Should a customer seek the money back after cancelling the order, a deposit does not mean it is automatically non-refundable, only the T&C’s stated within any order form that you sign, which says otherwise (contract)
So if you sign for the dealerships order (headed paper with dealerships name) and it states within their T&C’s deposit is non refundable then that is what you’ve signed and agreed to, whether or not the order is directly with motability ‘at the end’ when it is delivered.
Your order form has T&C’s on from the dealership and may contain contractual agreements regarding any deposit tied directly to the dealership with whom you place the order.
Best to check, they may state deposit is for admin fee’s of changing the order/ cancelling (if within their T&C’s)
If this is the case you may be able to ask the dealership to order another vehicle, make or model with said dealership/ franchise and transfer that deposit over as a way to get round loosing the deposit.
I have paid a £250 deposit on my recent order, I was told this comes off the AP when vehicle arrives but within the T&C’s it states if I cancel the order I forfeit the deposit. It refers to me as the ‘purchaser’.
Other dealerships I have used haven’t requested a deposit.
The order form states: Customer/supply to (your name or DLA/PIP persons name) then Financed by/ Invoice to: Motability.
When I signed the order form I signed on the dotted line that states : Purchasers signature, (going back to the T&C’s where it refers to ‘purchaser’ regarding deposit) therefore i forfeit the deposit if I cancel the order it relates to me because within the contract, I signed the dotted line for the order next to ‘purchasers signature’.
When we go to the dealerships and pay the AP and input the PIN, motability act like a finance company basically. You still have a contract (the order you signed with dealerships name on) to rely upon should the vehicle become faulty, and you can rely on CRA 2015.
Motability act on your behalf as they ‘own’ the vehicle as such.
I had a faulty vehicle, took it back to dealerships, wait time for part for fault was 5 months, I used CRA 2015 checked dealerships T&C’s and motability T&C’s and motability do not cover optional extras and state a contract from dealership, this didn’t happen so I chased dealership for optional extra refund as vehicle was handed back to them, they agreed on the basis I signed a non-liability form, which I was happy to as I just wanted the money back, and that was that.
So as well as having T&C’s for the dealership order contract you also have T&C’s for your financing contract/lease with Motability who ‘own’ the vehicle.