Total number of car sales by Capital Tourism Limited / John Stokes / Buzzy Rental Cars

Callum McCullough made this Official Information request to Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment

Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment did not have the information requested.

From: Callum McCullough

Dear Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment,

I am writing to you to request information regarding the total number of car sales / change of ownership made by either a company registered under the name Capital Tourism Limited (may also be trading as Capital Tourism Ltd) and/or an individual John Stokes.The reason behind my request is quite simple, I believe that this company/individual (sole owner of the company) may be an unlicensed motor vehicle trader.

Recently I purchased a car from an account on trade me called 'buzzycar' (business account) who was selling cars that were no longer needed in their car rental company 'Buzzy Rental Cars'. On trade me they indicated that they were 'In Trade'. Nine days after purchasing the vehicle there was an issue with the alternator which required $820 worth of repairs. I approached the seller 'buzzycar' aka John Stokes to make him aware of the situation and asked for him to remedy this. He then replied he was not a trader in the sense I had suggested, even though he clearly stated on his trademe account he was "In trade". He has since refused to do anything since. I have prove that under the trademe account 'buzzycar' that there have been at least 4 car sales in the last 12 months, if not more. Additionally I have found a second account run by John, a personal account, called 'getwuntoo' from which I can see he has sold more cars, some of which he clearly states come from his business Buzzy Rental Car.

I request this information so that it can be used at the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal and to make a complaint about John for being an unlicensed Motor Vehicle trader.

Yours faithfully,
Callum McCullough

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From: *OIA
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment

 

Ref: 1718-0361

 

Dear Mr McCullough

On behalf of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment I
acknowledge your email of 13 September 2017 requesting under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act), the following:

·        I am writing to you to request information regarding the total
number of car sales / change of ownership made by either a company
registered under the name Capital Tourism Limited (may also be trading as
Capital Tourism Ltd) and/or an individual John Stokes.The reason behind my
request is quite simple, I believe that this company/individual (sole
owner of the company) may be an unlicensed motor vehicle trader.

 

Your request is being processed in accordance with the Act and a response
will be sent to you in due course. If you have any enquiries regarding
your request feel free to contact us via email [MBIE request email] or using
the contact details below.

 

Yours sincerely,

Alan Witcombe

MANAGER, MINISTERIAL SERVICES

Corporate, Governance and Information

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

Level 4, 15 Stout Street, PO Box 1473, Wellington 6140

 

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From: Callum McCullough

Dear *OIA,

May I please also request for information on an cars sold or owned by Capital Tourism Ltd as I believe the trader is using either Limited or Ltd to hide the fact they are selling numerous vehicles.

Yours sincerely,

Callum McCullough

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From: *OIA
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment

 

Ref: 1718-0361

 

Dear Mr McCullough

 

On behalf of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (The
Ministry) I acknowledge your email of 13 September 2017 requesting under
the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act), the following:

 

·        I am writing to you to request information regarding the total
number of car sales / change of ownership made by either a company
registered under the name Capital Tourism Limited (may also be trading as
Capital Tourism Ltd) and/or an individual John Stokes.The reason behind my
request is quite simple, I believe that this company/individual (sole
owner of the company) may be an unlicensed motor vehicle trader.

·        May I please also request for information on an cars sold or
owned by Capital Tourism Ltd as I believe the trader is using either
Limited or Ltd to hide the fact they are selling numerous vehicles.

 

The Ministry is transferring your request to the New Zealand Transport
Agency in accordance with Section 14 of the Official Information Act 1982.

 

This transfer is occurring because the information you requested is
believed by the Ministry to be more closely aligned with the functions of
the New Zealand Transport Agency.

 

They have 20 working days from receipt of this transfer to make a decision
on this request, and you should expect to hear from them in due course.

 

 

 

Yours sincerely,

Alan Witcombe

MANAGER, MINISTERIAL SERVICES

 

Corporate, Governance and Information

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

Level 4, 15 Stout Street, PO Box 1473, Wellington 6140

 

[1]www.govt.nz - your guide to finding and using New Zealand government
services

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John Stokes left an annotation ()

Dear Reader,

Someone has alerted me to this publicly-available request.

My name is John Stokes and I am the owner/operator of Buzzy Rental Cars. Mid-year, we sold about 5 of our older rental vehicles (which were perfectly good vehicles - but older in style that renters do not want). All the transactions went smoothly.

Ten days after Callum McCulloch purchased his vehicle the alternator expired. Mr McCulloch, in spite of living near (walking distance) to our operation in Wellington, chose to buy the vehicle on the Trade Me listing without inspecting it first. However, even if he had inspected it, there was no way of telling that the alternator would expire.

In his argument above, Mr McCulloch confuses our rental car operation with a commercial car sales operation. One certainly does need a car sales licence is one is in business to sell cars at a profit. That is not the objective of Buzzy Rental Cars, which is why we have a Transport Operators Licence.

Whilst I am disappointed - and surprised - for him that the car developed a problem, we had neither offered nor suggested any form of guarantee would apply.

This explanation is exactly what was explained to Mr McCulloch at the time. The only reason I repeat it here is because this is a public arena.

I strongly suspect Mr McCulloch is now satisfied with the vehicle which, as said at the time on the Trade Me listing, was to the best of my knowledge a good one. It had certainly been well maintained as a rental. I wish him on-going good luck and safe motoring with it.

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