By Robert Hart, Staff ReporterSEVERAL PROSPECTIVE car owners have yet to see either the vehicles they ordered, or the refund of almost $1 million they paid to the operator of Wholesale Auto Direct, an auto dealership that once operated from Princeville Plaza, Constant Spring Road, Kingston 8.
The operator, known to his customers as 'Billy' Bailey, was one of several independent dealers for Chuko Motors of Maxfield Avenue, the authorised dealer for the Japanese company, Papera Traders Ltd.
Papera is a specialist exporter of used Japanese vehicles.
The Gleaner has learned that at least five persons have complained of having paid money to Wholesale Auto Direct without getting the cars.
According to the Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC), in response to an advertisement, several persons have filed complaints claiming to have paid up to $500,000 to Wholesale Auto Direct.
The complainants said they were asked by phone to make payments to an account on choosing the vehicles they wanted to purchase. However, most of the vehicles were never received, despite numerous promises made by Mr. Bailey.
Representatives of Chuko Motors told The Gleaner that Mr. Bailey, with whom they began negotiations in March 2002, made payments to their company via cheques from both Wholesale Auto Direct, and another company, Tia Trading. However, as those cheques could not be cleared, the vehicles which had already arrived in the country had to be withheld from the purchasers. The vehicles were eventually sold to other Chuko Motors customers
According to Shimpei Haka-mada, manager of Chuko Mo-tors, that company has since ended its association with Wholesale Auto Direct.
One complainant with whom The Gleaner spoke, said that he initially thought that Mr. Bailey was directly linked to Papera. "I didn't know he was acting through another agent out here," he said, adding that he would have otherwise transacted business directly with Chuko Motors.
Another complainant said that after making the first payment to Wholesale Auto Direct, she became suspicious and decided not to pay any more until she received her car, a Toyota Starlet. "When I eventually heard from him, he told me that everything was on track and I should keep making payments," she said. However, she decided to have nothing further to do with the dealership and sought a vehicle elsewhere. She has yet to receive a refund.
According to an employee of Chuko Motors, another individual, after leaving his job at the Jamaica Urban Transit Company, planned to use the money he received from the transport company to buy a vehicle and start a taxi service. He too paid money to Wholesale Auto Direct and has since been unable to receive his vehicle.
Recently, the CAC warned consumers against doing business with auto dealers before carrying out the proper research. In that warning, Wholesale Auto Direct was mentioned in the Government-run consumer watch-dog group's advisory saying problems there were part of "a worrying trend".
