gavin. Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 A bit of a story of my recent experience for anyone considering using this company: I put a £500 deposit down on vehicle on 19 December, which after 5 weeks of phone calls and promises of "we'll call you back" (which never happened) they eventually told me that the engine was shot and they were cancelling the transaction. For several weeks now I have been chasing the deposit to be refunded. Another series of promises of "we'll call you back tomorrow" or "we'll get that refunded immediately" have resulted in no calls back and, indeed, no money back in to my account. My only smart move in this enterprise was when I used my credit card to put down the deposit on the basis that gave me a small amount of protection. I'm now resorting to having to use the credit card company to recover the funds on my behalf. To summarise my experience so far: 2 months of lies and evasion leaving me out of pocket and stressed. Next stop: trading standards. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 They used to be known as Reid Land Rovers - until their reputation & collection of CCJ's got the better of them! http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=43267 http://forum.fourwheeldriveclub.com/viewtopic.php?t=3586&start=15 http://forum.lro.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=34883 They used to be based in Horsham but closed down and re-opened in Cranleigh. Walton is owned by one of the original owners of Reids. One of my friends used to work for them. When I visited him I was shocked to find them re-fashioning a coco tin into a steering fluid reservoir and sculpting the top corner of a bulkhead including the windscreen hinge entirely out of filler. They had made an impressive job of it - but no way was it safe! I think you had a lucky escape just loosing your deposit! I would bet neither you nor your card company will see it again! Based on past experience - this thread will get locked / deleted very soon! Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rrr47 Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Are they called Walton 4x4 or Walton Motors? http://www.waltonmotors.co.uk/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavin. Posted February 14, 2015 Author Share Posted February 14, 2015 Yes, that's the one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rrr47 Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 They advertise a lot on Car and Classics web-site, whom I'm sure would be very interested in Walton's business practices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavin. Posted March 14, 2015 Author Share Posted March 14, 2015 So, last week I got an email from Walton (the first). The refund has been sorted and, you know what prompted it? The review I left for their business on google maps. Excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballcock Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Glad you got a good outcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
101sean Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Friends of mine bought a shiny 99 td5 90 off them, I went back with them to try and get it sorted. Rear xmember was rotten, one of the tyres was dangerously falling apart, back door was cracked from top to bottom etc,etc,etc. They were well and truly ripped off and there's no way it should have had a new mot (from a garage on the same estate). Got some of the defects sorted but it was a fight, they even accused my friends of damaging the tyre on a pothole! I tried to persuade them to get trading standards involved but they wouldn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Never mind your deposit, surely a heads-up to Trading Standards would be a good move for the sake of the next poor soul through the door? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavin. Posted March 22, 2015 Author Share Posted March 22, 2015 So I eventually managed to get my deposit back. Surprisingly it wasn't the letters, trading standards, consumer advice service or the credit card company that did it. It was the factual account of my experience with them on the Google review (Google maps) that caused them to pull their finger out. As a closing gift to me, they offered me a "great price" on another ninety they had in stock as compensation. I can't say I was too tempted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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