HAVE you ever bought something and bragged about it, only to later discover that what was delivered to you was not what was promised you?

That's the embarrassment Dr Nkosinathi Duma suffered when he discovered that the Land Rover he purchased and received two weeks ago, was not what he had ordered.

While investigating his complaint, Consumer Line also discovered that people who had bought the latest Land Rovers may not actually be driving what they had ordered and paid for.

Mohammed Paruk, a manager at S4 Auto, a dealership which operates on the corner of Northrand and Wiek Roads in Boksburg, said this was a usual occurrence in the industry and most Land Rover dealers were guilty of not delivering according to the contract, to keep up with the current market value.

He said there was usually a waiting-list for these types of vehicles, and, because it was generally unavailable, dealers were forced to pay a premium amount to secure stock.

Duma approached Consumer Line after trying to resolve the problem on his own. He said he approached S4 Auto in Boksburg to buy the latest Land Rover model.

He wanted to secure the top of the range vehicle, and specifically asked for a brand new Range Rover Evoque Dynamic 2.0s14.

He claimed the dealer told him they had one on the floor. He said it came with all the extras he expected of the 2.0s14 model. Duma said on delivery of his car, he immediately suspected that they were in fact not giving him what he had wanted.

He then called the salesman who had helped him, to complain about it, only to discover to his shock that this salesman had no knowledge of the type of car he had sold him.

Duma said he was overbilled by R60000 and to make matters worse, the vehicle that he had taken possession of, was not the one described on his bank documents.

"The transaction is contrary to the Consumer Protection Act, I was deceived, it's fraudulent and I do not want to be liable to pay a shortfall if I trade the car in or if anything happens to it," he said.

All that Duma wants is a proper priced invoice of the car he bought to correspond with the description on the agreement he signed when buying his car.

Paruk apologised for the error they had made.

They offered to pay R15000 into Duma's bank account to facilitate the process of drawing up his contract again, an offer that Duma rejected.

Paruk acknowledged that they described the Range Rover as a "Dynamic" instead of a "Prestige".

"We deeply regret distress and inconvenience this has caused our client," he said.

Paruk said in an attempt to appease Duma "we have made an offer in writing hoping for conciliation. We offered to pay a sum of R15000 into his Absa account as well as to redraw the contracts to correctly describe the vehicle".

"The vehicle is not overpriced, but in keeping with current market values.

"As there is a waiting list for the vehicle and it is generally unavailable, dealers are forced to pay a premium to secure stock," Paruk said.

He said Duma had not been overcharged but is in fact paying a premium for "early delivery" he said.

Paruk said they unreservedly offer Duma an "opt out" with no penalties or blacklisting.

"If our initial offer remains unacceptable we would like to propose cancellation.

"We will settle Absa bank in full without any penalties or backlisting to our client," said Paruk.