Car salesman found guilty of masquerading as a private seller
Today, (7 March 2016) at Cwmbran magistrates court, Mr Michal Salacki of Henllys, Cwmbran pleaded guilty to twenty charges in relation to the sale of motor cars in breach of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
Mr Salacki pleaded guilty to falsely claiming, and creating the impression he was selling motors cars as a private seller, when in fact he was selling cars as a trader on a regular basis and that in doing so restricted the statutory rights of consumers as is afforded to them under the Sales of Goods Act.
The court was informed that in February 2015 the Trading Standards team at Torfaen council received complaints from residents that Mr Salacki was running a car sales business from his residential property in Pontnewydd, Cwmbran.
Investigation by Trading Standards officers identified that over a twelve month period, Mr Salacki had advertised 56 separate vehicles on the online sales site Gumtree and that on each occasion he had described the sale as a ‘private’ sale. The court was informed that where goods are bought from a trader then consumers have statutory rights should those goods fail or not perform correctly, whereas those rights are restricted when goods are bought from a private seller.
Cllr Gwyneira Clark, Torfaen’s executive member for planning and public protection, said: ‘Misleading consumers in this manner reduces their legal rights and gives them less protection if there is a problem with the goods. Trading standards officers are protecting consumers in the borough by cracking down on this illegal practice.’
The defence counsel for Mr Salacki stated he accepted that he was acting as a ‘trader’ and realised that he should had described his listings as trade sales.
Mr Salacki was fined £2000 for the offences, ordered to pay prosecution costs of £914 and a victim surcharge of £20.
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