Julie had a very bad surprise when she received her new car. After two years of waiting, his vehicle arrives… without many paid options.
“The family has grown”, explains Julie to justify the need to buy a larger vehicle. “With a dog and a double stroller, everything had to fit.”
The mother of a family decides on a 7-seater family car from the Citroën brand. Several options are chosen when ordering, in March 2021.
It was only two years later, in January 2023, that Julie finally received her new vehicle, the fault of the global shortage of electronic chips. But a nasty surprise awaits her: many options are missing, although she has paid for them. “We ordered this quasi-full option car. On the day of delivery, when we received the car, we found that some equipment was missing.”
Run to get what’s owed to me
In the list of missing options, we can note the LED headlights (which are not), rubber mats, trailer hitch, head-up reading…
Faced with all these shortcomings, Julie wishes, at the very least, to be reimbursed. “I’m not asking for a full refund for the car. I’m just asking not to pay for what’s not in my vehicle when basically it should be there.”
“It’s me who must run to get back what’s due to me that wasn’t delivered right“, takes offense Julie. She does not manage to obtain an answer from the parent company of Citroën, which is supposed to take charge of the file.
Lack of conformity
Fortunately for Julie, when buying a car from a dealership, the buyer is protected by the legal warranty. When all the options ordered do not appear, we speak of a lack of conformity.
“This is a practice that can be encountered in consumer law“, explains Aurélie Glinne, lawyer specializing in commercial law. “If the purchased good is not compliant or has a defect in one way or another, and this defect exists at the time of delivery, the buyer automatically has the right to turn against his seller..”
Several options are available to Julie to win her case: request the repair or replacement of her car at the seller’s expense. If this is not possible, it may demand a price reduction. Finally, the last step, the court to request the end of the contract.
“This termination of the contract will involve a reciprocal return of both the vehicle and the sale price.“, explains Aurélie Glinne again. “The buyer will return the vehicle and the seller will reimburse the sale price with any damages..”
Contacted by the editorial staff of RTL info, Citroën promises us that Julie’s situation will be resolved and that the missing options will either be installed or reimbursed if it is not possible to add them to the vehicle.