Consumers have turned to social media to vent their frustration due to alleged delays of refunds from local automotive unicorn company Carsome.
A majority of the complaints were related to refunds of booking fees. According to Carsome’s website, a booking fee of 1% of the price of the car has to be paid if you want to buy a used car from their website.
It’s unknown what has led to delay in these refunds. There could be many reasons why a purchase did not go through, such as loans failing approval or the condition of the car being unsatisfactory upon inspection. Or a buyer could have simply changed their mind. But deposits should have been refunded promptly regardless.
According to Carsome’s FAQ, the booking fee refunds will be paid within 14 working days, but many of the messages claim that they have been waiting for more than a month.
In August 2022, a report carried by Malaysia Gazette covered a different issue involving alleged late payments to customers who sold their car to Carsome. According to Malaysia Gazette’s report, a typical 3 hour waiting period to be paid extended to over 3 days.
At that time, the issue was attributed to temporary problems with the system. A month later, the industry was shocked by reports of layoffs at Carsome in September 2022.
Industry insiders commented that these problems could happen if a startup has liquidity issues, which is something not uncommon amongst startups. Last month, Carsome told BFM Radio in an interview that the company has yet to breakeven but plans to do so this year.
UPDATE (May 11 2023): Carsome has reached out to us with a clarification. Carsome claims that 98% of refund cases were fulfilled on time in the last six weeks.
For the remaining 2%, there are various reasons for delays in refunds such as a spike in transaction volumes, incomplete documentation, and other administrative matters.
Carsome added that to further improve the refund process, it will be introducing self service applications for refunds, automation for online payments to enable refunds within 11 working days, and other refinements to the finance process.
Statement from Carsome
Carsome… beep²
Carsome kusam
i guess when you come up too big too soon, take on heavy loans and don’t have a sound policy or operational foundation, things are bound to unravel… will MyTukar be next?
Aiyah…just do your research..go back to trusted used car dealers or buy direct lor.
All these socalled “fast track 22 point check”no worry platforms r just to make u syiok.
I go to my trusted used car dealer,online transfer of cash and carownership one after another,within 20 mins.
YOU can imagine their cashflow.Big warehouses to refurbish cars,car drive in check points, aggressive advertising, lots of staff etc..so easy to break even meh?
Carsome, u ending your own career
The only sustainable alternative to carsome is Mudah…their used car platform.Being an established player..the used car division is just a toy to them.
carsome = troublesome. of course refund is slow la… they have to pay eric cantona first or else they will get the infamous flying kick.
Berita Terkini …Eric cantona also complained…lambat leh …The bookings are “rolling” capital,folks.
When they gave earlier press conference,everyone thot they r a force to be reckoned.Now,its like u have to give them a credit term to get paid.
Hopefully Eric Cheng listening customer voice.
Carsome one thing.. tapi sorry to say, ini memang penyakit dikalangan team sale, makan duit booking customer.. time belum sign-off mulut banyak maniiss.. hahaha
bought a car
shown the car before puspakom it is okay.
after puspakom they quickly ask me to sign off all the forms.
what happened was they scratched all the side window glass to take off the tinted. need to spend thousands $$$ to replace the side windows.
Carsome bagi i harga mengarut la masa i nak jual myvi i…..jual sendiri lg untung….x perlu la korg nak g Carsome ke, mytukar ke…sume harga mengarut…baik amik masa sendiri g support 2nd hand used car dealer kat tepi jalan….
The valuation of the original hyped used car dealer, Carvana, in America which Carsome took inspiration from already came back crashing to planet earth. Doubtful they are still a unicorn startup given they are having the facing difficulties like Carvana.
Bradder NVC
Carvana in Nirvana now.Carsome joining Carvana soon.
Funny thing is that, most people are conned by companies who call themselves “tech” just because they have an app/website and dumb ppl get sucked in giving them sky high valuations. Carsome is just another second-hand car dealer that is never going to be profitable, I foresee them folding or desperately looking for a (dumb) buyer soon.
Money already buy bitcoin, sudah lebur maybe
OMG. I will definitely stay away from eric cheng carsome troublesome.
When submit online, estimated price rm67k, when actual inspection report (car perfect conditional and superb low millage), sales person quoted RM60k, mcm kena tipu, end up forget about it….never a trusted platform…
Used car valuation are damaged by this ecspecially continental car. Valuation report are ridiculous. Not a good valuation for trade in…its an advantage for used car dealer to play the markets