Mahindra mess: Basson finally responds

Deon Basson, owner of GDP Bassons where a woman had immense trouble to have her Mahindra vehicle repaired, finally released a statement to the record via his lawyers.

On Tuesday 6 May, more than two months after the initial story of the woman’s struggle was published (21 February) lawyer Wynand du Plessis handed the statement to the record . Besides the written statement, Du Plessis requested that the following be corrected: The vehicle in question is not owned by Barbara Ecksteen but by her partner, a Mr Oberholzer. The vehicle is registered in his name.

According to his statement, Basson is handing the case over to Du Plessis to collect the outstanding repair expenses that amount to R35 000.

“She removed the vehicle from the worskhop’s parking bays without paying us and without our permission,” Basson wrote.

This after, as he states, the couple expected repair work to be done on the vehicle on 23 December last year, when the workshop was closed.

“The man cursed at me and threatened to harm me physically when we explained that we were closed. He shouted … Ms Ecksteen followed suit, shouting and cursing at me as well as threatening me.”

Basson said that the work done to date on the vehicle was in accordance with its warranty and service plan. He further stated that the workshop lent a Peugeot 107 to the couple in the interim. He wrote out the foul language that Ecksteen used to describe the small inutile vehicle that they had lent her.

“The warranty is upheld under the terms and conditions of Mahindra South Africa, so it takes a while to get specialist reports. The service and some of the repairs were finished and for the remainder of it, we were waiting for approval from Mahindra South Africa. We would not have been allowed to repair it, should the parts not be included in the warranty.”

Ecksteen removing the vehicle from the premises, according to Basson, meant that they could not test the gearbox and could not repair the rest of the vehicle. Basson evidently is disgusted because allegedly his child was harassed by their child at school following the various disagreements.

“The client owes me a hefty sum of money and I request that you [Du Plessis] act against her accordingly.”