A publication of the:
V O L U M E
1,
2 0 1 1
A newsletter for Alberta motor industry’s licensed businesses and registered salespeople.
AMVIC’s new
strategic
direction
C
I
V
AM
There’s a lot of excitement at AMVIC
these days. A new Strategic Plan has
just been approved by the board of
directors. The plan calls for change,
innovation and action.
The board has delivered a very clear
message: automotive businesses
and consumers in Alberta will coexist
in a fair and balanced marketplace.
Building trust and confidence in the
motor vehicle industry is a shared
responsibility. The plan defines a vision
of what the future should look like and
charts a course of action to take the
industry in this direction.
more use of the Internet to process
licensing applications. Consumers
will have more access to information
about their rights and responsibilities;
and more after-purchase protection
with the introduction of an industry
compensation fund.
What this means for businesses:
Licensing:
In the future, automotive businesses
and registered salespeople will
experience new ways of interacting with
AMVIC. There will be more direct contact
with AMVIC staff; more opportunities
for professional development; and
P U B L ISH E D BY:
Alberta Motor Vehicle Industry Council
#303, 9945 - 50 Street, Edmonton, AB T6A 0L4
Tel: 780.466.1140 Fax:780.462.0633
Email:[email protected] www.amvic.org
Toll Free Numbers: Licensing: 1.877.979.8100
Investigations: 1.877.279.8200
Return undeliverable mail to the above.
EXE C U T IV E :
Bob Hamilton, Executive Director
Shannon DeLorey, Manager of Licensing & Finance
Bob Knight, Manager of Investigations
Janet Tancsics, Secretary to the Board
EDI T IN G & D E S IG N :
LINK PR INCORPORATED 9249 - 48 Street, Edmonton, AB T6C 2R9
Tel: 780.448.0936 Fax: 780.465.6201 Email: [email protected]
ƒƒ The backlog of license applications
will be eliminated. New applications
and renewals will be processed in
ten business days or less.
ƒƒ The first phase of online licensing
will start late in 2011. Registered
salespeople will be the first to
process their renewals online.
ƒƒ AMVIC will move from manual
licensing records to electronic records.
ƒƒ AMVIC investigators will visit motor
vehicle businesses to ensure that
businesses and salespeople are
properly licensed.
Investigation and enforcement:
ƒƒ Investigators will be assigned a
geographic territory and will monitor
all motor vehicle activity within it. All
businesses will be held to the same
practice standards.
/ See “AMVIC’s future” on back page
2010/ 2011 B OAR D OF D I R E C TOR S:
Brian Heninger
Pat Asplund
Donald Dixon
Wade Michener
Robert Pelz
MOTOR DEALERs’ Association, Calgary
Chairperson of the Board
Service & Repair, LETHBRIDGE
SALESPERSON, CALGARY
AUCTIONeers’ association, Calgary
Used Vehicle Sales, Red deer
Impact! is the official publication
of AMVIC. Comments or mailing
address changes should be sent to
the publisher. Impact! welcomes
articles about the motor vehicle
industry and its people. Letters to
the Editor are welcome.
Douglas Pinney
Bob Sprague
Nancy Suranyi
Gary Walsh
Ed Wiersma
Keith Williams
Recreational vehicle Dealers, edmonton
Public member, CALGARY
Industry-at-Large, Namao
Public member, Calgary
Recyclers & Dismantlers, Edmonton
Industry-at-Large, edmonton
I m pac t ! A Publication of the ALBERTA Motor vehicle industry council
tigations Update
Investigation statistics
April - December 2010
Complaint Statistics (number of calls) Investigation Statistics
New purchases
Used purchases
Repairs and service
Information and advice
183
720
295
5,947
Total Fair Trading Act charges laid
28
Total Criminal Code fraud charges laid 10
Open investigation files
826
Closed investigation files
875
Total mediation by investigators $1,597,960
Total mediation since 1999
$18,310,000
Fines and restitution by the courts $66,366
Misuse of
dealer plates
Recently, a couple from
Saskatchewan stopped by an AMVIC
office with some questions about
their new truck purchase. During the
discussion with an investigator, the couple disclosed
that the dealer had “loaned” them a dealer plate to transport the
vehicle back to Saskatchewan.
The investigator quickly recognized this as an illegal use of a dealer plate. Section
74 (2) and (3) of the Alberta Operator Licensing and Vehicle Control Regulation
under the Traffic Safety Act strictly limits how dealers can use this class of licence
plate. Dealer plates can only be used on the dealer’s vehicles for sale and the dealer
cannot lend or rent the plate to the person’s agents or to purchasers of vehicles.
The AMVIC investigator advised the couple that they could not continue their trip
to Saskatchewan and sent them back to the dealership. To transport the vehicle
properly, the couple needed to obtain a transit permit and insurance coverage.
This is not the first time AMVIC has dealt with complaints involving misuse of a
dealer plate. Last year, a B.C. resident bought a vehicle in Alberta and was given
a dealer plate to drive the vehicle home. The purchaser was stopped by the RCMP
in B.C., and the vehicle was seized. The dealer plate was sent to Alberta Registries.
A proper In Transit permit would have been the proper way for the purchaser to
drive the vehicle legally.
Beyond the obvious infraction of illegal use of a dealer plate, there is a very real
possibility of serious liability issues if anything were to happen while the couple
drove the vehicle home.
2
“Cool” deal
John purchased a new vehicle in
September 2010. The website build
sheet clearly showed the following
costs were included in the total
price: all fees, air conditioning tax,
destination charges and accessories.
At the time of purchase, a special
pricing promotion was in effect and
deducted from the vehicle’s total
cost. The dealership transposed the
bottom line on the build sheet onto a
standard bill of sale.
On the bill of sale, the dealer charged
$100 (+GST) for air conditioning tax.
The consumer noticed that he was
charged twice for the air conditioning
tax: once on the build sheet and again
on the bill of sale. When John pointed
out the overcharge, the dealer
refunded $105 (air conditioning tax +
GST).
AMVIC’s investigative team is aware
that this may not be an isolated
incident. Investigators are watching
to see that overcharging for air
conditioning tax on new vehicles is
not a regular occurrence.
VOLUME 1, 2011
Regulation
QA
A
Education
Meet the new AMVIC board of directors
Left to right:
Don Dixon
Ed Wiersma
Doug Pinney
Pat Asplund
Wade Michener
Keith Williams
Nancy Suranyi
Gary Walsh
Bob Sprague
Robert Pelz
Brian Heninger
SALESPERSON, TransportAction, Calgary
RECYCLERS AND DISMANTLERS, All West Auto Parts, Edmonton
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE DEALERS, Edmonton
SERVICE AND REPAIR, inspectaCAR inc., Lethbridge
AUCTIONEERS’ ASSOCIATION OF ALBERTA, Michener Allen Auction, Calgary
INDUSTRY-AT-LARGE, Southgate Audi/VW, Edmonton
INDUSTRY-AT-LARGE, Namao Auto Repair, Namao
PUBLIC MEMBER, Calgary
PUBLIC MEMBER, Calgary
USED VEHICLE SALES, Glover International Trucks Ltd., Rocky Mountain House
MOTOR DEALERS’ ASSOCIATION OF ALBERTA, Heninger Toytota, Calgary
AMVIC’s 2010-2011 board of directors has some new faces with three new board
members appointed during the annual general meeting in June. AMVIC welcomes
Pat Asplund, Keith Williams and Bob Sprague and extends a sincere thank you
to retiring directors Dale Johnson, Peter Lokstadt and Bart West, for their time
and dedication during their tenure. Board members serve a two-year term and can
serve a second term.
ƒƒ The board selected Pat Asplund, owner of inspectaCAR in Lethbridge, to
represent the service and repair sector replacing Peter Lokstadt from Southern
Auto Body in Edmonton. Peter completed a four-year term representing
the Alberta Service and Repair Association (ASRA), which did not appoint a
replacement.
ƒƒ Minister Klimchuk appointed Bob Sprague, owner of Sprague Drugs in Edmonton,
as a public member. Bob replaces Bart West after serving a four-year term.
ƒƒ Keith Williams, co-owner of Southgate Audi/VW in Edmonton, was appointed to
replace Dale Johnson from Onoway who served for two-years as an industry-atlarge member.
On the executive, Brian Heninger continues as chairperson; Gary Walsh is the
secretary; and Nancy Suranyi as treasurer.
The AMVIC board represents all aspects of the automotive industry and is
committed to fulfilling the delegated agreement with Service Alberta.
Q
uestion
A dealer has an older
truck for sale. It has
250,000 kilometres on
the odometer. The consumer is in a
hurry for the truck and signs a waiver
from the dealer that this truck will not
be inspected and accepts it in “as is”
condition.
Can the dealer sell this vehicle to the
consumer with the signed waiver?
nswer
No. Under Section 2(1)
of the Fair Trading Act, a
consumer cannot sign their
rights away.
In addition, Section 15 of the Vehicle
Inspection Regulation is explicit that a
dealer who sells any used motor vehicle
must provide the consumer with a
mechanical fitness assessment before
entering into a contract. A journeyman
technician must complete and sign
the mechanical fitness assessment.
There are several case law examples
that favour the consumer in cases
where an inspection was not provided
on used vehicles.
Download the required mechanical
fitness assessment form at
www.amvic.org.
3
m pac
pac t
t !! A
A Publication
Publication of
of the
the ALBERTA
ALBERTA Motor
Motor vehicle
vehicle industry
industry council
council
II m
Licensing levy update
Change is not always easy - but thanks to the cooperation and support of the
automotive industry in Alberta, the new AMVIC licensing levy is working. Some
automotive businesses started submitting their levy remittance in August and
continued to do so monthly. AMVIC received the majority of first quarter remittances
very close to the October 31, 2010 deadline.
The levy was introduced on July 1, 2010 as an interim measure while Service
Alberta works on a long-term, sustainable source of funding for AMVIC. AMVIC’s
responsibilities under the delegated agreement with Service Alberta are to:
1. license the automotive sales and service industry in Alberta;
2. field and investigate consumer complaints;
3. educate the public and industry on the Fair Trading Act;
4. create a compensation fund.
With the new funding, AMVIC is expanding investigations, particularly with regards
to curbers and backyard mechanics. Other steps will include improvements in the
licensing process, improved public and industry educational materials, and the
establishment of a compensation fund to assist consumers who lose money when
an AMVIC licensee goes bankrupt.
The deadline for the second remittance of the licensing levy was January 31, 2011.
It is mandatory for businesses to remit the levy fees according to the schedule.
Levy collected
Remittance due date
July 1 – September 30, 2010October 31, 2010
October 1 – December 31, 2010
January 31, 2011
January 1 – March 31, 2011
April 30, 2011
April 1 – June 30, 2011
July 31, 2011
July 1 – September 30, 2011October 31, 2011
October 1 – December 31, 2011
January 31, 2012
Levy enforcement action
Businesses that did not remit their payments are now subject to enforcement action.
Files for these businesses have been referred to AMVIC’s investigations unit.
Bob Hamilton, executive director, welcomes questions at 780.462.0860 or
[email protected].
SPRING
2008
VOLUME
1, 2011
AMVIC’s future
Continued from cover
Professional development for industry
members:
ƒƒ AMVIC will conduct a survey with
licensees to learn more about the
types of training and communication
tools they feel would benefit the
industry.
ƒƒ Newsletters and other
communication tools will be
published to stay in touch with
industry members.
ƒƒ The AMVIC website will be refreshed
to make it easier for industry
members to access information.
Consumer protection:
ƒƒ An industry compensation fund will
be introduced in 2011. The fund will
compensate consumers who have
been a victim of an unfair practice by
a bankrupt AMVIC licensed business.
Consumer education:
ƒƒ AMVIC will survey members of the
general public to find out what they
know, and want to know about
AMVIC.
ƒƒ The AMVIC website will be refreshed
to make it easier for consumers to
access information.
ƒƒ A new brochure about AMVIC will
be developed and will be widely
distributed across the province.
Do you want to know more about
AMVIC’s future plans? Check out the
Strategic Plan at www.amvic.org.
Employment Opportunity
Interested in joining the AMVIC team?
If so, there is an immediate need for an
investigator based in Calgary.
As an AMVIC Investigator you will respond
to consumer and automotive industry
complaints. Use your investigative skills,
knowledge of relevant legislation, and
familiarity with the Alberta motor vehicle
industry to determine if automotive
businesses are compliant with the Fair
4
Trading Act; Criminal Code of Canada;
and the Alberta Traffic Safety Act.
To perform in this role, you must be
willing to be trained and delegated
as a Peace Officer under the Alberta
Peace Officer Act.
For more information about this
exciting opportunity and how to
apply visit www.amvic.org.