what we would tick. We ticked Fair. I wanted to tick Poor 
there and then but it is difficult and feels uneasy when you are opposite the person.
 He then said that could we cross it out and tick Good. Mr Scott said he would not get 
paid if we ticked poor.

What is the point of Customer Feedback if it is not honest?

I know realise that all these lies meant he was getting desperate to just get our signature.

We waited even longer. I arranged insurance and finally, over 3 hours later, we were 
taken into another cubicle where S Ormrod raced down a series of ticks on a sheet and then 
asked us to tick Good/Very Good with reference to explaining vehicle controls. We would 
have ticked Poor but of course they claim they dont get paid. The only thing this man did 
explain VERY CLEARLY is how far it is to the nearest petrol station - just in case of 
course, petrol is low.

By this point our expectations of the Car craft experience were totally flattened and 
true to their manner, when we got in the car the petrol light was flashing on empty.

After spending £7,150 on a car, a £5 worth of petrol would be a modest gesture.

We drove off absolutely gutted. We knew we had been subject to high pressured selling, 
lies, deceit etc. We just wanted to get away from that place.

At this point noticed two cracks in windscreen - how that passed the MOT I do not know.

SATURDAY EVENING

We started to look on the Web for advice about cancelling a credit agreement. Whilst 
running a search on Car craft we were absolutely horrified to come across BBC Watchdog 
and www.mycarcraftexperience.co.uk. There were also numerous sites which rate companies 
all with huge lists of complaints.

We were totally gutted and both up all night in tears over entering into a deal at 19%, 
buying a fairly worthless policy at a staggering £1500 on the credit bill. The weekly 
figure was now far more than we could afford. We clearly said at the outset that a 
budget of £30 - £34 was within our means. We were pressured into signing to make 
repayments of £50 a week. When we pointed this out the reply was 'you wont actually 
pay £50 a week....the finance companies weeks work different to yours.' The result 
was a debt of £12,137.60 for a car that was advertised at £7195.00. And to top it all 
off we were asked to pay an extra £125 for organising the finance.

Only £700 was taken off the deposit so we didnt even get the £300 as promised.

I can not tell you how sick I felt. I was up at 4am struggling to face the mess knowing 
we had paid £7150 for an overpriced Ford Focus and it had no worthwhile warranty. We 
have spent the last 10 years in debt and in 2003 managed to clear it all and start 
afresh. In the 10 Years we were married we could not afford a car. This was supposed 
to be a big day for myself, my husband and our three children.

SUNDAY

We decided to go back and see a manager to say mainly about the £1500 policy that was 
mis-sold and the £300 cashback.

We waited again and = came out to see us.

We clearly raised all the contentious issues and Mr =  said he could lose his job 
because we were daring to complain. When I mentioned directly the points which I felt 
he lied on he sat there dumfounded with no reply.

The additional £1500 warranty was cancelled and a promise that the £300 would be 
sent out to us.

As yet we have not had the £300.

We telephoned Customer Services on 28th October to arrange the repairs in the
Windscreen to be authorised. They said did we notice them on the day of sale :
we did not notice them at first inspection of the car as the 'car cost figures' 
were covering the area of the windscreen where the cracks are. We left in the dark 
as we had been there three hours and it was raining.

A girl from Customer Services said she would get back to me. She has not done.

This is a true and accurate record of our experience of Carcraft.






from Callaghan 14 September 2004

Hello, 
I wish I had seen this website before I went to Car Craft. Unfortunately I 
am another victim of this company. I purchased a VW Golf during August 2004 
at the Leeds branch. The salesman basically lied to me. At the time I agreed 
to part ex my old car for the VW and buy it on their finance package. I was 
initially told that my car was worth £700 as a part ex and that finance would 
be around £80 a week with APR at 12.9%. I told the salesman that this was not 
acceptable so he went away and came back shortly after and said that Car Craft 
would give me £995 as the trade in value for my old car. I also questioned 
whether it was possible to pay the finance agreement off early without 
penalty to which the salesman said yes. Blinded by the excitement of 
purchasing the new car I agreed and was subsequently pressurised into 
signing the finance documentation expecting that it was as the sales man had 
stated. After getting the car home which had to be brought over on trade 
plates because it was un taxed (they don't tell you that in the advert)  I 
checked the finance documentation to discover that they had only given me 
£700 for my old car and the APR had jumped upto 20%. Furious I rang the 
customer service centre on a number of occasions to be told differing advice 
on each occasion. On some occasions I was told they would ring me back but 
they never did and on the other occasions I was told: -
1. You will have to ring the Leeds branch which I subsequently did. The 
Leeds Customer Service branch then stated that I needed to speak to the 
main Customer Service Centre whom I had rung previously
2. You will have to ring the finance company? I did this and as I thought 
it had nothing to do with them. They said that I needed to sort the matter 
out with Car Craft.
3. Write to the Manager at Leeds. I did this and it took nearly two weeks 
to be told that I had signed the agreement so there was little he could do.
 
After contacting Trading Standards to see if I could get out of the agreement 
I was informed that I couldn't and had to stick to the contract. I then  
managed to find a cheaper loan with the view of paying off the expensive 
finance agreement before I was charged interest. When I rang the finance 
company up in order to settle the loan I was informed that there was a 
penalty of £800 for paying it back early. As you can imagine I was furious. 
After all I the finance company was making £800 in 3 weeks and this was 
nearly a months wages. 
 
As a consequence I phoned Car Craft in Leeds and spoke to the salesman 
whom originally dealt with me. He basically stated that I had signed the 
agreement and denied that he had ever said that there was no penalty for 
paying the loan off early and that he had agreed to give £995 for my old 
car. 
 
To add insult to injury I received a phonecall from the Leeds branch just 
the other day. The lady stated that it was a courtesy call but in reality 
all she was trying to do was sell me an insurance policy. No doubt it was 
on the same lines as the crap warranty which they give and try and sell you 
when you buy a car from them. I basically told her that I wasn't interested.
 
Over all I feel that the company is only interested in money and do not care 
about their customer. What will it take? Somebody to commit suicide before 
the law changes and companies like this are regulated.
 
Please could you add this to account to your website and let me know if 
you do. 
 
Regards M C






from tiggers2004 4th april 2004

General Comments: 
My wife and myself visited Carcraft in Newport Gwent, to browse at their vehicles 
as we are in the market for a new car. Upon arrival we were shocked to be told that
 we needed an appointment to view the cars, but if we gave five minutes of our time 
to the salesman we could 'have a look to our hearts content'. We were then taken to 
what appeared to be a reception area where we subjected to about 15 minutes of 
questions regarding the type of car we were looking for and the amount we were 
expecting to pay. When I told the salesman we weren't sure what type of car we were 
looking for his words to my wife and myself were 'well what you doing here then'. I 
then got a bit sarcastic and told him if that was his attitude he and his 'garage' 
could get lost. My wife and myself then went to leave but the salesman insisted we 
stay and look at the stock as he was certain there was the correct car there for us. 
When I asked him if we would get a discount for cash he laughed and said not likely 
as 'they dont sell cars for cash' 
We then had about 15 minutes of pressure salesmanship to purchase our car on credit 
as they could do us a cracking deal. We both told him him we wanted to pay cash and 
weren't interested in finance, the salesman asked how much we were looking to spend 
and I told him about £7000. The salesman then said well you won't get anything for 
that type of money here and we were wasting our time being there. We then told the 
salesman that his attitude was abysmal and he should be sacked for the way he spoke 
to customers, the salesman's reply was 'well if you aint happy with the way I sell 
cars then tough'. Needless to say my wife and myself got up and left..so my views 
on Carcraft?? Absolutely disgusting attitudes to potential customers and not as 
advertised on local tv 'well worth a visit' 




from Marc 28 mar 2003

carcraft of sheffield, a warning 

if you live in the yorkshire aria and just happen to listen to any local radio 
station you will have herd of there great deals. they probably are great deals, 
£25 per week, walk away with a new car. well new to you anyway. the warehouse is 
huge and is full of gleaming cars of all descriptions. even the car park is vast 
and also full. there range is mind-boggling. you undoubtedly can drive away in 
under one hour, if you have the correct documentation. however be prepared for 
the hard sell these guys are not unlike the time share touts that you may encounter
 on the beach front while on holiday in some hot distant country. 

i went with my daughter who was just about to take her driving test a few weeks 
ater. she had heard all the ads on the radio. lets face it its impossible not to 
have got the message. she was interested as she had saved a sum of money to use 
as a deposit. on this first trip we had no intention of driving away in one hour 
or any matter of time. we went just to look at the cars and find out more. we made 
no secret of this fact when approached by one of the sales men. we had just got out 
of my car in fact. he was very well dressed and well turned out, well spoken and 
extremely polite. she said that he was quite dishy. we explained our situation and 
what it was we hade come to look at and off we went, escorted by our personal 
assistant who knew just what we were looking for. he pointed out a few cars for us 
to have a look at while he went to have a word with his manager. he soon returned 
saying that there was a red version inside that we simply must see. 

did i say this place was vast, inside it was a hive of activity, very bright and 
very hot. it all looked very new, there were a line of tables along one side each 
separated by a low privacy wall. it gave the impression of privacy while allowing 
the tv monitors to observe youre every movement. they are quite conspicuous, if 
you look up that is. I wouldnt mind betting that your voice is recorded as well.
It was then that we began to get the hard sell and I began to feel uncomfortable.
The salesman started to explain how it all worked. He was so well drilled in his 
sales pitch that it was impossible to follow what he was actually saying. Whenever 
I interrupted to clarify the position on any point I was not clear on he simply 
began this spiel from the beginning. The more I questioned the more patronising he 
got. He was quoting figures left right and centre. When I pointed out once more 
that she had not yet passed her test his response was: no problem you buy the car 
and then I would be able to drive it home. My car could be taken in part exchange! 
It was newer that the car we were looking at. At this point his manager came across
 to find out what the problem was. He was far more pushy that his understudy. His 
tactic was to question me as to what was wrong with the deal or the car, as he 
could not understand our reluctance. He even made us a deal that was so hush-hush 
that if his boss found out he would be for the high jump. The offer was truly 
unbelievable he slashed the screen prise of the car by about 60%. My mental 
arithmetic is not that good but even I could work out that the eventual cost of 
the car with all the charges put on would be significantly higher that the screen 
asking price. There were charges for taking out finance, for the privilege of 
having such a good deal, Charges on top of charges etc, etc, etc. 

When I finally insisted that, as I had said from the start we were only here to 
look, we were unceremoniously shown the door. With the insult time waster, ringing 
in our ears and no doubt in the ears of other potential car owners. I am not saying 
that you will not get a good car and a good deal as you probably will. What I am 
saying is go with your whits about you. As if you are not careful you could drive 
out with a lovely car and a very long time to pay off all the added, hidden costs. 
Most of all remember how long you will want to hang on to the car, how long it will 
last and how long you are going to be paying for it before you enter into any contract. 








from saf 22nd feb 2004

I tried to purchase a Car at Carcraft in leeds. They did not want to sell the car 
for the price on the screen. I wanted to pay in cash but they told me I had to make 
a credit deal. They then told me that the car is not for sale as they would make more 
money from credit deal rather than cash. The staff had bad customer service. Would 
not go to carcraft at leeds again.



From michelle  3rd February 2004

i bought a new fiat stello in december the 30th i arrived there at 10am and 
did not leave till 7pm the car which i chose was not fit to drive home that 
day i went back nxt day and collected my car by the time i got home from carcraft 
rochdale to bacup the airbag warning light had come on saying stop car i did so 
and it was towed away for 3days, i got it back and the same day it happened again.
 to cut a long story short its been in and out the garage 8times with various faults 
resulting in me losing confidence in the car and changing it after only 2months 
carcraft was not bothered offered no help compensastion or nothing i will be taking 
carcraft to court. i also had no warrenty or service stamp on the car.





From Thomas 2nd February 2004

I've just bought a Peugeot from 
carcraft & had nothing but trouble so much so that I want them to take 
the car back. I only bought it on the 27/12/03 & its already had to 
have a new fuel tank, boot lock and be taken to a main dealer for a 
fault diagnostic check. They've found that the windscreen leaks, CD 
player doesn't work & the main onboard computer needs replacing! 
Carcraft claim that these are minor faults, who are they kidding. I've 
already got the trading standards involved & sent the usual letters to 
carcraft but it looks like I'm going down the legal route, so who 
knows. Oh, the car is also an import & worth about £2000 less than I 
paid for it which is nice of them to neglect to tell me.



From James 29th January 2004

i bought a car (well just about) from our friends at sheffield on the 8th of 
november 03 when i bought it a week later the windscreen wipers broke the gasket 
manifold broke the front brake disks were illegall the air box has been smashed 
off and is only in place with two clips the rest are missing and the alarm would 
not stop going off ( very embarassing ) the only way to turn it off was to 
disconect the batery every time i stopped and there was two oil leaks which the 
car has leaked 5 liters of oil in two months ,im to scared to have a service 
because of wat eles is going to be wrong with it ..all though ive manged to get 
some money for the alarm and have had the breaks and wippers fixed by NAC it still 
has cost me £257 alredy like you im finding out most of this broken parts are not 
covered by the so called warranty i phoned CARCRAFT and got anothing but abuse to 
be onest so i wrote a nastie letter explaning all this would of been picked up if 
they had done the 120 point check there responce was all cars are given a 
Pre-Delivery Inspection to ensure they are of an MOT standard, it is not possible 
to foresee mechanical/electrical failures.  my arrrrsssssssssssssss any way im 
about to write back explaining that to pass an MOT all you need is a 41 point 
check and it still dose not excuse the state of the car they sold me. nightmare 
is not the word 
the fight continues 




from dzasterus 25th jan 2004

before writing this i have spent one of the most boring and miserable afternoons of 
my life at carcrafts branch in leeds 

after hearing their advertisements on the radio for the last couple of months and 
having passed their location several times, i thought i would see if they had anything 
which would suit me. 

i contacted them via phone before setting off to ask a few questions, i expliained my 
situation (mainly my credit situation and the fact dvla have not yet sent me my new 
licence) they explained that my credit situation was no problem but if i did wish to 
drive a car away today i would have to show my drivers licence or have a relative who 
could drive there with me as they could then use theirs. as this was no problem as my 
parents were also coming with me, i set off to meet a 4pm appointment. 

i arrived at the site in plenty of time and was met courteously by a salesperson who 
showed me through to the section i was intrested in, while i looked at the cars on 
offer he went and looked at mine which i wanted to part-ex. after 15 mins i had seen 
a car i liked and went in search of my salesperson, after finding him he located the 
keys and let me have a good look around the car to see if everything was satisfactory. 

after a further 5 mins of discussion with my family we all agreed that the car would 
be fine for our needs and again approached our salesman to discuss payment. 

this is where everything started to go bad 

we were asked to take a seat whilst he went and started the paperwork within 30 
seconds he was back to explain the situation with the driving licence. he stated 
that due to the fact i did not have mine with me it would be the next day before 
i could collect a car after they had processed a check with dvla. i agrred but 
told him what i had been told by the phone operator earlier, he went to check, 
after 5 mins sitting their like idiots he came back and said "if you want to 
drive away today we will have to put it in your parents name", asking if he just 
meant the car he said "no the finance". 

As you can imagine they were not too happy with this scenario and so we decided 
to leave, realising that he may be missing a sale he asked us to wait a second 
as he would have a word with his manager. 

5 mins passed 

He came back, he went 

5 more mins 

He came back, he went again 

10 mins passed and we left for a cigarette 

he came back again and stated that he could run finance through without seeing 
my driving licence and I could drive away today, we began to go through some 
figures on how much I would get for my part ex and how much it would cost me 
weekly. To my shock they had allowed £280 on my car against a £5495 new one, 
yet not a week ago I had been offered £650 against one costing £4495 at a main 
dealers, unhappy with this I told him and he went back to his manager. 

5 mins later he returned and said they could allow us £1000 as part ex, we were 
happy with this and we began to enter all my details on the computer after 10 
mins this was completed and he said it would take a couple more minutes, then 
went to speak to his manager. 

On his return we noticed the computer screen had APPROVED on it and felt quite 
happy until he asked me to sign a form so he could process the application while 
explaining that the credit company was now closed, and we would have to call back 
tomorrow to see if we had been approved and if we had to collect the car. We tried 
explaining that due to work commitments and the fact we had said earlier that we 
wished to drive away today it would not be possible, he insisted that I signed the 
credit proposal form and ignored what I was trying to tell him. 

When I actually refused to sign he said "well its not official" in a tone of voice 
which suggested he didn't care less, then stood up and left hurriedly. 

We left the building and made our way back to our old car, where I checked the 
actual price of the car we wished to purchase against the recommended costs in 
Parkers car guide where I found a discrepancy of £2205 in their favour. 


Needless to say I am now glad I didn't purchase the car and think myself lucky to 
have such a close escape and in these circumstances all I can say is BUYER BEWARE 





From Margaret  23rd January 2004

Me and my partner purchased a Rover 75 which is only eleven months old 
28th December ’03, forecourt price was £13.495. 

The deal struck with the salesman was £3500 trade-in value of our old car, and 
if we take the car away the same day £1,000 discount off the forecourt price

We gave £4,000 of our own money towards the cost and took the rest out on finance 
which should be £4,995.  We asked for a monthly payment figure and the salesman 
quoted £150, so the deal was agreed with finance to be taken out over five years.

After spending hours being moved from pillar to post, we eventually was taken into 
a room and was told by another salesman that we have to take out a five year 
warranty, we said that we didn’t want it, he then said we had to take it out 
and wasn’t optional as it was part of the finance agreement. To cut a long story 
short, he well and truly shafted us!  A few days later we received paperwork through 
the post which stated that the warranty was OPTIONAL.

On the 6th January ’04 I managed to speak to the salesman who sold me the warranty 
and he denied any such conversation took place.  We reported this matter to their 
customer services department and after numerous and lengthy telephone calls we have 
managed to get the warranty cancelled. 

What Carcraft didn’t tell me was that the car I purchased, still has two years left 
of a Rover warranty, this I find out by telephoning Rover at Longridge and they check 
their database for me against the chassis number.

We received a telephone call from Carcraft asking us to come in a sign a new finance 
agreement, I asked them to clarify that the finance we will be taking out 
(£4995 as agreed), BUT NO, it’s suddenly jumped up another £1,000 to £5995!  We have 
now been told that the salesman gave us a trade-in value of £2,500 and not £3,500.

We both are totally stressed out by their treatment of us.  Yesterday we wrote to 
their Board of Directors and Customer Services Manager, but after reading your 
experience, we don’t hold much hope of this being resolved. 

They shouldnt be allowed to get away with it!







From kevin 23rd January 2004

Carcraft at Rochdale is just the same.
No sooner had I gone into the show room the pounched
and I felt trapped.  It was as if they wanted to know how
much money I had to spend and they were going to tell me
which car I was going to buy.

I couldn't get out of the place fast enough.

Will NEVER enter a Carcraft showroom again.

Kevin B






From Ebodski  23rd January 2004

IMHO anybody who buys from Carcraft I pity.

They are sharks who prey on people who are either desparate or not
financially clued up.

They offer a decent price for your banger and sell inflated priced cars with
monster sized finance packages spread over long periods.

They blitz the TV with commercials...who pays for that...the mugs that sign
up for the cars.


The guy who owns it has a posh mansion overlooking Hollingworth Lake Nr
Littleborough. I frequently hear his Ferrari accelerating off , and
occasionally see his Porsche Cayanne passing also. I wonder how much finance
he has to pay for them over 5 years ?




From C.Cook 22nd January 2004

 i went to car craft in Sheffield in November last year and bought a very nice looking 
Vauxhall Vectra CDX V6 on finance we were kept waiting for 4hrs when we went to pick 
it up then was told we were not allowed to take it unless we had tax & insurance, 
so we paid for that then waited for another hour. we got the car and drove home to 
find certain thins not working the engine not having the power it should have this 
was the start of a long list of problems, ie.overheating chucking water out over 
the engine, breaking down, not ticking over, not starting, rang car craft they 
told me to take it to a garage so i did but they wouldn`ttouch it because it was a 
big job & very expensive rang car craft again customer service were rude & unhelpfull 
then hung up we still can`t get the repairs done because of the expence which car craft 
don`t seem to want to cover we have had enough & want a differant car, a reliable one 
if car craft have such a thing ,we have phoned them wrote to them & still no joy, 
they don`t return our calls. It seems like a never ending battle " Car craft want 
closing down "  






From mark - 22nd January 2004

Went to the one in Sheffield with my cousin who was after a car but
didn't know what he wanted.  

Approached by the salesman told him we were just looking and had no
intention of buying.  Went outside and poked about, sat in, tyre
kicked a load of small  hatchbacks until he decided he fancied a Ka,
the saleman had come out to find us but we were trying a Fiat coupe
for size so he got a bit narked and went off in a huff when he told us
we had no intention of buying today (which we'd told him an hour
earlier) and were wasting his time. 

Had no intention of buying from them as they are overpriced anyway, if
they are pushy then tell them to piss off.  "Shoppers" in this country
are too passive which these places use to their advantage.  Worst they
can do is ask you to leave. ;-)

Mark S.



From  Paul  - 21st January 2004

Just thought I'd post a note to pass on a warning about my bad experience.

This afternoon I was passing Carcraft Westmidlands in Darlaston. As I'm in
the market for a new car, I thought I'd pop in and see what they'd got in.

From the very second I drove onto their land I felt like I was in a
concentration camp. After I'd received permission to go in I was told to go
through the main entrance where I'd be met by a sales man.

    On walking through the front door, I was greeted by a large area, and a
small gate into the showroom, this is where the pack were standing, awaiting
their hunting to begin. I explained that I was in a hurry as I was between
meetings, and that I simply wanted to browse what they had in. I was made to
take a seat (chair not se-at) and fill in a form while he gave me his little
presentation and told me how good their finance is and how stupid people are
who pay the cash price. Asked whether I was single or stupid, and led onto
the shop floor. To show me where the cars are (The place is packed with 1500
of them, but I need showing where they are.)

    After a while of being led round to a presentation and giving him very
short sharp blunt answers, he finally left me alone to look. But told me
that if anyone was to ask me what I was doing, I was to say that "Shawn" was
dealing with me.

    In the following 15 minutes that I spent browsing, three other salesmen
came up to me, and asked what they had to do to get me to drive one of these
cars away today (Or similar one-liners) I rebuffed them all. And began to
leave.

    I was met at the exit barrier (Yes, barrier!) by yet another guy, who
continued to tell me how wonderful their finance is and how they can get
anyone finance. I told him that I had to leave as I had a meeting 30 miles
away in 30 minutes and I was already going to be late, to which he said
"That's no good, I can't sell you a car in a hurry, I'd need at least an
hour to sell you a car." To which my response was..." I don't want SELLING a
car, I want to buy one of my choosing in my own time." He was a bit taken
aback by this, and joked, "yeah well, you'll probly find your cars' been
clamped in our car park...heh he."

I said..."Yeah, certainly feels that way."

    What an utter nightmare of a place... They clearly have no respect for
customers and see them only as gullible prey.

I'll certainly never be going back there, and exposing myself to that. And I
suggest that no one else does either. Save yourself the patronizing and hard
sell crap. These are clearly a management cultivated attitudes, and they
stink.


Ooh yeah..... this one's funny....


    In his initial speach he told me that they have 1500 cars in stock, they
sell about 100 per day, and that if I see a car I like then I should buy it
there and then, as the average shelf life of a car to stay in stock is just
20 -30 days..

    However, he seemed a little confused when I pointed out that if they
sold 100 cars per day, over a month, they'd need a stock of 3000 cars not
1500. Twice the amount.


What a bunch of over pushy ignoramouses. Mind you, I blame the management
not the guys themselves. They've had it bred into them.

Paul.









From Matthew -  Jan 21st 2004

A while back I decided after seeing the TV ads to visit Carcraft with 
their "helpful" staff and "great deals".
I pulled into the car park and was met by two salesmen at the door who greeted 
me and asked me what I wanted. One of them was called away by "his boss" leaving 
the other to show me this shiny Renault Megane that I could afford, based on the 
screen price. I asked what my car was worth and he came back saying he could knock 
£800 off the screen price - £800 for a FIVE year old Peugeot 306 that cost me 
£4.5k a yer ago - asked why he said because it had little or no MOT and was not a 
sought after car anymore. Lie numbers 2 and 3!! 
I asked to test drive the Renault, but I couldn't as they couldn't find the keys 
(eh- a car dealer without keys??- another lie I suspect).
I walked away to try to have a look round and the sales guy immediately 
stopped me - his colleague then joined and started whispering to the guy who was
 following me. I was immediately taken (well marched!!) outside to the remaining 
cars and pointed to this Corsa - which was too small for what I wanted, but £4k 
for a S reg - isn't that a bit steep!! This carried on being taken around 
different cars, until I was shown this nice silver VW Golf GTi by another salesguy. 
Again I asked for a test drive, but they needed to sort the finance out first, 
which would allow them to move it. I managed to get £1100 for my car and the 
rest on finance provided I signed up to a warranty and payment insurance. 
Oh yeah they also needed my credit card for an initial £500 deposit which would 
be refunded to me. I was told they just needed to complete and approve the finance 
and I would be done. After sitting waiting for nearly two hours I enquired what was 
going on - not long now we are just waiting to hear from the finance company, 
but it has been approved. What about my test drive? Sorry - we can't. The car needs 
servicing. I complained and "his boss" came over and said they'd only just got the 
car in, but would allow me to look inside - I did and thats where I nearly died. 
There were cigarette burns in the drivers seat and the car had done 96000 miles!! 
I told them to forget it and was told that I would now not get my £500 refunded as 
the finance had been approved. I would also have to pay an additional £95 credit fee 
for cancelling the agreement. Fortunately they hadn't got my bank details yet. 
I walked out but the "boss" came up to me and did his utmost to prevent me from 
leaving the building. I pushed him out the way and he shouted he would call the 
police. I phoned my bank and immediately cancelled my credit card. Unfortunately 
the £500 had gone out when I got my statement a couple of days ago. My bank are 
now investigating and advised me to see a solicitor. Has anyone else had a 
similar experience as I could do with some support on this? 




From Lara  Jan 21st 2004

Recently went into Carcraft as was looking for a new car and had a budget of £5,500.
 I just wanted to look at what I could get for my money and prices. The sales person
 asked me to take a seat and it took nearly an hour before he would tell me a price 
he kept wondering off (bit like a timeshare tactic, wear them down and they'll sign 
anything to get away)

To cut a long story short once he'd told me the price and I remarked how expensive 
it was he told me that I wouldn't get anything cheaper, told him the cars down the 
road were much cheaper and left.

Would be very careful if I was buying a car, check out the finance charges you could
 end up paying a loan of long after the car has outdone is usefulness. It seems like
 this company are not really interested if you want to pay by cash, finance, finance,
 finance.
 




From  Lucie  Jan 20th 2004

I found out this place through an advert in the newspaper, and I thought hey: 
this might be a good place to get my new car. When I got there, it was close to the
 airport and the appearance wasn't good, it reminded me of a local gypsy camp. When 
I got out of my car, I could not find a member of staff for around 10 minutes. When 
I was about to leave, a worker came up to me to tell me he was there. I told him I 
couldn't find anyone, and he lectured me that I wasn't looking hard enough. I 
demanded I would speak to someone else about what I wanted. He was pretty insulted, 
but indeed he got a man in a suit to help. When he took me over to see cars in my 
price range (around £5000), he showed me a horrible J reged rover 200, which was 
very damaged. When he told me that they had a G regged Lada behind £4500, I said 
I had to go. Bad staff, looks like a gypsy site and it is seriously over priced. 







From an Ex Employee 19th Jan 2004

There is no 120 point check - its a PDI (pre delivery inspection) ONLY - 
and the technicians are paid on commission - the more PDI's they do per 
hour, the more they get paid. Not exactly encouraging thoroughness.













From Keith Morley  22nd December 2003

I would like to start a group to try to change the law in order to try
and stop the pressure selling tactics and lack of customer care of
companies such as CarCraft. I like to think I'm not totally stupid or
averse to the ways of the world but I unfortunately succumbed to a
less than perfect deal (to say the least).
If you have only been to "normal" dealers, even the ones who are
pushy, you will have never experienced anything like Carcraft before,
it truly is a daunting experience.

Anybody reading this who is thinking of going to such a company,
please think carefully -
  Never go without knowing exactly what you want and what is a good
price, if you do you will probably find that CarCraft is not the one
for you.
  Notice they do not advertise prices of actual cars - you will see
why when you get there.
  You will be followed around by a "negotiator".
  The "negotiators" are supposed to get the best deal because they get
paid on the number of cars they sell, not how much they sell the car
for - do not believe them.
  If there are any problems with the car - walk away - do not believe
excuses they may have.
  Ensure you see the service booklet before you buy. 
  Ensure they give you enough petrol to get to the nearest petrol
station !
  The mileages are not guaranteed. 
  Be prepared for a hard sell. 
  Be prepared that if you want a car quickly then you will have to
leave without a valid tax disk, i.e you may face a £1000 fine and your
car will probably not be covered by your insurance.

Am I the only one to have had problems, from other forums, I think
not.
   
Is there anybody interested ?





BBC News Report   3rd October 2003

When Sam Jones bought his Ford Escort from Carcraft in Newport back in February,
 he paid an extra £1,000 for a five year warranty. But when his car broke down 
his warranty didn't quite live up to expectations. Simon gives him advice
One Saturday morning Sam Jones' car broke down on the motorway. Sam had to have 
it towed back to his own garage in Newport, because his Carcraft warranty, issued
 by Nationwide Automobile Cover, stated that; "Out of Hours...you can instruct 
your repairer to carry out repairs." So Sam authorised his garage to carry on 
with the repairs, which they started right away.

His car was finished on the following Thursday or Friday and Sam sent the invoice 
off to Carcraft. They wrote back to say that because they hadn't given their 
authorisation they refused to pay.

Sam got in touch with Law to Door to ask what he should do.

Simon says: What you've done is quite clever. You've taken an extended warranty and 
you've actually read it, which most people don't, so when you broke down you knew 
you were on solid ground."

Simon points out that the clause in the contract which states that 'In the event 
of a failure occurring outside office hours or at weekends, you can instruct your 
repairer to carry our repairs' is absolutely explicit. "It says if your car breaks 
down outside office hours or at the weekend, you are entitled to take it to a 
repairer and authorise them to repair it, which is precisely what you've done." 

He continues, "You've then gone back and sent the invoice quite properly to the 
car company, the insurance people, and they've come back and said no, you should 
have had authority. That term is explicit, it is the most generous term I think 
I've ever seen in a contract, but that's not your problem. It's their problem 
because you signed it. And it's enforceable so if they won't pay up voluntarily 
you're going to have to sue them."

X-Ray got in touch with Car Craft, and the company has agreed to refund Sam the 
£755 his repairs cost, as a gesture of goodwill. Carcraft has pointed out to us 
however that - whilst one part of the warranty document DOES say that customers 
can authorise repairs, the actual terms and conditions of the warranty issued by 
Nationwide Automobile Cover, says that 'No repairs can start until authorised.'

So Carcraft still say that Sam's claim was rejected because he didn't stick to 
the claims procedure. According to Carcraft other warranties on the market would 
have given the same response. 





From `unhappycustomer`   October 19th 2003

We too thought Carcraft were wonderful, with the huge amount of bright, shiny cars, 
and every salesperson is your friend. Little did we know of the horror that lay 
undetected.
We purchased a Hyundai Accent just over 9 Months ago from Carcraft Wednesbury, 
we were ripped off with the finance, the warranty and generally the whole experience. 
After being promised an APR of 11.9% to match a loan offer, when my partner 
went alone(the following day not 1 hour, having been assured everything was 
inplace and they only needed a signature!!!) the APR had risen to 33.5% somehow 
i dont see this as a typing error but a con. They had also included the 5 year 
warranty, payment protection and generally everything but GAP insuranec which 
would be really useful considering our car is technically a write off. My 
partner trusted them completely and signed leaving us with the APR of a 
store card and a list of extras that we do not need.

We called and wrote to "customer Care"... a joke. They dont care.

As we had signed on the premises there is very little we could do.

9 Months later we had said car serviced, it needs £2000 worth of repairs, 
we needed the help of our "comprehensive 12 month parts and Labour Guarantee". 
Nothing that needed replacing was covered, what a surprise and dont forget we 
have another 5 years worth of warranty that isnt worth the paper it is written on!

When we went back to see Carcraft they had the cheek to try to PART EXCHANGE 
the car offering us £1500, we still owe £4000 on the finance, ripping us off 
for a second time!! We have since taken our dispute to Trading Standards and 
are seeking help from a Solicitor. Buy in haste, repent at Leisure!!! 






From Josie    October 12th 2003

my husband went to carcraft (a large car sales showroom on the edge of sheffield 
near the airport)yesterday and as soon as he walked into the door was bombarded 
with a pushy salesmen who talked him into a finance deal we cannot afford, they 
are supposed to have done a check with Experian, the credit reference agency but 
we know they can't have, as we were turned down by another car company in 
sheffield for that very reason just two hours earlier!

within 1 hour, two more salemen came with more hign pressure sales talk. He was 
there about six hours, during this time ,his car keys were taken off him - to 
'move' the car'!.

just kept waiting, for paperwork, for the car to be checked, valeted, any reason 
to keep him there until he was totally worn down and he just wanted to sign and 
get out of there. 

In part exchange he was offered just 900 pounds for an 'R' mondeo(145,000m). 
He wasn't asked if he wanted to take the new car for a test drive (vauxhall 'x' 
reg vectra) and just 1 day later we can see why, problems starting, after 10 
mins of trying to turn the car over, my husband and son went back to car craft, 
to the servicing dept and was told by the machanic that it couldn't be fixed 
there and then but he did something to do with the glow plug relay (is this a 
common problem with diesels? - 2nd car with this prob) and it should work for 
now but you might end up bringing it back tomorrow. He also said ' I should'nt 
be telling you this but if it doesn't start again, phone them up and they will 
send a tow truck out but you won't be guranteed a courtesy car...

We've already phoned up customer services and asked if we could get out of the 
finance arrangment but were told, there isn't a 14 day cooling off period as 
the papers were signed on their premises and when we questioned this, we were 
told they have a trading license or something but we have read the contract, 
you can't end the deal, you can't refuse payment and even if you die, it is 
classed as a 'default', if the car is in an accident you do not get a replacement 
from them.

We later went back in the afternoon after yet another problem trying to get 
the car started and went to talk to them but for everything we queried , there 
was an answer in their favour. But while waiting there was another couple there
and we warned them not to sign anything and they left without buying a car. 

We are going to phone the finance company up tomorrow and see what can be done. 
Please do not buy a car from this company, you are pressured into a deal you 
cannot afford and once you have signed the paperwork, it is too late!

Update 13/10/03
still stuck with finance deal, car now in garage as we wait for a courtesy car, 
oh, the 6 month tax disk which 'runs' out Dec 03, my husband had to 'pay' 
£41.25 to buy it back from carcraft to put back on the same car!!

Update 13/10/03 (pm)
car gone to VAT registered garage as per the contract but halfway through the 
day, the garage contacts us to say that the work won't come under the warranty,
we refuse to pay it, we contact carcraft in sheffield,and were put on hold and 
the line went dead as if being cut off, so phoned back carcraft and after 
mentioning seeing a solicitor, talked to customer services who say it is under
 warranty,but part of the condition to get the work done ,carcraft decide the 
car needs moving from a vauxhall garage in sheffield to a service centre in 
barnsley and it's my husband who has to drive it there! - he finally arrives 
at 6pm 

update 15/10/03
car still in barnsley - and still not fixed!
seeing another solictor tomorrow 
 








From `PriceSilk`  October 4th 2003

Having ventured to Newport to see how much the cars going through the auctions were 
fetching (and finding that I’d picked the wrong day) I called into Carcraft to see 
what they had to offer. I was met at the door by what I first thought was a smiling 
cardboard cut-out (they have closed circuit TV so they can tell when a likely punter 
is about to walk through their door). I was then shown to a table where the salesman 
explained how Carcraft worked and ‘requested’ my name and address for their ‘free 
prize draw’. When I told him I wasn’t interested in their prize draw I was bullied 
into participating anyway. When I stuck my heels in and told him that I wasn’t going 
to give him my name and address etc. (I get enough junk mail already thank you) he 
used the excuse that he’d get into trouble with his boss if he didn’t extract my 
information. I told him to go and get his boss so I could have a word at which 
point he backed off and decided that it wasn’t that important after all. Not a 
good start.

Having a nose around the lot there was some really nice people carriers there but 
nothing that was within my price range that I was happy with. This resulted with 
the salesman (a nice guy to be fair) looking through a list of cars that were 
‘off lot’ i.e. vehicles that had just arrived or were waiting in the wings ready 
to be slotted into a vacant space once a car had been sold. This revealed several 
possibilities that had potential. After having a look at these (all hidden behind 
the high wooden fence right next to the main sales area) I settled on a very clean 
Galaxy Ghia. Then came the hard sell. 

I’d told them my top budget was £10,000. The Galaxy was priced at £12,000. The 
manager was called and negotiations were started. He told me that if he could 
come down to 10k would I take the car then and then? It did not go down too 
well when I told him I wouldn’t. I’d want time to think about it and compare 
prices. Not an unfair request I thought. Not good enough for him, he got very, 
very pushy and therefore I got stubborn. To break the deadlock he suggested, no, 
insisted that I take a test drive. I did and the car was excellent in all fairness. 
After that I was further pressured to buy then and there. It seemed that the price 
of £10k was only good for the time I was on the lot. I told him that as the car 
wasn’t even officially for sale why was he so adamant that he couldn’t hold the 
price for 24 hours? His solution was for me to put down a £100 deposit then and 
there on the spot. His logic was even if I decided against the Ford I could still 
use the deposit against any other stock they had. I smelled a rat, told him no 
way and left the building.

Once I’d arrived back home and compared prices surprise, surprise the Galaxy was 
a full £4,000 over book price. Even if I’d bought it at the ‘reduced’ price of 
£10,000 I would have still been robbed of £2,000! Personally I think they should 
rename the company from Carcraft at Empress to Caveat Emptor - ‘Let the buyer beware’.
 






From `giffer2`  September 11th 2003

I had just had my pride and joy written off by some joy riders and whilst waiting
 for the insurance company to sort it's self out I went looking for cars and 
came to Carcraft.

Very professional looking, greated at the door by a salesman who took me to a 
table and gave me a general run through of the site and how they operated, so 
far so good I thought.

I explained the situation and said I had about £250 a month to play with, he 
started showing me a selection of cars most were a little unimpressive, but 
then he showed me a T Reg Ford Focus Ghia with all the goodies.

We went back to talk about finance, he did some calculations which seemed to 
be way off (5 year finance deal) - He called over the "manager" who started 
pushing for me to buy this car as soon as he came over.

The salesman himself couldn't of been more helpful but the finance deal and 
the "manager" stopped me from buying the car - The finance worked out to be 
about £15,000 on a car worth £8,000 over 5 years and the "manager" wouldn't 
take no for an answer.


Needless to say I walked out with a very bad impression of Carcraft, I've 
spoken to others since and they've had similiar experiences.

It might be a good place if you have the cash ready and waiting. 






From Wendy  August 24th 2003

Me and himself have been looking out for a new car, so while the two big boys 
are on their hols, we decided to go here, taking my mum and the youngest, now 
14 months old. With the catchy "Carcraft of Sheffield" advert buzzing in my 
head, off we tootled, a long way past the airport, through a barrier and into 
the car park. I was impressed with the size of the place, with cars inside a 
huge aircraft hanger, and outside in a compound.

As we went in through the door and up the ramp, we were greeted with the sight 
of a huge hunting tribe of well dressed sales men, ready to leap on the
unsuspecting victim, I mean customer. A friendly vampire greeted us, and 
started the sales pitch immediately, despite us telling him we wanted only 
to look round. He did tell us how the cars were organised according to size, 
but the rest of the flip chart was all about credit deals, and at 19.9% (how 
expensive?!) it didn't look like much of a deal to me. I did tackle him about 
this - "Is it lower if you have good credit?" - to which he rambled about 
stuff that quite frankly confused me. After filling in a card thrust upon me 
for my name and address, he led us into the compound to look at Vauxhall 
Astra estates. Having worked in sales myself, "an intelligent girl like me" 
I know how the sales pitches work, so listened (kind of), smiled and nodded,
 while he showed me a "superb vehicle, tested by them to the highest standards". 
When he left us finally to browse, we had a good look at the prices.


To say they were expensive would be an understatement. About £1500 extra on 
each car I looked at, compared with a Lookers Dealer in Wallasey, bearing in 
mind the cars in Lookers were also newer. After chasing the baby round the 
compound, we chased him back into the aircraft hanger, were the vampire was 
waiting to suck our hard earned cash out of us. Not to bore you with the gory 
details, the hard sell really began, involving a manager, desperate to get us 
to sign on the dotted line. I played along for a while, wanting a comparable 
quote to take home so we can look hard at our finances for when we go to 
Lookers, and, give the guys their due, they worked really hard to help us. 
We told them we had a monthly budget of £160, and an F reg Nova to trade in 
as our deposit. To stick to our budget, they managed to give us £1500 for our 
little car, and lowered our interest to a competitive 7.9% ish

They were very reluctant to give us time to think about it overnight, for 
obvious reasons, and hounded us all the way out of the building until we 
finally escaped and drove off, still in out Nova - hurrah!

The place claims to have a creche, but it doesn't open til 12 noon on a 
Saturday. There is also a cafe, but we didn't go in - frightened of having 
a bun forced onto us with our coffee.

Overall, I hated the entire experience. Please, please, don't submit 
yourself to this torture.
 





From Mr Kristian  July 28th 2003

 was met at the door by the salesman who explained how carcraft do things and 
i explained that i wanted a family car for about 120 pounds a month,"no problem"
 he said "i'll show you what we've got", after spending about an hour looking 
around with him i settled on a Mercedes which was over my budget but i loved 
the car so went for it! I signed some forms and the salesman took me to a 
counter and passed all my details over and i was asked to wait for a decision 
on the finance. About 2 hours later i was told sorry your application has been 
declined but their are a few other companies who might accept you but we wont 
get a decision today so i left feeling embarised and worried that their must 
be a problem with my credit record. Anyway to cut a long story short i was 
contacted by the finance company who apparently declined me and was told that 
they were happy to accept me for finance but only for what the car was worth 
and not what carcraft were trying to charge me. They explained that this happens 
to about 15 people a week and they are going to contact these people and 
recommend them to other garages. Basically carcraft would rather tell you 
its been declined than sell you the car for whats its actually worth. I got 
a copy of my credit record and its fine!  





From `Chrimbo`  July 2nd 2003


I too went to Carcraft, believing that thousands of cheap second hand cars 
would be available.
Like you I soon realised that the cars advertised in the paper were non existent.
I was also cooped up in a small room while I was force fed some cock and bull 
story about finance, and the only solution was to buy a "warranty" (more of 
this later*).

I too am ashamed that I fell for the bullshit offered by Carcraft and would 
urge anyone not to use their services.

*Two days after leaving the showroom I was picking my brother up from 
Manchester airport, the car broke down(throttle linkage). Guess what? 
not in the warranty, the windscreen leaks, again not in the warranty. 







From `bluestocking`    June 13th 2003

We too have had a bad experience with CARCRAFT at Sheffield. we arrived 
there at 5.30 aprox. we where met at the door buy a salesman, very pleasant
and explained the layout of the showrooms and the display charts on car with 
deposit and weekly payments, we saw a Ford Maverick 3dr that we liked and 
slightly above our price range but decided to purchase. We went for a 
test drive, I was allowed to drive the car, the car was in good condition 
and well kept for its year (96). on returning to showrooms we talked to 
Glyn, one of the managers we haggled the price for a while then were told ok.
 we could have the car with my car as the deposit £995 and £168 per month 
(little more than we intended to pay monthly). the condition being that 
we took the car the same night! to which we agreed. after all details where 
taken we where then taken to an information desk to be handed over to someone
 else. we signed a form to agree our details then where told they would have 
confirm the loan, this time it was 19.50, we were told the finance company 
closed a 20.00 and they would try and rush it through. we sat again until 20.30 
then were told the finance was ok. then we were taken to yet another office 
again to wait which was full of customers waiting for their cars to be 
processed. We then started to get concerned as people were grumbling that 
they were having charges added to their finance.
While waiting one couple had their car arrive guess what! the wrong car 
(more worry). next we were asked into an office to sign our agreement 
and guess what! they tried to sell us a 5 year guarantee on top at £6 per 
month, We declined, then when asked for our credit card I refused to let it 
leave the room to their annoyance they would not let me go with the credit card 
to be scanned for my signature so in the end they agreed on my cheque guarantee 
card. we where then left for 15 mins until an 
Financial assistant arrived with the finance papers THEN THE BIG SURPRISE OR WAS 
IT BY NOW the agreed amount of £168.00 per month had now risen to £237.00! NO WAY. 
when we said forget it he said give me a minute and I will try and reduce the 
amount, so we said forget it, we went back into the reception to wait for my car 
keys which I had handed over in good faith.
The man on reception was very apologetic and said this happens all the time you 
should come on Saturday its a nightmare. We left at 21.30 having wasted our night off.
When I arrived home I looked up Carcraft on the internet and came up with your 
web page, I THINK WE HAD A VERY LUCKY ESCAPE AND FELT SORRY AND CONCERNED 
FOR ANY ONE THAT HAS BOUGHT A CAR FROM THEM.
 










From anon   June 6th 2003


We have been looking to buy a specific car, a Focus 2.0 Zetec, 2-3 yrs old 
possibly with highish mileage (40-60K) but in good condition. Carcraft at Empress
 no longer have a website so we rang the national number to see what they may 
have to look at. We were told that they had no "high" mileage cars but that there 
were a number starting at V reg with 35K plus miles, starting at 5650. We travelled 
from Bristol to look over the stock.

It was a joke. We were shown one 85K miles, ticket price 9995. Another, 95K miles 
8995 neither in brilliant condition. We looked through the entire pound and could 
not see a single 2.0 Focus in the range described on the phone. When we pointed 
out that the price new for this car from Ford Journey (internet Ford sales) was 
13040 and that their price was therefore way over they denied the new price. When 
we pulled out our Ford Journey printout (from that morning) and our compiled info 
of all the 2.0 Focus on sale in the country and showed that the price should be 
nearer 6-7000 they dug their heels in. We laughed. They were not amused. When we 
said that we had seen a very nice 65K 2.0 at the Bristol Trade Centre for 6995 
(which was absolutely true, but also somewhat overpriced) they said that perhaps 
we should go and buy from them then. The main sales negotiators wouldn't even 
come and talk to us. We left.

It appears difficult to understand who would buy a car from them at the prices 
charged. It's clear that the reason that they have no website is that they 
would then have to advertise specific cars at specific prices. Instead their 
adverts describe generic cars, starting from such and such a price. It's the 
only way they can get you into the place.

Our advice is to do what we were told by their own sales "helper" to do - 
go and get one somewhere else. You should also have a look at the BBC's 
Watchdog website which seems to have had over 200 complaints.

(PS we have just bought a 10500 mile Focus 2.0, which is immaculate, for 
7500 from a dealer in Porstmouth) 





From JPCComputers  April 1st 2003

Bought my second car from Carcraft, cost over £16000. Had all sorts of problems. 
Carcraft kind of sorted the problems but with lots of inconvienience.

Still lots of things to sort out, intervention of a solicitor became necessary 
and potentially expensive. It took weeks for a reply to letters and other correspondence.

I found the customer helpline staff friendly and helpful with the exception 
of one who obviously could not be bothered. However the workshop manager was 
excellent and couldn't have been more helpful.

I am sure that with time and dedication to the cause all will be resolved!! 
We will see.

I will keep this area posted as things progress. Please wish me luck on my cause!!

Will leave people to make their own minds up. 








 

From `NTRob`  March 9th 2003

I visited Carcraft in Sheffield, (close to the airport) recently. I 
had read the newspaper advert and was at this point genuinely impressed 
with the prices.The idea was to spend an hour looking around seeing what 
was on offer to exchange my car with.
I parked up and ventured inside. I started to take in what was on offer and 
within 2 minutes I was 'pounced on' by the stereo typical puffa jacket sales 
man. I batted off his questions and said I would come and find some one when 
I was ready. I was however by this time in a conversation and the questions 
were non stop. How much can you afford a month? answer I'm paying cash, 
response we can help you get something much better if I tell him what I can 
afford to pay. I stuck to my guns and said I just wanted to look for the 
time being.
Off I went and started to try and find several cars at the prices advertised 
eg a Vauxhall Astra from £6000, there were none to be seen. The actual screen 
prices appeared expensive, certainly more so than the adverts, which on going 
back to have a clause saying Group Stock??
Within in the next 10 minutes I was confronted by another puffa jacket clad 
sales man and the same line of questioning all to do with car finance. Having 
made myself very clear that I was paying cash ( a lie i'm as skint as the next 
man) I managed to start asking questions back about a car I was stood next to. 
The sales man had very little product knowledge and was nothing short of abrupt 
in his vague answers about what other models were available, He would offer no 
type of help as to when a car in the prior days advert would be available to see. 
He then launched into the questions about how much do you want to spend? What 
can you afford a month? and before I knew what was happening he was talking 
about selling me a £9000 car when I said I was spending £6000 but no!! 
according to him he could help me afford it. I tapped his numbers into a 
pocket calculator and said the only way he could help me was by giving a 
£3000 discount. His face was a picture but the alarm bells were ringing and I 
walked off very quickly.
My points are 
The set up appears to be about selling you finance packages, the cars are 
secondary
The sales staff are full on high pressure types, all be it very skilled in 
the art of selling. Be very very strong.
The cars and the finance ARE expensive, you can do just as well at a 
manufacturers dealership. Your bank or even a supermarket will do a better loan.

They left a very sour taste with me. I would urge you to be very aware 
and check everything they tell you. It felt to me that you could easily 
be pressurised into a car and a deal that you don't want.

Buyer Beware!!  
 











Andie   March 5th 2003

Last weekend I went to carcraft at sheffield to look for an Estate car The sales 
staff were very helpful
and if you do not let them walk all over you you will get the deal you want
 on that side of the counter however when you go to collect your car be 
prepared to go to hell and back they are not very helpful and try to sell 
you more Like extended warrenty and a insurance policy that if you write 
your car off they will replace it with the same model and at the same price, 
beware this policy only lasts for 3 yrs they don't tell you that.also I 
tried to get my old Tax disc as they were suppling me with a car without Tax 
(beware you drive buy the police station that is next door) I wanted to claim 
this back, they said no it was part of the deal ( I was not told this buy 
sales).So my advice is go if you have plenty of time and say no to what you 
don't want and yes to what you do want.
 






From `rach99`  March 1st 2003

I was sold a car with full service histoy at carcraft.Carcraft could not 
provide the service book after the sale, as they had told lies about having 
this in their admin department. I was also told lies about the number of 
previous owners, the finance APR and fees and the sale took 6 hours not one 
hour as per their adverts.
Trying to get a refund has been a total nightmare. No one wants to know, no 
one will return my calls and sales staff, managers and telephone sale staff 
are rude and agressive and tell lies. I have still not received a full refund 
and have had to involve a solicitor. Wish me luck, but please avoid this car 
supermarket.
 



From Matt  Feb 19th 2003

Me and my wife visited carcraft on Sunday 16th February as soon as we walked 
through the door a member of staff was straight onto us.
We told them we were looking for a 5 door car with a small engine just ideal 
for our family so we looked round and saw a car that we wanted but he made up 
some excuse and showed us a rover with a small engine etc and he said the 
payments would be about £112 per month which was acceptable for us as it was 
less than we what we are paying now so we signed up for it.
We got accepted for the finance etc and went through to wait for the car to be 
brought round now we also had our 13 month old baby with us we got there at 
2pm and by 7pm still no car but we went in to sign the papers and all of a 
sudden the payments had jumped from £112 per month to £150 a month with what 
they called hidden extras anyway we accepted and went out of the office under 
the impression that the car was on its way round, 30 minutes later still no 
car and the baby was getting restless as he had nothing to eat since before 
we left for carcraft.
In the end we got fed up of waiting and we had our keys for our car so we 
said that we were fed up of waiting and they could stick the car we didnt 
want it any more.
I made the mistake of giving them my mobile number so as soon as we left 
they were ringing me on my mobile saying that the car was on the forecourt 
ready for us to collect i told him that i didnt want the car, the sales 
assistant was saying i will deliver the car to your door with a full tank 
of petrol and i just said no i didnt want the car that they had messed 
us around too much he was still pushing all these freebies my way, i just 
told him that as a company he should listen to the customer and me being 
the customer he should listen to me telling him that i dont want the car 
and i sadi end of conversation and to cancel the agreement which he finally 
agreed to do and i just hung up the phone when he said he would cancel 
the agreement.
I guess you could say we had a very LUCKY ESCAPE this time.
Anyone that is thinking of buying a car from carcraft i would seriously 
think twice about doing it.
 




From L.A Johnson  February 14th 2003

 needed a car quickly as mine had died, so I went along to Carcraft in Rochdale. 
In the local newspaper they had examples of the cars on offer with prices that 
seemed reasonable. But, of course, when I got there none I could see no cars 
at that price! I eventually found a Renault Laguna with a price in the window 
that was good, with examples of weekly payments that I could easily afford.

We went to fill in the paperwork and instead of taking an hour it took about 
five. I presume they do this so that when you actually come to sign the 
paperwork, you are so tired and desperate to get out of the place, you 
will sign anything!

We were told that a problem had occured: the finance company would not 
finance us for the full amount of the car, so they had had to reduce 
the price and include a warranty to make it up to the value. The saleman 
than started to explain all the figures but was talking so fast I could 
not understand what he was saying at all. (By the way, I got hold of my 
credit file after, surprise, surprise, there was nothing wrong with it 
all!).

Anyway, I now pay for a car that has lost 50% of it's value the minute 
I drove of with it and paid the full value of the car, plus the warranty 
that I was supposed to be getting IN with the price! I am very embarrased 
and ashamed to have been taken in by them and feel very gullible.

I URGE you: if you need a car, please, please dont go there. I am hoping 
to get the car paid of quickly, but I have lost £3000 on the price of my 
car just by driving it of the forecourt. 



From 'mothergoose'  January 28th 2003

Many thanks to all of you who have contacted me about these rip-off merchants, 
including the call I received from one of their own salesmen! The time has 
come for us all to band together and fight. Just because they are a big 
organisation, it does not mean that they will win. 

I have recently contacted the Retail Motor Industry Federation, of whom 
Carcraft are a member. They in turn passed my complaint on to the National 
Conciliation Service who investigated the matter. However, after they had 
contacted Carcraft, they replied that they were of the opinion that there 
is no breach of the Code of Practice for the Motor Industry. I told them 
that in that case, the Code of Practice needs changing.

After a lengthy telephone call yesterday (Thurs.13 March) in which I 
discussed this, I was also told that, as I was the only person that had 
complained to them, my case must have been an isolated incident. This 
is clearly not so!

Could I ask everyone with a complaint against this company, to contact 
the National Conciliation Service? The address is 9 North Street, Rugby, 
CV21 2AB. Telephone no. 01788 538317. Fax 01788 538326. The 
gentleman to whom you should speak is called Andrew Hayes.


I can't stress enough how important this is if we are to fight and win!


 

From Sarah   December 18th 2002

we had seen the drive away in one hour advert that car craft had so we went
 for a look around,from the second we stepped through the door we were 
harrassed,we were actually there for 5 hour's,and in the end i had to 
leave,but my boyfriend stayed after choosing a car and signed a contract,
to my horror when he showed me the contract i saw that we were paying 32% interest. 
When we spoke to them on the phone and by mail trying to cancel warranties and 
other cover for the car which we did not need they were very abrupt and rude and 
they passed me from one department to the other trying to get rid of me.
The after care from carcraft is non existant and as soon as you have 
signed a contract they don't care one bit about you.
I warn you now if you are planning to go to carcraft and you do buy a car 
don't let them rush you when you are signing a contract even if you are there 
all day TAKE YOU'RE TIME. 


From  Dave    May 13th 2002

Last year when I looked to change my car I was having great diffulty in 
finding a specific model of Nissan Terrano. My local dealer Dixons did not 
have one in stock.

I looked further out of my area and visited Carcraft of Sheffield. What a 
mistake this was. Carcraft are a large supermarket dealership with a huge 
choice of vehicles to choose from.

As soon as I arrived I was pounced on by several salesman. When I told the 
salesman what I was looking for he said "follow me I have just the vehicle 
you want". When I saw the car it was the vehicle I was looking for. Asking 
for a test drive he said I would have to wait for approx 1hr so they could 
move other cars so as to be able to test drive the car!. 

I asked for other details like, had the car had a full service history?. He 
did not know. This is when I should have walked away, but it was excactly 
waht I was looking for. I decided to buy the car at £17,000 and arranged to 
pick the car up 5 days later. Great said the salesman as this would give 
them plenty of time to get the car prepared for delivery.

When I arrived at 11:00 I was ushered into a office as the car was not quite 
ready. Another mistake on my part in that I also signed for a maintainace 
contract that the car did not need. 5hrs later I was still waiting for the 
car. Complaint after complaint made no diffrence. Finally when they delivered 
the car I noticed there was no car tax on the car. At no time did anyone from 
Carcraft indicate that the car would want taxing. In the time I was waiting I 
could have travelled to the main Post Office In London to tax the car.

A week later and Carcraft amazinally found the Service book for the car, and it 
had a full service history. The Nissan Terrano over the last year has being a 
joy to own. I'm only sorry that I did not wait another day as my local dealer 
had a exact model for £1,000 cheaper.

Only last week Carcraft contacted me to say what wonderfull deals thay had on 
at the moment. I let him do his sales patter and when I told him the reason I 
would never step into Carcraft again after the appalling experience I had with 
them he put the phone down on me as soon as I stated the reasons why. Great 
after service.

Car Supermarkets are just what they state they are. Supermarkets. Too large 
and the service is poor. Carcraft fit these descriptions perfectly.  




From Simon   6th October 2001

> I wonder what Car Craft are more interested in selling: cars or
> finance? A lot of places seem to be obsessed with finance, as if the
> products are just a means to sell loans. DFS give me that impression
> too, but that's another topic...

Finance.  Because there's more profit in the finance than in
selling the cars themselves.  And whose fault is that ?  The
dealers'.  Because they all followed one-another into the
finance trap:

"Ah !  We're making lots of profit (on our new finance deals)."
"We'll expand our premises and pay our directors a higher bonus."

Then the suppliers go

"This company we're selling to appears to be able to afford our
prices easily.  We can raise them."

Then the dealers go

"Our suppliers have upped their prices.  If we raise our own
car prices we won't sell as many.  But anyone who buys a car on
finance has already demonstrated that they don't pay attention
to the bottom-line.  We can screw them even harder and they
won't even notice."

Then the managers go:

"We're making 5% profit on cars and 15% profit on our finance
deals.  Therefore it's more important that we understand how
the finance works than the cars.  Quick: sack four of our car
salesmen and hire some people who can calculate finance deals
more quickly."

Pretty soon you have a bank which sells cars on the side, not
a car dealership which can handle financing.

Simon.