Consumer council tells BYD to compensate EV buyers who paid higher price
The Thailand Consumers Council on Thursday called on BYD Auto to compensate its customers who had bought its battery electric vehicles shortly before it announced price discount campaigns.
The council’s secretary-general, Saree Ongsomwang, said the buyers of BYD cars and SUVs shortly before the price discounts were victims of unfair selling practices and should receive compensation from the manufacturer.
She said BYD’s sales personnel must have been in the know about the upcoming discount campaign and therefore they were obliged by professional etiquette to alert their customers.
Instead, the upcoming price discount information was withheld from buyers, putting them at a disadvantage when the company cut the prices of those vehicles, Saree said.
She said the council was not against price discounts by BYD and other auto manufacturers.
The council supports all EV brands and manufacturers of internal combustion engine cars to reduce their prices as part of their competition so that the buyers would be benefited, she said.
But, Saree said, it would be a fair trade practice to inform buyers of any upcoming price reduction or of the launch of new models.
“Buyers feel very bad about the price reduction by 300,000 baht.
This affected their loan amounts and was a waste of their time,” Saree said.
“If the company wants to maintain the loyalty of this group of buyers, it should provide compensation and this could be done in several ways,” Saree said.
On July 1, BYD Auto announced discounts of 140,000 to 160,000 baht on its Dolphin models, compared to the discount of some 40,000 baht offered by the previous campaign that ended on April 30.
Many customers who made the purchase on April 30 said they were deceived by sales personnel that the prices would go up to the normal prices after April 30.
Also on July 1, BYD Auto discounted the prices of four BYD Atto 3 sub-models from 100,000 to 340,000 baht to the dismay of the customers who had purchased them shortly before the campaign.
The complaints prompted PM’s Office Minister Jiraporn Sindhuprai to instruct the Office of the Consumer Protection Board to conduct an investigation into whether the automaker had taken advantage of buyers, who had bought the EVs at higher prices before the new discount campaign.
