The Chapel-Mayfield

A Bargain at £790,000

Brighton...property is like gold

Two more properties snapped up in Brighton.

Tenants - How quickly they change....

Anyone who owns property and rents it out will understand what I mean when I say how quickly Tenants change.

At first, they are grateful.  Grateful that you will rent your property to them.  Grateful that they have somewhere to live.

They have glowing references (if they are too glowing they are fake!).

They pay their rent either on time or a day or so early.  They think this will impress you but here's a shock...it doesn't impress.  Paying the rent is EXPECTED!  It's part of the contract.

After a while, the rot sets in and then they start complaining.  They want new carpets, they want to have people stay for a few weeks (translated: move in) and they moan and moan about the little things.

One even rang to complain about damp in the conservatory, saying it was ruining her kids toys and a carpet.  We all jumped in the cars and headed over.  Why? Because damp is an issue that has a detrimental effect on the property (though it was never an issue BEFORE these people moved in, in fact, there WAS no damp prior to this.).

Damp? No. Dirty tenants? YES!
And a dead moth in the
 bottom right corner of the pic!

She even sent a few pictures of this so called 'damp' and I was very impressed with the dead moth on the floor in one of the shots!
See right --->

What did I find?  All the windows in the conservatory closed, radiators banging away full blast and a load of wet washing hanging over a clothes horse and the backs of chairs to dry!  That explains THAT!

Take my advice.

Give them nothing. Concentrate on the property.  The tenants look after themselves.  You don't look after them.  If they can't look after themselves why should you look after them?  Your only priority is the property.  Its condition and its welfare.  Look after it, your tenants won't.

If they continue to whine and moan, get them out, one way or another....

0260 Cars Ltd, Crowborough - A Nightmare on....Park Road

On the website of 0260 Cars Ltd in Crowborough, in amongst the photographs and flashy images, one finds this golden quote..."0260 Cars is a different concept in vehicle sales..."  I can personally vouch for that!

My partner saw a fantastic looking car in Crowborough during the French Market show in June 2012.  This was when Crowborough was sealed off and the french market arrived with their stalls.  The local businesses took the opportunity to show off their services and there, in the middle of the high street amongst all of the stalls, were two cars: an Audi and a Mercedes.  This was not an ordinary Mercedes, but a Mercedes Md CLK 55 AMG no less.  5.439 litre engine!  AND a convertible.  My partners eyes lit up.  This was her dream car.  Little did we know that what would follow would turn out to be a nightmare, in both financial and safety terms.

Two men in black shirts were standing next to the cars pointing at stuff and answering questions.  Not being a Mercedes fan I had no interest but after a few preliminary questions and a period of time thinking my partner decided that the Mercedes was for her.  One of the questions was 'Can you start the engine?' to which we were told no, as it was  market day and not allowed (?). Another question was "can we see the top up and down" but neither of them knew at that moment how to get the top to go up and down.  We then asked if it was a cam belt or chain driven car....but neither of them knew.  Although it was hardly an episode of Top Gear there followed a period of negotiation and a test drive was set for later that day after the town had calmed down from the Market and the cars could be removed. 



The test drive took place at 4pm when a Director of the Company, Adam Charles Palmer, came to the home.  He was one of the two men showing people the cars at the Market earlier.  Adam Palmer had been appointed a director of the company on the 6th of April 2011, the same day that the company had become 0260 Cars Ltd after a (sleight) name change.  Previously it was called 'Nought 260 Cars Ltd' so although the name change was only minor it is sufficient to make it a new company, a little like double glazing firms close down with hundreds of disgruntled customers only to open up next day as a slightly differently branded company with no responsibility to the previous company's customers.  Not that I am suggesting that this is the case here, I use that as only illustration of the name change.

During the test drive the parking sensors kept flashing.  Palmer said he was aware of it and that it "would be fixed by Mercedes" prior to the sale. The car had "only just been given to 0260 cars to sell so there were some checks to be done".  This was quite a surprise as it was up for sale on their Facebook page the previous month!  This is a screenshot of the advert on Facebook.  As you can see, it is up for sale a few weeks prior to us seeing this "only just been given to sell" car that STILL needed to be checked over.

Palmer went on to say that the car would receive a "clean bill of health" from Mercedes prior to payment but would require a £500 deposit to secure the car.  This was refused as a bad idea, in fact a warning light went off in my head.  Why put a deposit on something like this when we had no guarantee that the car would pass the stringent tests that Mercedes would put it through?  We said we would think about it and Palmer took the car away.

Over the next week negotiations continued and it was decided and agreed that my partner would buy the car if it went into Mercedes for a service, received a clean bill of health and the parktronic was fixed.

The sale took place on 22 June 2012 when, after being assured by Palmer that Mercedes had given the car the 'clean bill of health' and the parktronic had been fixed.  We were told that a couple of minor things had been done, a fuel filter and air filter, and a track rod end by Crowborough Coachworks, obviously friends of Palmers as he continued to quote them every time we subsequently met.  £13,268.67 was paid in full and the car was driven away.

A few weeks later we noticed some difficulty in starting the car.  It would not start until after a few attempts but then would rectify.  Then we noticed that the boot would not lock.  Irrespective of how one closed it or opened it, by sensor or by key, it would be very difficult to open or close.  In fact the handle of the boot appeared to be broken.  When my partner took the car in to 0260 Cars she was told "It is because you are standing too near to the car with your keys in your bag.  It will lock when you walk away from it", and also "the boot is definitely not broken".

While driving at some speed, although well below the speed limit, my partner lost control of the car on the dual carriageway near The Hop Farm in Kent on August 20th 2012, less than TWO MONTHS after buying it from 0260 Cars Ltd.  This was a very dangerous and potentially life threatening occurance as there was a lot of traffic.  The car had suddenly switched off and swerved out of control to a standstill.  The car had to be pushed out of the way of the traffic. Something had happened to the cars electrics.  It would not start.  After a few attempts it finally started 20 minutes later and the car was driven home at a very slow pace.  In calling Mercedes we were informed that the service center in Tonbridge would check the car over the next day.

After the Visual Health Check we got a call that informed us that a faulty sensor had failed and that it needed to be replaced.  We were then told that there were 'STILL' a number of issues that had not been dealt with from 'last time'.  When we queried this we were told that the last time it had 'come in' for a health check was when Adam Palmer had brought it in prior to the sale to us. THAT health check had a list of items that needed attention.  The health check I had done showed that:

1. Brakes were 85% worn at the front
2. Brakes were 50% worn at the rear.
3. Park Brake worn
4. Oil leak from Gearbox
5. Boot Handle not working
6. Wipers front smearing screen
7. Brushes worn on Front Roll Bar
8. Oil leak from Cam Breathers
9. Off Side cross strut brushes worn and split
10. Crank Sensor needed replacement (cause of near accident)

  

The problem is, items 1,2,3,4,5 and 6...

ALL appear on that vehicle health check that Adam Charles Palmer received from Mercedes ON JUNE 6th 2012, 3 DAYS PRIOR TO THE SALE!!!

More importantly,

HE DID NOT HAVE THE WORK DONE PRIOR TO SELLING IT TO US BUT TOLD US SOME RUBBISH THAT IT HAD RECEIVED "A CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH" FROM MERCEDES!!!!

And what about the 'Boot Handle Not Working' Adam Palmer?  What was it you and your guys came up with: 'you are standing too near the car with your keys'....??  You had ALREADY been told the boot handle didn't work...so what bullshit was that? 

In the subsequent months there has been much letter writing backwards and forwards between Adam Palmer and myself.  I have been in to 0260 cars on a couple of occasions to complain and so far all that has happened is Adam Palmer has offered us £489.52 against the £1,252.26 I am asking for.  He has had a quote for the works from his old friends at Crowborough Coachworks even though he was informed, right at the start, that we wanted the car serviced at Mercedes and ONLY Mercedes to carry out the work required.

Of course he whines that he should have been given a chance to rectify things before we got Mercedes to do the work but, what he fails to understand, or probably refuses to admit (which is more likely) is that he HAD the chance to do that PRIOR to selling the car: Mercedes gave him the visual health check and he ignored it. 

So generous am I that I am only asking Adam Palmer to reimburse me for the work that shows on the original Visual Health Check that he lied about, the one that outlined the work needed to be done to make the car in a saleable condition, the one he told us was a clean bill of health. I am not asking him for the grand total of £1600+ that has been spent on the car to make it roadworthy. I am only asking for the amount he lied about.

Lied may seem a very strong word to use but in this case it isn't. he had the paperwork, the health check from Mercedes, and he knew the car needed work done but STILL sold it saying it was 'clear'. Furthermore he hasn't realised yet that on the original sales invoice he states in the notes 'Car is being serviced by Mercedes'.

Adam Palmer is now facing the prospect of legal action unless he comes to his senses very soon. One way or another I intend to make Adam Palmer pay for his handling of this. This will be either by legal means or by him understanding that business is not done like this and realising the error of his ways, hands over the money he owes by good faith.

Should you decide to buy a car from 0260 Cars Ltd I hope you have better luck than we did. I am certain that this is an isolated incident....;-)

Please remember,

EVERYTHING YOU HAVE READ HERE CAN BE BACKED UP BY DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE AND RECORDINGS OF CONVERSATIONS COPIES OF WHICH ARE NOW HELD IN A SECRET AND SECURE PLACE.
THE ORIGINALS ARE HELD BY MY LAWYER.

EVERY CONVERSATION AND EVENT HAS BEEN DIARIZED.

THIS POST STATES THE FACTS AND THEY CAN BE VERIFIED.

THIS IS NOT LIBEL OR SLANDER OR ANY

OTHER LEGALESE YOU MAY TRY AND LABEL IT WITH SO DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME...MORE IMPORTANTLY: DON'T WASTE MINE!
THIS IS DOCUMENTED FACT.

I CAN PROVE ALL OF IT!