Used Car Dealer Giving Me The Run Around On Returning My Cash Deposit, Suggests He May Keep $400 Of It, Unsure Of How To Proceed.

Location: Massachusetts

Two weeks ago to the day I put down a $5000 cash deposit for a used car, and since then dealing with this business has been a nightmare.

On multiple occasions I went back to them being told the car was ready to go only to find it in fact was not, either because the owner wasn’t there, or the repairs they told me about that needed to be done weren’t finished, and most recently that they found an entirely new issue that needed to be fixed. Each time I went there, I left empty handed, as the car accumulated additional problems that were not disclosed prior to my making a deposit.

I decide I don’t want the car or do business with them, thus I tell the owner I want my cash deposit back (this past Saturday) and encounter the following issues:

1 - He suggests he is going to keep $400 because his time is worth money and feels I wasted it.

2 - He tells me I can get one check for half the amount that day another check a week later for the other half. He says under his breath that “it’s the first of the month” as if that’s my problem. His saleswoman also told me the day prior that they got into an argument over the fact her check was short.

Do I have any recourse to immediately get my full $5000 in cash? I feel like if you are given cash and hold in escrow it should be immediately returned as such. Given how this business has behaved, my concerns are that I will be chasing these “checks” for who knows how long, and that despite after arguing with the owner to the point he relented and said he wouldn’t take $400, at the end, he ultimately may.

One last detail - the only thing I signed was a note confirming that I had given them $5000 cash, wherein there is no stipulation of a penalty for requesting it back. In fact, there are two boxes for “refundable” and “non-refundable” and neither of them are checked.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.