Citroen Main Dealer "Repair". Made car worse. Fault wasn't fixed.

[countofmontecarlo]

Hi all, and I thank you in advance of all advice given to me with a problem I have had with a repair I had done at a local Citroen Main Dealer Garage.

 

I owned a Citroen C4 (59 plate), bought in August 2013. 3 month warranty as it was 2nd hand, even thought I thought I had 3 year cover - that's another story.

 

I developed a faul with the car in late April 2014 and on th 7th of May took the Car to my local Citroen garage to sort out. They did a VHC - Vehicle Health Check/Diagnostics, and informed me that I needed a new EGR valve. I asked if it was a straightforward job, and the reply I received was that I'd be "in and out" within 2 hours. Turned up the next day at 8 am, and was to to come back at 10am. The car was operational, and drive-able at this point. I took it in as the Engine Management light came on and, it sometimes would "miss". I was quoted £305.48 for parts and labour (£146.65 in the end). I came back at 10am, and waited, and waited, and waited.

2pm. I get asked to have a chat with the Manager. They said that after installing the EGR valve, they took it on a test run, and, for some reason, the car developed a mind of its own and continued accelerating by itself. They advised me that they needed some more time to find out what had happened. They offered me a courtesy car, which I had no choice but to take. Almost daily for almost a week I had to phone for an update. At no point did they bother try calling myself. Then they asked if I could come down to the garage on the 14th of May.

The manager said that they weren't too sure what was wrong with the car, it could be an ECU replacement, but they weren't sure or the complete wiring loom. I asked if they could try the ECU? He stated, that they wouldnt be able to do so unless they charged me £450-£650 plus vat and labour. I said that was unfair, as the problem wasn't the ECU when I brought it in. He said, he couldn't guarantee that it even was the ECU and it was a chance I would have to take. If that didn't work, then the wiring loom would have to be replaced, and I was lookng at anything between £2300 to £4500 for that job. The car cost me £6k and had only done less thatn 50,000 miles. He said I could leave the car in their storage yard until I could get the money together, I told him I was exceptionally unhappy with the service and believed that this had arisen from whatever work they had carried out. I had no choice but to take the car home. It limped home and became unroadworthy or safe to drive since that date. Move forward a few months later, the manager never got back to me. I made a complain in writing. No response. I become ill, lose my job, miss payments on the car, and it gets repossessed. In the meantime I speak to their Head office, who said the new Manager would get in touch. I speak to him and he stated his boss is away for 2 weeks and he will get back to me as soon as he gets back with a resolution. 1 month goes by and I try calling again. Left a message with their reception. I miss his call, but he leaves a voicemail, which I still have a recording of. In the voicemail it states how apologetic he is for not getting back to me etc. I have a phone call the next day from him. He says that the only thing they could do was to bring the car in and "have another look at it maybe" - I explained to him the situation, he said that there was nothing he could really do then. I asked for a full refund, he said that he wasn't in a position to give me a refund. And here I am.

 

I believe that under Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 I have a good case of getting a refund from Citroen. But I have no idea how to go about it correctly. I am happy to take this all the way if I have to, and I am even contemplating contacting the car dealer who sole me the car under the the same Act maybe? I now owe a nightmare Motorfinance company thousands, completely out of pocket, had no car, and am beyond stressed, which doesn't help my illness.

 

Can you please assist? I want to put up a fight and get my money back from these pariahs.

 

Thanks

[Conniff]

This sounds a bit like a Hammy dealer. Can you say first off, what type of finance it was, ie loan or hire purchase ?

[countofmontecarlo]

This sounds a bit like a Hammy dealer. Can you say first off, what type of finance it was, ie loan or hire purchase ?

Hi Conniff, thank you ever so much for replying to me.

 

This was a Hire Purchase with Moneyway (yes.. I know), the car was purchased at the Trade Center Wales. I took it to the Citroen dealer, as i thought, "Citroen" would have been the best to know about the fault that I had.

 

In regards to the original RAC warranty, of which I have a signed agreed copy I found the other day. When I purchased the car they told me that the warranty was extra, and that the finance company wouldn't cover it maybe. Even though they made sign a document for it, and didnt sign anything to cancel it? Like I mentioned above, that is another story. I took the car back to the Trade Center Wales garage in the first month of having the car, under warranty (their 3 month warranty), as it had one a couple of timed 'dipped' and lost power. They said they did a test (using a canary probably) and said it was fine, but noted it on record anyway. Apparently. So who know, the trouble may have been since I had the car maybe, however, the initial repair at the Citroen main dealer resulted in me not having a drive able car, and a waste of over £500. I would like to do things officially and get some recorded delivery letters sent to the Citroen dealer, and I will take it to court if I have to, that's how strong I feel about all this. it left us in severe financial hardship, and the consequence of which we had to endure for months on end, and still now, I don't know where i stand with the finance company. It's a bit of a nightmare really.

Edited May 18, 2015 by countofmontecarlo

[scaniaman]

Feel so sorry for you as I got similar treatment from the Scottish Citroen dealer. What happens with Citroen is they stick their computer on a car and if it doesn't show up a fault, then no fault exists. If it does show a fault they TRY and rectify this according to the fault code. If this fails to cure the problem then tough luck pal. It would appear that citroen don't have mechanics experienced enough to find and rectify faults without a computer.

I am informed that the Citroen computer (even at factory level) cannot delve deep enough into problems and their mechanics may not be sufficiently trained to interpret computer read outs fully.

Your problem, as I see it, is that you should have informed HP company at an early stage as it is after all their car. They are duty bound to assist in repairing the car.

If £500 was paid by credit card or visa debit card, they may be able to assist in return of your cash---try, with some force, to get credit card provider to assist.

[countofmontecarlo]

Your problem, as I see it, is that you should have informed HP company at an early stage as it is after all their car. They are duty bound to assist in repairing the car.

If £500 was paid by credit card or visa debit card, they may be able to assist in return of your cash---try, with some force, to get credit card provider to assist.

 

That is definitely good to know, in regards to letting HP know, and I might keep it up my sleeve for a later date as I actually did mention it to them and the only response was 'is it still insured? We need an up to date copy of the insurance certificate'. Which I provided - and that was it.

In regards to the card, yes I did pay using a visa debit and shall get in touch with them today. Any ideas on what I need to say? Any terminology I need to use?

[Conniff]

On the finance side, how many payments did you miss and has there been any contact from them demanding a repair or other fees ?

[countofmontecarlo]

In regards to finance, i had not missed a payment for 7 months since th beginning of the HP, I believe (don't have the paper work in front of me - will do tomorrow to verify this figure) when the car went off the road, I couldn't travel to work, became ill, (have Ulcerative Colitis), then lost job, and have been off on sick since unfortunately.

 

When they sent "Albion" to collect, they ticked all the boxes stating that it was driv eable, and drove off. The car had its moment where it would be drive able for a few miles, other times it wouldn't start at all, and would think it was engaged in 3rd gear for some reason. One of a dozen plus faults that were a consequence of Citroen's Failure to diagnose and repair, that weren't there before. If the repo men drove off, and they were happy with it, when signing the paperwork over to me, then that is that. They could have driven back to the destination quite possibly, no issues, however, the likelihood of them trying to start the car again would be minimal. They would 100% would have encountered a fault notice flash up on the dash on the journey back, or trying to start it again.

 

I have not had any demands for repair, only a letter in December stating that i "was in arrears", an NOTHING since.

[Conniff]

Ok, so no bill for repairs from the finance company to worry about.

 

 

Now on to the professionalism and duty of care of the dealer. What paperwork do you have saying what has been done to the car ?

[countofmontecarlo]

Hi Conniff, in regards to the Citroen dealer who did the repair, this is what I have including a Debit Card receipt.

[countofmontecarlo]

postimg.org/image/4tlju2a7j/

[countofmontecarlo]

Can you confirm if you can view the above link?

[Conniff]

Yes, can read that ok.

 

 

Email the boss of Citroen UK [email protected] and see what he comes back with. Make sure you mention the dealer you used by name and address. (No spaces in the email address, the site puts that in).

[countofmontecarlo]

That is fantastic!

 

Thank you ever so much, I will keep you updated.

[countofmontecarlo]

So, email sent today at 2:45pm, and let's see what Mr Leclerc has to say about all this!

[scaniaman]

When you contact visa debit, ask for charge back. That is the return of moneys you paid. Memory evades me tonight but there is another term for asking CC company to get money refunded (some act I think.) Visa will ask for full details so have everything to hand.

Gee, another top man at Citroen!!!!!! They seem to change their senior executives more frequently than I change my shirt LOL. Not long since Linda Jackson got the top job, then there was a guy Peugeot. Makes you wonder?????

Very surprised HP company has not been chasing for shortfall in account.

[countofmontecarlo]

When you contact visa debit, ask for charge back. That is the return of moneys you paid. Memory evades me tonight but there is another term for asking CC company to get money refunded (some act I think.) Visa will ask for full details so have everything to hand.

Gee, another top man at Citroen!!!!!! They seem to change their senior executives more frequently than I change my shirt LOL. Not long since Linda Jackson got the top job, then there was a guy Peugeot. Makes you wonder?????

Very surprised HP company has not been chasing for shortfall in account.

 

I pulled this off the Halifax website

 

I want to make a claim under Section 75 of The Consumer Credit Act 1974, what should I do?

 

How we can help:

Section 75 of The Consumer credit Act 1974 gives credit card customers legal rights if they’ve paid for goods or services using their credit card. It applies when the total price of the goods or services is between £100 and £30,000 and all or part of the purchase price was made using a credit card.

 

If you’ve bought something using your credit card, the credit card issuer and the merchant may be equally liable for compensating you if things go wrong. For example if there's a breach of contract or misrepresentation by the merchant against you, you may be able to successfully claim a refund through us

 

To help, we’ll need:

We will need to show that the company has not complied with their legal obligations or has misled you. For all cases we will need the following documentation:

 

A full covering letter detailing the exact nature of your claim and what you have done so far to resolve it directly with the company.

A copy of your invoice, contract and terms and conditions – if available

A copy of all additional payments made to the company that are not on your credit card.

Depending on the circumstances of your claim we may also need any other supporting evidence which is related to the case. For example, evidence that the company is no longer trading, copies of warranties, photographic evidence etc

 

We recommend that you only send in photocopies of receipts and invoices.

 

I am also surprised with the HP company (moneyway) not making contact.

[Conniff]

Section 75 is for Credit Cards, there is no regulation for Debit Cards.

[countofmontecarlo]

Section 75 is for Credit Cards, there is no regulation for Debit Cards.

 

Even though Halifax state it on their website, that I can with a debit card? Is this misleading of them?

 

http://www.halifax.co.uk/bankaccounts/help-guidance/common-enquiries/disputes/

 

This is under the "Debit Card Disputes" tab on their website.

[Conniff]

That's 'chargeback' and is a system of refund set up by Visa but is does not come under section 75.

 

 

You apply in the same manner and they will do their checks before giving you an answer.

[countofmontecarlo]

Thanks, I've just done ym letter for Halifax, and am sending it out tomorrow.

[Hammy1962]

What, exactly, is a hammy dealer?

 

Pets 'R' Us maybe

 

Hammy

[countofmontecarlo]

What, exactly, is a hammy dealer?

 

Pets 'R' Us maybe

 

Hammy

 

So, I sent my email to Mr Leclerc at Citroen, what sort of timeline should I expect in obtaining a response, if ever I get one?

 

If not, what then? Any suggestions?

 

Thanks in advance once again, you've all been most helpful.

[scaniaman]

In a week to 10 days time you shall receive a reply from his office lassie, which will basically tell you, to and the second word is OFF>

[countofmontecarlo]

So, email sent today at 2:45pm, and let's see what Mr Leclerc has to say about all this!

 

Still no reply from Citroen, will give them a few more days, as I can only imagine that he must be swamped...

[Conniff]

It is bank holiday weekend. He's probably sunning himself on a Thompson holiday.