Another complaint about carcraft & a warranty

[Mr lex]

Thank you for popping back to the thread Sandra.

A quick heads up people, both BankFodder and I have spoken to Sandra, this is a genuine offer to help. Please report back with your results.

I wonder if we will ever see Bright house be this brave.

Lex

[Rough Trader]

I have purchased a car from carcraft in the last three months, (a freelander) which is now in their workshop in lakeside, been there for four weeks now.

The mechanic there seems to be a bit of an incompetant, four weeks to change a cylinder head gasket ????

I keep getting phone calls and emails from the girl on the reception stating all sorts of excuses, such as: we are short staffed, the cylinder head is still not back, we are waiting for new bolts. And now she informs me, 01/06/09, that the cylinder head has had to be returned for some reason, this will take me into my fifth week on no car.

Although all of this is being done under the warranty, I am seeking legal advice, it is taking to long for the repair.

With regard to the NAC, when I purchased the Freelander and previously a CRV, the NAC was added to the finance agreement automatically, so there is nothing you can do it seems, and I believe that you can not buy a car from them without one.

On that subject, a car is advertised for say £4000 and it says you pay (£66 per month for 60 months) and the NAC is added automatically. Does that come under Trades Description Act? Advertising an item for one price and charging another.

Regards
Geoff

[Rough Trader]

Originally Posted by Rough Trader

I have purchased a car from carcraft in the last three months, (a freelander) which is now in their workshop in lakeside, been there for four weeks now.

The mechanic there seems to be a bit of an incompetant, four weeks to change a cylinder head gasket ????

I keep getting phone calls and emails from the girl on the reception stating all sorts of excuses, such as: we are short staffed, the cylinder head is still not back, we are waiting for new bolts. And now she informs me, 01/06/09, that the cylinder head has had to be returned for some reason, this will take me into my fifth week on no car.

Although all of this is being done under the warranty, I am seeking legal advice, it is taking to long for the repair.

With regard to the NAC, when I purchased the Freelander and previously a CRV, the NAC was added to the finance agreement automatically, so there is nothing you can do it seems, and I believe that you can not buy a car from them without one.

On that subject, a car is advertised for say £4000 and it says you pay (£66 per month for 60 months) and the NAC is added automatically. Does that come under Trades Description Act? Advertising an item for one price and charging another.

Regards
Geoff

Ohh ... I forgot to add, that when the Freelander was collected by the recovery people, he refused to tow the vehicle and drove my car, after informing him that carcraft had advised me not to drive it, from outside my house to the Lakeside workshop, so god alone knows what damage he did to the engine and the head gasket.

I have made carcraft aware of this fact, and I am still getting emails from Lauren saying how sorry she if for the inconvenience.

[Rough Trader]

Originally Posted by Rough Trader

Ohh ... I forgot to add, that when the Freelander was collected by the recovery people, he refused to tow the vehicle and drove my car, after informing him that carcraft had advised me not to drive it, from outside my house to the Lakeside workshop, so god alone knows what damage he did to the engine and the head gasket.

I have made carcraft aware of this fact, and I am still getting emails from Lauren saying how sorry she if for the inconvenience.

Got a phone call from someone in Carcraft; saying that my engine can not be fixed (Valves, Manifold etc) and the caller (female) offered me a like for like swap for my old freelander. What absolute balderdash !!!

I check my email when i got home to find an e-mail from someone called Melanie in Carcaft stating that they are waiting for another new cylinder head gasket set from a main dealer. Looks like the swap is not going to happen.

So whoever called me at 12:34pm on 09/06/2009 allegedly from Carcraft take note I am now seeking legal advice on this.

Five weeks is too long to fix a cylinder head gasket.

[Mr lex]

Hi Geoff,

Have you brought this to Sandra's attention in post 60?

It has to be worth a shout.

Lex

[Conniff]

Originally Posted by Rough Trader

Got a phone call from someone in Carcraft; saying that my engine can not be fixed (Valves, Manifold etc) and the caller (female) offered me a like for like swap for my old freelander. What absolute balderdash !!!

I check my email when i got home to find an e-mail from someone called Melanie in Carcaft stating that they are waiting for another new cylinder head gasket set from a main dealer. Looks like the swap is not going to happen.

So whoever called me at 12:34pm on 09/06/2009 allegedly from Carcraft take note I am now seeking legal advice on this.

Five weeks is too long to fix a cylinder head gasket.

I think you have voided the insurance by not keeping to the required servicing intervals. Ignorance is no defence i'm afraid.

You should write them recorded delivery and give them 7 days to return you car to you 'fixed'.

3 days is all it take to do a head. Give them one day to remove, one day or two days for the engineering company to skim it (make sure it's been skimmed, ask for the letter headed bill showing it has), and one or two days to reinstall.

In that letter I recommend you cancel the worthless warranty and ask for refund of all premiums paid. I believe it is now unlawful to sell insurance with a product, you have to be given the oportunity to shop around.

[markyg30]

Purchsed on The 21st December 2007
　

I Purchesed from you a Vauxhal Zafira.
　
When Arriving at your Plymounth Centre which is no longer there i was met by a salmes man called Simon and Office manager Martin, the took me and my daughter in to a small room and offered me a coffee and to start looking at my paperwork, which took about an hour then Simon disappered for a while and came back a hour and a half later saying trying to find a finance company for me. Afte about another hour i was shown all the cars that they had which was only three A Vauxhal Zafira a Renult and a Citron to which i went straight to the Zafira cause that was the only car with Seven Seats.Simon lt me in the car and could not move it very far cause the windows were misted up and could not see. After about two mins said lets go in and do the paper work, which we did. So from about three tiull half seven i was stuck in a small room with my dughter not having nothing to eat or drink from this point. I kept saying during the afternoon and eveing i want to tae myself and my daughter for some lunch but Simon kept saying we will only be aother half hour which sent on for about five house to which i was getting annoyed. At about six Simon came back to me to so the transferal of my car the the new car i was taking with me. I filled in my V5 log book I wanted to take the log book for my old car but Simon said he had to deal with it as its company policy. Finaly at half seven he gave me the keys. I went out to the car got in and went to drive away but the car would not start so i tryed to get back in to the office which took five mins or so cause they were rushing to go home. Simonm came out and got the car startedt then i said there is no fuel in the car whre is the garage from here and i will follow you there to sort it. So we went to the garage sorted the fuel and then i went home. Next morning i had a phone call from Simon saying you can not tax the car cause it is still under a Disabled Tax licence and also telling me we would have to fill in the document again because he written the wrong address down on some of the dovuments which i thought was a very silly and poor thing to do as it is a contract agreement and an inportant document. When he got back with the Tax disk i let my Partner drive the car, a bad smell of animals cause she suffers with asthma and she also niticed a blue sponge stuck down to the dash board which i pealed off to reval a very large L shape crack in the dash board, so in the new year i cantacted you about this to which i was told to take to a garage and get a quote to dot the work which i did and sent back to you via post. After not hearing from you for a bout two weeks i contacted you again asking about the qoute and when i can get the work done. I was told that the quote was to expensive and to got to a diffrent garage which you recomaended which apperently you use for you customer repairs. I took the car to the garage and they sait they will not do the job cause it is a big job to do and also telling me that someone has tryed to repait it but very badly and shold not of sold the vehical in this condition. So i contacted you back again to whicj you said you will try and sort it and you will ring me back. After not hearing from you i contacted you again and i got the same asnswer again we will contact you and sort the matter out for me. Again i heard nothing from you so i then contacted welcome finance which are my finace company and spook to Dave Porter rang me a couple days later say ing i have spoke to thee head office and have said go to a vauxhall dealer get a quote and we will get the work done. I took the car to vauxhall in Paignton and they sent you a quotye by fax. Again i hard nothing from you. I contacted you again saying about the quote and spoke to Peter Lomas saying we have no quote which he ment we have lost it. So iwent back to Vauxhall and said i need you to send another quote as they are saying they have not recived your first quote. So sent it again while i was on hold on the phone. Again i hear nothing from you again. So i rang you again and spoke to peter again and he said we still have no quote To which now i am getting very annoyed about the whole thing. So i said ok how about returning the car to you anf forgetting the whole thing he said we cant do that cause its against company police supprise supprise. So i hear nothing again so i phone you one again and spoke to Tracy Cocking which said send me a quote and i will deal with it for you she gave me the fax numbers for her so i went back to vauxhall in Paignton and said i need another ouote to which the say the company is just messing us about we dont what to know cause thay have had the same problems with your company in the past. So i went to Vauxhall in Newton Abbot and telling them i need a quote for the dash board for my car. I Had the qoute in my hand with in five mins. So i came home and sent the email to tracy.cocking@carcraft.co .uk to which the first person ever to ring me back said yes i have your qoute here and said i will contact you to arrang getting the work done. To which i waited amonth heard nothing phoned back and spoke to Peter Lomas Again No we havent recived any quotes and no we are not going to do the work so i said i want to speek to someone in management. A day later Tracy Cocking phones me back and says we now need the letter saying who said the work coule be done. So i spoke to Dave Porter A Welcome finance and he sent me the letter whice he had and i sent to you. A Week latte hearing nothing from you saying no we have not recived it so i get the letter again and send it to whivch you still not respond. And now Tracy Cockong is saying the work will never be done and there is nothing i can do about it so this letter is being sent as advise from Trading Standards And a copy of this letter is being sent to Welcome Finance And a Copy For my solicitor And Watch dog and Unstatified customers that i am contacting thant have made complaints about you through Email. I Would like to heat back from you by the 10 July 2009 i would also like to start a action against this company if anyone is interested in doing this please email me on markyg30@hotmail.com

[Conniff]

Sorry Marky, that is a terrible post, you need to edit it and add some paragraph spacing. I don't think many will read it as it is.

[Billco]

Hey guys,

Another guy here that feels the need to register in a desperate plea for help

Bought my Saab 93 (55) from Carcraft Lakeside 2 years ago now.

Had it serviced last year (with them)

This year, just before the service was due it started grinding into 5th gear, so I asked them to take a look at it when it was serviced. They assumed it was synchomesh problems and stripped the box to find out what the problem is.

I wasn't too worried about it all cause I've got the NAC Guarantee right? I mean i've had it serviced within guidelines, the only parts on the gearbox they state in the pamphlet that they don't cover are minor, so i'm golden.

Right?

Wrong......

Wear & Tear.

I've read in many places that this is their "get outta jail free card" as it were, but I mean, as soon as the car is driven every single part is subject to "wear & tear", surely there's gotta be some sorta legislation or guidelines to govern this, otherwise they never have to pay out a single penny to anyone!

Cars a 55 plate with 34k on the clock, and it needs a gearbox recon? Quoting me £1200 that frankly I don't have, oh and now that they arn't covering the repair, carcraft want to charge me for the courtesy car i've had for a week (because they didn't have anybody available to strip the box after the service)

Just got the news and of course, everyone is shut now so I can't talk to them but i'm pulling my hair out!

Essentially i've got to return the courtesy car tommorrow, while my car still has no gearbox, which means I can't get to work, or even away from lakeside!

Will be calling consumer rights aswell as Sandra (hopefully she's still around) first thing tommorrow, but any advice greatly appreciated!

[yeahnice]

I have had a bad experience with Carcraft. IT all started with selling me a faulty motor.

They have had my Vauxhall Vectra for 3 weeks (only bought it around 2-3 weeks before that). Turbo and Intercooler needed replacing. A big job admittedly but it took a week for diagnosis alone! Now they have mucked me about for another fortnight with reasons such as short staff, not yet approved for repair at Lakeside (wanted to send it up North somewhere) and finally - waiting for parts has been the the favourite this last week. Although I think I do believe them about the fact they are waiting for parts this time, I can't help but think the organisation of the service department is lacking something as even this sort of repair shouldn't have taken anywhere near this long.

I am still waiting for another call from Melanie to say my part has arrived but I don't have much hope of that happening any time soon. We sill see.

This has been such a major inconvenience for me as I have a family and have had to cancel many plans due to missing the car. I shall have to contact customer service as I will need compensating in some way.

It's funny, the taking my money part of the deal went really smoothly...funny that.

[yeahnice]

I have my car back and customer services are sending me a service voucher as a good will gesture for the hassle I have had regarding this repair. I do urge people to contact the CS telephone number posted earlier in this thread, they are a lot more pleasant to speak to and although the end result isn't necessarily perfect in my case, they may still be able to help you.

Unfortunately the car was returned with an oil stain on the front passenger seat and carmat. Old oily jubilee clips were left in the car at a toddlers reach as we found out!! AND MINUS MY TOMTOM SATNAV and because it can't be proved either way that it was in the car (hidden in arm-rest compartment I might add) they will not take responsibility. A terrible end to an already bad experience with CarCraft.

Hopefully this is a one off but please let your friends and family know that they should remove any possessions from the vehicle before handing the car over as you never know, it may happen again.

Off to buy a SATNAV now as need on for a holiday coming up soon. I hope they haven't gone up in price since I last bought one!

Update: I am in the process of reporting this to Essex Police and various media etc. In the mean time share your experiences on www.mycarcraftexperience. co.uk and you may find help there in addition to this site. Good luck

[xxgarageboyxx]

I've recentlyl had a service at one of the Carcraft centres in London. Had quite a decent experience - reasonable price, they collected the car and delivered it back and overall it wasn't bad. Surely you shouldn't have left valuable items in the car wherever it was - armrest or not? Anyhow, I think that all garages can employ people who may pinch stuff so I wouldn't single these guys out! My overall experience wasn't too bad.

[yeahnice]

I have to wonder.. how does someone who has had such a great experience with a company stumble across a consumer action forum thread specifically started for carcrafty problems. Hmmmm insteresting?

But thanks for your reply though, it was really helpful. Keep up the good work!

[Rough Trader]

Here we go again. I have placed my Freelander in Lakeside once again, on the 14th September, for the same reason as before. The engine still shudders on tick over and the brake pads are still scraping. This is now the third time I have put my car in for the same repair.

This all goes back to 9th of May when I had to have a new cylinderhead gasket replaced. This story is here: Second Visit. I have now given carcraft a final two weeks to fix this problem once and for all. I am due to collect my car on 25th or 26th September, hopefully, fixed.

Wish me luck folks

[Conniff]

Ask for a written schedule of what was done (or claimed to have been done). If the brakes are still scraping, remove a wheel and look to see if the pads have been renewed. The same with the engine running problem.
It could be that the pads are fine so shining a lamp in and seeing the pads are fine is all they are doing and not looking for another reason for the noises.

Next time, if there is one, make descrete marks on part so you can see if they have been removed to effect a repair.

If you consider you have given them enough chances to fix these problems, you can tell them you are taking it to another dealer and will be sending them the bill.

Read post #60 RT

Lets hope this time they get it right.

[Anthem]

Basically, in the case of Carcraft, just don't buy from there.

If you insist then just be aware that you are getting little more protection than if you were to buy privately from some guy in the newspaper who you don't even know.

The car you can buy privately for £4k will be available from Carcraft for £6k so by buying from the private seller, you have £2k in your pocket for any repairs that you might need to have done in the first three months.

If you get by for three months without the need to make a repair to the private sale car then you are ahead of the game because if the car you buy from Carcraft needs any repairs after three months then they will not want to know and you will be liable anyway.

Don't fall for their "Two Year Guarantee", it is not worth the paper it is written on.

Even in the rare event that the repairs your car needs to have are covered by the guarantee, they only cover the first £300.

Just be aware that Carcraft are not in the business of selling quality cars, they are in the business of selling finance which is far more lucrative for them.

[AA99]

Originally Posted by lufc4eva09

hi everyone just been informed from carcraft head office that everyone who buys a car from them have a 12 month cover with rac i thought i would let you all know

Yes, I got the RAC cover 'thrown in' but when my car broke down at Alton Towers, they couldn't help as they only recover/take to garage within 10 miles! I was further than that from Stoke or Derby so had to rely on my AA cover to help!

[Rough Trader]

Originally Posted by Rough Trader

Here we go again. I have placed my Freelander in Lakeside once again, on the 14th September, for the same reason as before. The engine still shudders on tick over and the brake pads are still scraping. This is now the third time I have put my car in for the same repair.

This all goes back to 9th of May when I had to have a new cylinderhead gasket replaced. This story is here: Second Visit. I have now given carcraft a final two weeks to fix this problem once and for all. I am due to collect my car on 25th or 26th September, hopefully, fixed.

Wish me luck folks

Well... I collected my car on 26th Septemeber. Guess what? The Engine has started shuddering again after two weeks and the brkaepads are still scraping.

I have spoken to them today stating that I am going to take it elsewhere to get a diagnostic test and pass it onto them.

They say I can not do that at all, did not say why, but I think I will loose everything that goes with the vehicle, so I am stuck good and proper with a useless car that will not run proper.

And I still can not find a legal firm with the bottle to take on car craft.

[AA99]

Originally Posted by Rough Trader

Well... I collected my car on 26th Septemeber. Guess what? The Engine has started shuddering again after two weeks and the brkaepads are still scraping.

I have spoken to them today stating that I am going to take it elsewhere to get a diagnostic test and pass it onto them.

They say I can not do that at all, did not say why, but I think I will loose everything that goes with the vehicle, so I am stuck good and proper with a useless car that will not run proper.

And I still can not find a legal firm with the bottle to take on car craft.

Local Trading Standards Office

[Rough Trader]

ok : thanks I will try them