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    • I forgot to say, there is one last possibility and that is that they will receive your letter of rejection and simply fold, accept the rejection and refund you. Don't wait too long for this. Seven days maximum – but in that seven days you could send your letter of claim anyway and when that you don't hear from them or when they start mucking around at least you are seven days closer to beginning the legal action – and they will know it (which is the important thing).
    • Okay that is excellent that you have an email between the garage and the warranty company confirming that there is a serious problem with the gearbox. That is very powerful evidence. I think the situation is this: you have sent them a letter of rejection but the reputation of big motoring world is that they won't take a lot of notice and they will try to prevaricate and maybe even blame you. Clearly you don't want the car any more and anyway it sounds as if the cost of repairs is going to be enormous. You don't know if the warranty company is going to step up to the mark but the whole thing is going to take a long time and I understand that you have lost confidence in big motoring world because of this event and also their reputation which you are now discovering on Facebook and on this forum and no doubt elsewhere. On the basis that you don't want the car any more and you want your money back, you need to hurry things along. I think the first thing is that you need to decide if you are prepared to bring a claim in the County Court. Even without the warranty money, the claim is worth more than £10,000. For actions less than £10,000, you bring a "small claim" and this means that even if you lose the case you won't be liable for the other side's costs. If you win the case then not only will you get your money plus interest but also you will recover all of the costs of the action. For actions more than £10,000, you go to something called the "fast track" and in the event that you lose the case, then you could be liable to reimburse the winner some of the costs. This means that in addition to not recovering your own money, you would lose your own court fees and also you would have to to bear the costs of the other side probably something less than £5000 – but as a rough guess. If you bring your court claim then your chances of success are almost 100%. Frankly if you brought a court claim then I can imagine that big motoring world will put their hands up and pay you out rather than face go to court and losing and getting a judgement against them. However, it you need to consider that this is a risk factor – although my view it is a negligible risk factor. If you did bring a court case, it wouldn't be instant. If they put their hands up then it would probably happen very quickly. If they didn't put their hands up then you could take anything up to a year for the matter to be resolved and during that time you would be without your car and without your money and in the middle of litigation. I'm explaining this to you say that you understand how it works. Bring a court case would be really the last resort when everything else has failed. However, I'm quite certain that you would win and it would be stupid of big motoring world to try to resist. In order to bring a court case you would have to send a letter of claim giving them 14 days to accept rejection and organise the refund otherwise you would begin the claim. Don't imagine that you could bluff this. If you did send a letter of claim then you would have to go through with it otherwise you lose all credibility and you might as well pack up and go home. So with this in mind, here are possible courses of action you could take. You can simply wait and see what their reaction to your letter of rejection will be. However they may not reply or else they may find some other reason to delay and of course during that time you will be without your car and without your money blah blah blah, not knowing if big motoring world were going eventually to start acting sensibly and respectfully towards you. The second thing you can do – and I think this has been suggested on Facebook – is that you can go along there and simply make yourself present and talk to other customers and generally speaking make a nuisance of yourself and embarrass them to the point where you would be explaining to other potential customers to be careful, to look on Facebook, and to do some careful research before they put their business to big motoring world. This has a reasonable chance of success although you would have to be careful. You should go accompanied by a friend and there should be no anger, no arguments, nothing that could be considered as being overly aggressive so that big motoring world would have no justification in kicking you out or even worse, calling the police. If you did this, then I would suggest that you record everything on the telephone carried in a pocket. A fully charged battery will probably keep a voice recorder and a telephone going for more than 20 hours or 30 hours. The other person can video any incidents so that everything is clear and you can inform big motoring world then it will be going up on the Internet. If you did this, my favourite option would be to issue the letter of claim giving them 14 days, and then going along to big motoring world with a copy of your letter of rejection and a copy of the exchange between the mechanic and the warranty company and a copy of your letter of claim – all settled together – and probably about 20 or 30 copies in all and I would start handing them out to any customers who came in. Big motoring world will soon get the picture and they will either move your the premises in which case you stand outside and carry on doing it or they will finally give in. Of course there is a chance that they won't give in and they will simply call your bluff – but in that case I think you have no choice other than to follow through with your 14 day threat in the letter of claim and to begin the legal action. At the same time you should be putting up reviews on Google and also trust pilot explaining exactly what has happened and also explaining that the mechanic has confirmed to the warranty company that there is the serious problem, that you have asserted the right to reject and that this is been ignored by big motoring world and that you have now sent a letter of claim and that you will be starting a legal action in 14 days. Once again, don't bluff about the legal action. If you threaten it – then you must mean it – and on day 15 you click of the claim. You don't need a solicitor for any of this. It's all fairly straightforward and of course we will help you all the way that it the decision is yours to make and I think you need to make it fairly quickly. I think the cost of starting an action for about £13,000 is 5% and then also if it goes to trial which I would say is almost impossible – there would be an additional fee. You would claim interest at 8%. A judge might award a lower figure but frankly if you can show that big motoring world is attempting to ride roughshod over your very clear statutory consumer rights, I can imagine that the judge will want to show displeasure by awarding the full 8% which is a pretty good rate – even though it's not compensation for the hassle and the distress you are going through. If you decide to get solicitor, then if you win the case, because it is over £10,000 you will recover some of your costs but you won't recover all of them. If the solicitor begins by having exchanges of letters then I doubt whether you will be up to recover the cost of those and you could easily find that you're chalking up 500 quid or even a thousand simply on initial exchanges of correspondence. Also you need to bear in mind that if after having exchanges with a solicitor, big motoring world cave in – then you definitely won't get those costs back because you won't have gone to court and therefore a judge will not have made the order for payment of those costs. I suggest very strongly that you avoid paying any money for a solicitor and that you do it yourself. It's not a big deal – although you will have to you react quickly to the help we offer on this forum. Also, an additional benefit is that you will learn a lot and you will gain confidence and eventually you will feel good about suing anybody else who gets in your way. Nothing not to like! If you do decide to instruct a solicitor then you must take control of the solicitor. Most of them prefer to sit in an office writing letters on the clock. If you do decide to instruct a solicitor then you must instruct the solicitor very firmly that they should send one letter of complaint giving seven days. A second letter – a letter of claim giving 14 days and that they must then begin the action. If you don't do this. If you don't take control then it will simply cost you money, you will be without your car even longer and of course without your money. The whole thing is a nightmare. I think I've laid out the options but please do ask questions. I hope you can see that this is the kind of advice that you won't be getting on Facebook. Nothing against Facebook. It's good as a meeting place and to make people realise that they aren't on their own – but after that the advice given is weak and confusing.  
    • What makes you say that?  I have no idea how I would go about that or why they would even entertain discussions now that they've won the Court case
    • Our main Equity Partner, Cabot Square Capital invests 
    • Yes it’s the garage and warranty company. And then my husband forwarded me the email. 
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    • If you are buying a used car – you need to read this survival guide.
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    • Hello,

      On 15/1/24 booked appointment with Big Motoring World (BMW) to view a mini on 17/1/24 at 8pm at their Enfield dealership.  

      Car was dirty and test drive was two circuits of roundabout on entry to the showroom.  Was p/x my car and rushed by sales exec and a manager into buying the mini and a 3yr warranty that night, sale all wrapped up by 10pm.  They strongly advised me taking warranty out on car that age (2017) and confirmed it was honoured at over 500 UK registered garages.

      The next day, 18/1/24 noticed amber engine warning light on dashboard , immediately phoned BMW aftercare team to ask for it to be investigated asap at nearest garage to me. After 15 mins on hold was told only their 5 service centres across the UK can deal with car issues with earliest date for inspection in March ! Said I’m not happy with that given what sales team advised or driving car. Told an amber warning light only advisory so to drive with caution and call back when light goes red.

      I’m not happy to do this, drive the car or with the after care experience (a sign of further stresses to come) so want a refund and to return the car asap.

      Please can you advise what I need to do today to get this done. 
       

      Many thanks 
      • 81 replies
    • Housing Association property flooding. https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/topic/438641-housing-association-property-flooding/&do=findComment&comment=5124299
      • 161 replies
    • We have finally managed to obtain the transcript of this case.

      The judge's reasoning is very useful and will certainly be helpful in any other cases relating to third-party rights where the customer has contracted with the courier company by using a broker.
      This is generally speaking the problem with using PackLink who are domiciled in Spain and very conveniently out of reach of the British justice system.

      Frankly I don't think that is any accident.

      One of the points that the judge made was that the customers contract with the broker specifically refers to the courier – and it is clear that the courier knows that they are acting for a third party. There is no need to name the third party. They just have to be recognisably part of a class of person – such as a sender or a recipient of the parcel.

      Please note that a recent case against UPS failed on exactly the same issue with the judge held that the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 did not apply.

      We will be getting that transcript very soon. We will look at it and we will understand how the judge made such catastrophic mistakes. It was a very poor judgement.
      We will be recommending that people do include this adverse judgement in their bundle so that when they go to county court the judge will see both sides and see the arguments against this adverse judgement.
      Also, we will be to demonstrate to the judge that we are fair-minded and that we don't mind bringing everything to the attention of the judge even if it is against our own interests.
      This is good ethical practice.

      It would be very nice if the parcel delivery companies – including EVRi – practised this kind of thing as well.

       

      OT APPROVED, 365MC637, FAROOQ, EVRi, 12.07.23 (BRENT) - J v4.pdf
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Halifax Bank Beneficiary and Executor Fraud.


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Financial Ombudsman? defined as a grievance man? Sadly not in my experience. I will explain one of the most bizarre experiences I have ever had with the Financial Ombudsman, and quite frankly why I would not waste one minute of my time with them in the future.

 

Since the death of my father over a year ago, I have been trying to ascertain details of a particular, recently closed account in my fathers name. From the information I was supplied, this was closed around two months before his death. Given the circumstances, I was advised to contact the Halifax Bereavement Centre, at branch level.

 

The reason for this was unexplained withdrawals, one for cash in excess of 100k, and other incidental matters which totalled in excess of 200k.

There was evidence of fraud, but difficult to pinpoint without evidence.

(Yes I am aware of the Police! but apparently suspected fraud cases are not financed to the degree they should be. Unfortunately, at the present time, I cannot go into this due to my complaint against a certain police force being upheld by the IPCC).

 

This I did. What follows is true, documented and shows what a total farce passes for the Financial Ombudsman Service.

 

In March 2009 I applied for details of this account to be forwarded to me, given that all the bank requirements were in place. ID, death certificate and a copy of the Will naming me as an executor. I was then informed that the Halifax Bank only dealt with Solicitors. Full Stop.

 

I then employed a Solicitor, who the Halifax did deal with, but unfortunately they 'forgot' to disclose the account in question. When this was questioned they said unless a 'grant of probate' was issued they could not disclose any information in relation this account. Sooo, we have suspected fraud/theft, a police force with no money and no interest, and a bank who declines to assist in a probable fraud on a deceased persons estate.

 

Enter the Ombudsman. Several weeks ago he informed that he had instructed the Halifax Bank to disclose quite a long list of information to me. I telephoned the Halifax Bank and they confirmed his conversation.

I then telephoned them back a week later to see where this information was and they then denied knowing anything about it. ( a week prior it was on their computer listed for sending).

 

When I contacted the Ombudsman about it he said that ' the Halifax Bank had behaved reasonably, and were entitled to change their mind, as was any banking organisation'.

 

My opinion? I just think the Halifax are no better than the alleged fraudster, and are more than condoned in their actions by the Financial Ombudsman.

 

All this is documented.....this is a shorter version.

 

More to follow rest assured :mad:

Edited by uaruman
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have you contacted your MP also the head of the financial services committee MP JOHN McFALL he has a webpage but it is better to write to him at the house of commons...sorry to hear your story myself i would get the media involved the newspapers etc...this is a massive fraud by any account and also the cheif of police at the FRAUD SQUAD IN THE NEW SCOTLAND YARD DEPT ask the commissioner to intervine and sort this out

and let him know of your concerns with the local branch...ime sure fireworks will go off

good luck

patrickq1

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the Independent Assessor is just as biased as the FOS.

 

i passed 3 similar claims to the IA due to biased and irrational decisions by the Adjudicator which were then upheld by the Ombudsman and Review Team. In my case, the account had been sold to a DCA and had then been cleared in full. That would mean i owed no money on the account.

 

however, when i claimed default charges from the bank they wanted to pay the DCA, who was not a party to the complaint. I said i'd cleared the balance at the DCA but the FOS said, that's fine get the money back from them when the bank pays. When i didn't accept this, they then said the bank is allowed to keep the refund towards the amount it wrote off when the account was sold because i hadn't paid them. This decision is obviously biased and irrational in any sense of the word, but i never got my refunds in the end. The banks won't correspond with me anymore and always cite the FOS decision.

 

so in my opinion it is useless sending a case to the IA.

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Since posting the above, I have been advised by ReallyMadWoman that if you make a complaint to the Assessor or the FOS about the FOS. Then your original complaint against the bank/whoever will then go on hold whilst they investigate your complaint about the FOS :rolleyes:

 

So it may just be worth holding off until your original complaint has been completed.

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Firstly, many thanks for all the good advice from several individuals, especially in relation to John McFall and the Independent Assessor.

 

It's interesting, because those who have read my story might be interested to know what my Solicitors opinion is with regard to the FOS, their findings and their stance. 'Absolute B....ck's (his words not mine). I wouldn't be that polite.

 

The major problem is that when they act in tandem (the FOS and the Banks) as in my case, what do you do? The law states you must do x, y, z. The bank says; yes we know that, but unfortunately under our rules we can't! The FOS then compounds it by agreeing with them, and then finds against you as an individual.

 

I, for example, was told that the Halifax had been told to supply me with information. Full stop.

 

Seven days later I was then told by telephone, that the Halifax had behaved reasonably,

and as such, didn't need to supply me with any information at all.

 

This scenario really belongs in some dystopian Russian novel, or is it just a sign of how anything, especially in todays poltical climate, can be done tongue in cheek?

 

Part 2 of my monologue will continue after my dealings with the recommended individuals. Just one last thought; having read recently of the large increase in fraud due to the present economic climate, I was surprised to read the recorded crime figures for fraud and forgery were down 13%.

 

Like to know how it's done? All will be revealed during my stay on here and my saga with the FSO :D

Edited by uaruman
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Have you got the FOS' decision to dislcose in writing?

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comments withdrawn as BankFodder has given advice

Edited by yourbank
thought better of it.

.

FSA Waiver on Bank Charges:http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Doing/Regulated/Notify/Waiver/pdf/dir_quart_0709.pdf

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Firstly, many thanks for all the good advice from several individuals, especially in relation to John McFall and the Independent Assessor.

 

It's interesting, because those who have read my story might be interested to know what my Solicitors opinion is with regard to the FOS, their findings and their stance. 'Absolute B....ck's (his words not mine). I wouldn't be that polite.

 

The major problem is that when they act in tandem (the FOS and the Banks) as in my case, what do you do? The law states you must do x, y, z. The bank says; yes we know that, but unfortunately under our rules we can't! The FOS then compounds it by agreeing with them, and then finds against you as an individual.

 

I, for example, was told that the Halifax had been told to supply me with information. Full stop.

 

Seven days later I was then told that the Halifax had behaved reasonably,

and as such, didn't need to supply me with any information at all.

 

This scenario really belongs in some dystopian Russian novel, or is it just a sign of how anything, especially in todays poltical climate, can be done tongue in cheek?

 

Part 2 of my monologue will continue after my dealings with the recommended individuals. Just one last thought; having read recently of the large increase in fraud due to the present economic climate, I was surprised to read the recorded crime figures for fraud and forgery were down 13%.

 

Like to know how it's done? All will be revealed during my stay on here and my saga with the FSO :D

 

I could tell you some stories about the F.O.S.. They are Just another part of the Establishment. :)

 

I might have something you would be interested in in a month or two Bankfodder. Very juicy.

Edited by renegotiation

What sort of world do you want your kids to grow up in?

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Now this is where it starts becoming a little like the X Files. I had a telephone call from the FOS telling me what he had instructed the Halifax to do. Then he asked did I want them to write ( to the Halifax) for the information or would I do it.

 

I said, in all honesty, having been played with by the Halifax for nearly a year I would prefer the FOS to do it. He said 'ok ring you back in 5 minutes'.

 

He rang me back as promised and said ' having spoke with my manager, he has informed me that we are not an information gathering service, and that you should write yourself'.

 

I should in all fairness have smelt a rat straight away. Then he gave me a list of points (of information) that had been agreed with the Halifax. I telephoned them immediately and they said they had agreed to this with the FOS.

 

Seven days later I telephoned the Halifax to ask where the information was. They then denied any knowledge or agreeing to anything with the FOS. I then telephoned the FOS, who said that after a meeting with management, they had decided that the Halifax had behaved in a reasonable manner.

 

I received that decision yesterday in writing. This was 14 days

after being told the complete opposite on the telephone

 

Anybody want to try and work that one out? You really couldn't make it up could you. Again, being polite, the word contradictory springs to mind

 

'Part of the establishment' is also extremely polite. The word disgrace is more apt.

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the FOS state they have NO POWERS to make the banks do anything, i.e. the bank is free to behave how it pleases. I've been told this and on questioning their powers via the FSMA 2000 and them being part of the FSA they said they're an independent company and no mention of any powers.

 

so what use are they? we're losing money (and a lot of time) because of their decisions.

 

as another example, through the FOS i recently agreed a refund of PPI and an extra £100 in compensation. The bank then wanted to pay £50 instead of the £100 and less on the PPI, FOS said up to you whether to accept or decline. My argument that we agreed the PPI and an extra £100 and that a decision by them is legally binding on the bank made no difference. In the end i took the offered PPI and £50 otherwise there would have been another long wait after nearly 2.5 years (August 2007 to Dec 2009). So i lost about £400 in this complaint.

Edited by tifo
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I have what is a shocking case in the pipeline. I am 'intending' to take the F.O.S. to court. I am sure this must be possible. I reiterate, this is a real shocker. If that started a trend they would be forced to behave.

What sort of world do you want your kids to grow up in?

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Having looked once again at FSO decision in relation to my case and outcome, it says tick box if you want to continue with your complaint. Is this the second stage of their process and mandatory or ???

 

Any suggestions please.

Edited by uaruman
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I could tell you some stories about the F.O.S.. They are Just another part of the Establishment. :)

 

I might have something you would be interested in in a month or two Bankfodder. Very juicy.

I'm all ears when you are ready. Email our admin address and I'll respond

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If a complaint has gone all the way to the Ombudsman, the only way to challenge their decision - i.e. whether or not your complaint is upheld - is to apply for a judicial review.

 

It's a couple of months since I looked into this so I may have details wrong, but here's the downside. A judicial review is held in the High Court, which only sits in 5 of the bigger cities, it's apparently impossible to get legal aid, you really do need a barrister in court, and if you lose you end up paying your own and the FOS' costs, and since whoever you complained about are likely to be there as an 'interested party', you have to pay their costs too.

 

So yes, you can challenge an FOS decision, but only if you're so rich you wouldn't have bothered complaining in the first place.

RMW

"If you want my parking space, please take my disability" Common car park sign in France.

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If a complaint has gone all the way to the Ombudsman, the only way to challenge their decision - i.e. whether or not your complaint is upheld - is to apply for a judicial review.

 

Where have you got this information from? Are you sure that this couldn't be looked at in a County Court? Are you sure you couldn't get legal aid? Thanks.

What sort of world do you want your kids to grow up in?

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I'm pretty sure the judicial review bit came either from their own website or somewhere on this forum. As for the rest, I probably started with Wikipedia and went from there. Probably also got some info from the Ministry of Justice website.

 

As I said, it was a couple of months ago - possibly about 6 - and my memory is c**p.

 

For Bankfodder - If anyone is doing a horror story on the FOS I have some info which they probably would like to hear.

RMW

"If you want my parking space, please take my disability" Common car park sign in France.

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I'm pretty sure the judicial review bit came either from their own website or somewhere on this forum. As for the rest, I probably started with Wikipedia and went from there. Probably also got some info from the Ministry of Justice website.

 

As I said, it was a couple of months ago - possibly about 6 - and my memory is c**p.

 

For Bankfodder - If anyone is doing a horror story on the FOS I have some info which they probably would like to hear.

 

They will obviously want any legal avenue to be as hard as possible. What is your opinion on all of this Bankfodder? It's definitely something we should be looking at I think. The F.O.S. has sunk to the depths where they see fit to ignore hard facts. Furthermore, do the banks 'really' pay £400-£500 a time for a complaint to be heard? Is that supposed to be after an initial verdict or only on those complaints that progress to an Ombudsman for a final decision?

Edited by renegotiation

What sort of world do you want your kids to grow up in?

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I think they get the first two or three complaints free but are then charged for all complaints that are investigated, i.e. that are within their jurisdiction/time limits etc.

RMW

"If you want my parking space, please take my disability" Common car park sign in France.

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do the banks 'really' pay £400-£500 a time for a complaint to be heard?

doubt this is the case otherwise they would have paid out almost 500 mil in 1 mill complaints so far...

you only need look at the report written by fos or was it fsa from 2007/2008 saying 65% of all claims were satisfied well that says it all mr merriks was really pleased he had left the organisation in good hands cobblers they are all pi**ing in same pot taking us all for mugs

patrickq1

my opinion only

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Had an update at the beginning of the week regarding the complaint now again progressing through the FOS system after a delay of 5 months whilst my complaint about delays was investigated.

 

It seems the respondent is not responding to their correspondence, so they've given them another four weeks to reply. Anything I'm required to respond to gives me a deadline or else chance to respond is gone. And the original complaint was ..... the respondent doesn't reply to correspondence!

RMW

"If you want my parking space, please take my disability" Common car park sign in France.

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you can only reply to the correspondance once the respondant replys to your correspandance in order for you to respond given that the fos have responded to your response you need to reply to the fos that no response from the correspondance has been forthcoming and you expect a more detailed response from the fos i think lol

is that being responsible or what hehe

patrickq1

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I'm dealing with the creditor in my own way. In the meantime I'm happy to let the FOS dig themselves into a hole so deep even the Independent Assessor has to agree that the delays have been entirely unreasonable.

RMW

"If you want my parking space, please take my disability" Common car park sign in France.

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