Almost $18 million. One of the car dealers in Poland received such a fine for unfair trade

The Polish Office for the Protection of Consumer Rights (UOKiK) fined the dealer Autocentrum AAA Auto for a total amount of more than 72 million zlotys, which is about 18 million US dollars at the current exchange rate. What happened that led to such significant sanctions?

About AAA Auto

AAA Auto has been on the market for 32 years. It is part of Aures Holdings Group, owned by the British-Polish investment fund Abris Capital Partners. Aures Holdings Group is the largest dealer of used cars in Central and Eastern Europe with a volume of about 100,000 cars sold annually. It has a network of over 60 branches in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Germany. During its existence, it has already served more than 3 million people. In Poland, AAA Auto Group operates as Autocentrum AAA Auto Sp. z o. o

What happened?

The mentioned amount of the fine consists of two parts. The first is for fraud with the announced price of cars offered by this dealer. The company did not report that the amount in the ad consists of the cost of the car and an additional product — Carlife Guarantee insurance. Buyers found out about this only during a visit to the salon, at the stage of the final execution of the contract, when the seller automatically gave them a "discount" in the amount of the insurance premium, which they undertook to pay.

In fact, the consumer was not receiving a discount, but was "voluntarily forced" to pay for the Carlife Guarantee product. If the client refused the policy, the funds were not returned to him, but to the AAA Auto company. At the same time, the dealer underestimated the value of the car in the documents, which could be important later, in case of claims against it by buyers.

In addition, in the advertisements on www.aaauto.pl and www.otomoto.pl, AAA Auto also omitted the information that the price of the vehicle will include a mandatory fee for "additional customer service" in the amount of PLN 1,398 (approx. $350 ).

The second decision against Autocentrum AAA Auto concerns illegal provisions that the company used in contracts with consumers until April 6, 2023. Buyers were required to sign declarations included in the sales report confirming the inspection of the vehicleʼs technical condition. The provision required that the buyer test drive the car and check all the parameters of the car. Customers were not given another option, even if the test drive did not take place or they did not have sufficient knowledge to assess the condition of the car. In this way, the mentioned dealer tried to absolve himself of responsibility for possible defects in the cars he sells.

After receiving numerous complaints from buyers, the Office for Consumer Rights Protection carried out a control purchase of the car with the help of a mystery buyer, due to which the described violations were proven and a fine was imposed. However, according to Polish law, AAA Auto has the right to challenge this decision in court.

The Polish Institute for Car Market Research IBRM SAMAR asked AAA Auto for a comment and received the following response: " Aures Holdings categorically disagrees with these conclusions. We have always dealt with our clients in full compliance with current regulations. For almost ten years of our activity in Poland we have never faced any sanctions or warnings from the authorities. Therefore, we believe that this fine and its amount are completely unjustified, and we are filing a lawsuit within the legal deadline."

What does Ukrainian practice say?

In contrast to Poland, where the rules of trade in used cars are defined at the state level, there is responsibility for both private sellers and dealers for providing inaccurate information, hiding defects, "twisting" the mileage, etc., Ukrainian legislation absolutely does not regulate the trade of goods that were in use. Including cars.

Accordingly, there is no mechanism similar to the Polish one, when the buyer of a car with mileage would have at least some protection from the state in case the car stops driving the next day due to a malfunction hidden by the seller.

And in general, as the experts of the Institute of Car Market Research wrote earlier, the Ukrainian market is a place where the whole game is played without any rules, and the current legislative norms are such that they do not allow those who have been dealers of used cars for many years to come out of the "shadows" cars, and intends to work in a completely legal field. Perhaps the situation will change for the better if some legislative initiatives are adopted, which are currently waiting for their time on the shelves with projects in the Verkhovna Rada.

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