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- Dangerdave
- Member Since: 15 Feb 2017
- Location: UK
- Posts: 600
Rejection of a LR
With permission of the Discosportforums.co.uk and something that might be of interest here. The author is townandcountry.
“It's be a very long and drawn out saga, but our rejection is finally complete. The vehicle was collected yesterday and the financial settlement came through today - 50 weeks after I first made my complaint. Hopefully anyone else struggling against the rejection process can take comfort from my eventual success and not give in!
The basis of my complaint was that the car was "not as described" due to the prominent and incorrect claims in the published sales literature at the time of my purchase, stating the new Ingenium engines were "... more affordable and convenient to own thanks to servicing intervals extended from 16,000 to 21,000 miles/two years".
As we know those claims were withdrawn in all literature from June 2017, and JRLP0100 appeared making it obvious that the description was factually inaccurate. At the time I began my rejection process I'd already had my first oil change light come on around 8,000 miles, and I'd been told by the dealer that my driving style meant I could expect to require oil services at this interval in future.
I still had some outstanding finance on the vehicle as I'd taken it to get a deposit contribution. I had always intended to clear that finance after 6 months, but I decided to hold onto it so as not to take any action that could indicate I accepted the vehicle and also to keep the legal relationship unchanged. I'm very pleased I took that approach in the end, as it left an additional step available to me before going Full Legal.
My initial complaint went in to Black Horse (Land Rover Financial Services), and after some back and forth they eventually refused it in November. This is despite some telephone calls with them during their investigation where they agreed that misrepresentation had occurred (conveniently, all calls are recorded
). In their refusal they attempted to claim that this was not their responsibility as they had no representation at the point of sale.
After Christmas I took the complaint to the Financial Services Ombudsman (the advantage of my contract being with the finance company), and in July their investigator issued his findings and recommendations categorically in my favour. These were not binding unless both parties agreed - I did, but unsurprisingly Black Horse did not. That meant the complaint went in the queue for an "acutal" Ombudsman to review and issue a binding decision, which was to happen in September.
At the 11th hour, before an Ombudsman took the case, Black Horse made me an offer to accept the rejection and compensate me close to the level the investigator had recommended. I suspect this was because they knew the Ombudsman's decision would go against them and they didn't want that on their record, but that is just speculation.
I ultimately accepted their offer with only minor adjustments, as it was already substantially better for me than what I had budgeted on accepting when I first raised the complaint.
I found out that the car will go straight from me to auction. If anyone wants a well cared for '17 model year HSE in red with a black roof, it's going through BCA Blackbushe at one of their Monday auctions... It's got GTechniq Crystal Serum applied, unfortunately the 7-year warranty for that is not portable to a new owner though. Seriously, if anyone is tempted, PM me and I'll happily go through the full details of the car.
For anyone who's interested this was our first and last experience of the Land Rover brand. We've moved on to a Volvo XC90 and had great service from the dealer, with a car that feels like it was hewn from a solid block of luxury. I will miss the sure-footed offroad capability of the DS though, particularly in the winter
“
This forum has been a great support over the time I've had the car, from small questions through to help with the bigger problems I've had to deal with. It really shows that the people here are a great bunch, and you all make it a nice place to be. I might come back and hang out occasionally as the Swedes don't seem to have (need?) such a great community.
Thank you all! -
- Qwertyd5x
- Member Since: 25 Aug 2018
- Location: Highland
- Posts: 65
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- Dangerdave
- Member Since: 15 Feb 2017
- Location: UK
- Posts: 600
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- bammmy
- Member Since: 29 Jul 2018
- Location: The Scottish Highlands.
- Posts: 146
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- Qwertyd5x
- Member Since: 25 Aug 2018
- Location: Highland
- Posts: 65
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