IMPORTANT FRAUD INFO: EUROCAR CONSULTANTS - WALLINGTON

Millsy · Post by **Millsy** » Thu Dec 05, 2002 5:20 pm

Guys,

If any of you have purchased your Pug 206cc (as I did) through these guys, please be advised that the place is now deserted and the guy who runs it, Tony Bennett, has "allegedly" done a bunk with 000's of pounds of customers money. I went down there today after the phone hadn't been answered all week and found this out. FREEZE any payment you may be making or call your credit card company. The Daily Mirror will be running a full report in tommorows edition (6/12/02). The Serious Fraud squad at New Scotland Yard are also involved so contact them to on 0207 230 1212. The reporter at the Mirror is called Michael and can be contacted on 07976 700573.

I'm still owed some money and accessories from them. I hope you haven't already payed for your car though. Apparently people have lost 000's :-(

Fell free to contact me if you need more info or advice.

Regards
Millsy

Post by **Lyndon** » Thu Dec 05, 2002 6:33 pm

made your post an announcement as i think it needs it

stephen T · Post by **stephen T** » Thu Dec 05, 2002 6:38 pm

bad luck mate. sorry to hear this. maybe there is a lesson to be learnt? a very harsh 1 at that 2. buy off your dealer and pay uk prices.

Millsy · Post by **Millsy** » Thu Dec 05, 2002 6:43 pm

Cheers Lyndon.

I'm just grateful I actually got my car! I feel sorry for those that have lost theirs! :-(

stephen T · Post by **stephen T** » Thu Dec 05, 2002 6:54 pm

me to.

Robbie · Post by **Robbie** » Thu Dec 05, 2002 7:37 pm

bad luck mate. sorry to hear this. maybe there is a lesson to be learnt? a very harsh 1 at that 2. buy off your dealer and pay uk prices.

You can still save lots of money through imports and minimise the risks.

I think the lesson here is make sure you only give importers a small deposit like I did with me SLK, an only pay the remainder when the cars in your hands, or else ensure the money is lodged with the dealer overseas and not with the import company.

Robbie.

carl · Post by **carl** » Thu Dec 05, 2002 9:11 pm

This is one of the reasons I prefer to import direct from an overseas dealer. AIUI, when you give a deposit to an authorized (by the manufacturer) dealer, the deposit is then forwarded to the manufacturer themselves so you should be covered even if the dealer goes belly-up.

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Fri Dec 06, 2002 4:39 am

And pay your deposit with credit card, as most of the credit card companies will refund it.

rob · Post by **rob** » Fri Dec 06, 2002 8:40 pm

do like I always do, pay for the whole car on your credit card. Its always easier to reject it as well if ever you need to as you will get the credit card companyies support.

Millsy · Post by **Millsy** » Fri Dec 06, 2002 9:19 pm

Page 24 of todays Mirror if anyone wants to read the story

Derek · Post by **Derek** » Fri Dec 06, 2002 9:29 pm

can u or anyone else scan it ?

Millsy · Post by **Millsy** » Fri Dec 06, 2002 10:32 pm

I've saved the article but not got a scanner :-(

Anyone else get it?

wheel repair it · Post by **wheel repair it** » Fri Dec 06, 2002 11:26 pm

try this

go to www.mirror.co.uk

in the search bit,type cars and hit go,up it comes,well it did for me

hope this helps

rob · Post by **rob** » Fri Dec 06, 2002 11:32 pm

direct link

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sorted/sorted/p ... teid=50143

Millsy · Post by **Millsy** » Fri Dec 06, 2002 11:37 pm

FRAUD SQAUD CALLED IN TO CAR IMPORTS FIASCO Dec 6 2002

HERE is a con that, at a conservative estimate, has fleeced more than 100 people of up to Â£20,000 each.

And who can blame them for being snared by the sales pitch from Euro Car Consultants? The motor import firm promised new cars at 30 per cent below showroom prices. Customers were reassured with a patter which read:

"You can be sure you are dealing with a well-established and trustworthy organisation.

"We offer the best service possible. Our professional team will take the potential drama out of buying a new car."

The reality is that since last Friday Euro Car's phones go unanswered, its website is down and the showroom is empty.

Euro Car insisted that to get the car of their choice, customers must pay large deposits. The vehicle would follow in 16 weeks.

For three years Euro Car appeared kosher but, this week, people like recently-retired Beryl Kerr are facing the fact they've lost their deposit - and won't get their car.

Beryl, of Islington, N London, paid Euro Car Â£9,500 towards a Â£16,000 VW Golf. The order was placed in February and she's still waiting.

She said: "This isn't just bad management, it is totally dishonest."

Draughtsman John Hopper, from Newcastle upon Tyne, paid Euro Car a Â£2,367 deposit a year ago for a Golf he was told would be shipped from Denmark. So far he hasn't seen so much as a tyre.

Euro Car is a trading name of a company called Unibrook Supplies Ltd which was set up in 1999 by one Susan Holden.

We went to her Â£750,000 home in Banstead, Surrey, where we tackled her as she got into her Â£40,000 Mercedes. She ignored our questions and sped off.

We've discovered that until very recently she was the only "on paper" director of Unibrook but the main player was, in fact, her partner, Tony Bennett.

You won't find Bennett's name on the records but he described himself as "boss and owner".

We managed to get Porsche-driving Bennett, 43, on his mobile phone.

He said he'd never claimed to be the boss and pointed out that Susan Holden had resigned as director in October, selling the company to David Norman Rigby. "We have done nothing wrong. We sold the company six weeks ago - it has been very successful for three and a half years."

Odd, given that many of the customers who now face losing their money ordered cars as far back as last November - when Holden and Bennett were still at the helm.

Bennett's real surname is Copland. He used to sell cars from various addresses in South London but was bankrupted in 1999.

Back in May 2001 Unibrook's auditors said they were unable to give the company accounts a clean bill of health because it was not clear if stock had been properly recorded.

Since then Unibrook hasn't filed accounts - the last were due a year ago.

As for David Rigby, 51, he has vanished from his rented home in Thornton Heath, Surrey, which he shared with Russian wife.

The address he gave as his home to Companies House is actually a taxi office near Victoria station, London. His last two jobs were in the minicab trade.

Last night the Metropolitan Police fraud squad was assigned to the case. We'll keep you posted.