Some customers locked into the controversial Satinsky Group’s R699 car scheme have been blacklisted and had their vehicles auctioned off.<\/p>\n
In an interview on Talk Radio 702, Johan Bartosch, said he is leading a group of disgruntled consumers to the Eastern Cape High Court, looking to declare the deal null and void.<\/p>\n
He said that a group of customers (believed to be 550 people) have gone to the court to ask that they give their cars back and that they not be blacklisted on the basis they cannot afford the payments any longer.<\/p>\n
Bartosch alleges that in some cases the Satinsky Group has not made any payments to vehicle owners, from day one.<\/p>\n
Lawyer representing the Satinsky Group, Karen van Eck, said that the Port Elizabeth group under the name of Mr Bartosch have requested that a class action be registered.<\/p>\n
Van Eck said they went to court on an urgent basis, however, the court did not hear them on that basis.<\/p>\n
The attorney said that the hearing has been postponed (to 7 August). \u201cThe action in front of court at the moment is just for this class action to be registered,\u201d van Eck said.<\/p>\n
The legal adviser said that the person behind the R699 deal,\u00a0Albert Venter, is convinced that he has not contravened any law, or that he is guilty of any criminal act.<\/p>\n
Bartosch said that many people in Port Elizabeth have already lost their cars to the banks. “Some of those cars have been auctioned off already, and they have been blacklisted. That\u2019s not what we want. All we want is to be treated fair.\u201d<\/p>\n
About 17,000 people are believed to have been affected by the scheme which offered to cut repayments on new cars to about R699, if the motorists drove a minimum distance with pasted advertisements about the scheme on their cars.<\/p>\n
The scheme collapsed\u00a0 \u2014 with banks now calling for full repayments \u2014 amounts not affordable for all those involved.<\/p>\n
R699 car scheme heading to court<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n R699 cars deal is a scam: consumer activist<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The inside story of the R699 car scheme<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n