Quentin Willson and WarrantyWise

[Conniff]

There is a warranty company that tries to fool you into thinking they are different from the rest. Quentin Willson and WarrantyWise are feeding the public with rubbish in their advert trying to look as if they are the only good company in the business.

 

First off there is their claim "Welcome to the UK's best used car warranty". That could only be substantiated if they had all the sales, repair and denials figures of every other company offering car warranties, something they don't have, so first 'lets fool them statement'.

 

Second there is the claim "We're the only warranty company to publish our paid repairs online". Now that statement may be true, but the more important figures, the claims they 'deny' are not published and that is what we should all be told, that is the information that will tell us if they are worth the premiums or not.

 

What they pay out means absolutely nothing. So don't believe a single thing any of these companies feed you or which person they front thinking it will give them even more credibility, it's all rubbish.

[heliosuk]

Good post Conniff. If he actually knew anything about cars he might have some credence.

 

What makes me laugh though is the way it's portrayed as a warranty when it is not!!!

 

It's an insurance policy!!! Unlikely to pay out.

 

I'd love to go to a head to head with him as I'm sure you would do too.

 

Filters on here would kick in but anyone who believes this total merchant banker is one themselves!!!

[oddjobbob]

He must be short of a few quid I reckon...not been on TV in years, gave up on his car business as he thought he was going to be a big star...all gone wrong for him.

[dacouc]

It always amuses me when Quentin says in the advert that he personally wrote the policy.

 

I don't think so, it was written by specialist lawyers & underwriters.

 

He may have had some input in small parts of the policy but the wording and figures were done by experts

[Hammy1962]

One and only contribution....................................................

 

The blinkered, mis-guided CAG forum opinion of these types of policy has now unfortunately descended into outright abuse. I suspect that many of the posters on here have no direct connection with any dealers, franchised or not and that goes especially for the OP.

 

Those that do have daily contact with service departments will testify to the many times these types of policies do actually pay out in full and cover unexpected repair bills. Of course, the minority of times when they don't pay out appear on this very forum and have become the forum 'norm.

 

Heliosuk, I'm surprised at you supporting such a blinkered view. QW and the family Whittaker pride themselves in operating a fair and open WW organisation and have recently bought the heritage racing company Lister Cars. There is a solid heritage connection to JLR which I'm surprised you don't know about. No-one can fault your engineering expertise, but....

 

I wouldn't say I'm a fan of this type of insurance but they fill a hole in the market which, as a business, needed to be filled. So called 'experts' on here are able to give a general opinion on many of the posts, but as Heliosuk well knows, we can count true experts on just two fingers.

 

QW, 'He must be short of a few quid I reckon...not been on TV in years, gave up on his car business as he thought he was going to be a big star...all gone wrong for him. (But he now part owns a heritage racing company!!!!!!!) Not bad I'd say. Again, the postings of someone that does not actually know what is going on.

 

As for Bankers, I've been called worse.

 

H

[obiter dictum]

I would think to be honest quite a few posters on this forum have a direct connection with these Micky Mouse warranty products

 

I am talking of buying cars through these sub prime finance providers

 

Most of the vehicles provided are straight from auction and are lemons. The borrower is sold useless warranty products at vastly inflated prices with so many get out clauses

Edited September 1, 2015 by Andyorch
Removed name.

[Hammy1962]

My point, perfectly illustrated above.

 

H

[heliosuk]

I wouldn't disagree with many of your points Hammy but what gets me about many of these so called "warranty" policies is that they are not. They are purely and simply insurance against a mechanical failure. The issue comes to wear and tear items. It's all about risk, not fairness. What tends to happen in my similar experience to yours is that the insurer hides behind wear and tear, does not cover investigation and employs muppets who are not qualified to give an expert opinion as to the root cause of failure yet the policy is against failure.

The fact that they advertise how much they have paid out is good but they don't advertise what they haven't or the amount they take in what is effectively a premium.

 

In terms of customer perception, QW is just a front man who allegedly knows about cars and was most probably paid for what he did. The ad would have far more credibility if for instance you, myself or Conniff did it as engineers and that the true picture was explained.

 

Neither am I deriding what the "family" ownership contribute towards the British Motor Industry heritage. You only have to look at an Indian company and what they did in 3 years which a major British, German and American company failed to do over two decades and again that is a listed family company.

 

All the posts so far have been good, constructive and interesting but lets not lose sight of the fact this is a TV personality advertising/endorsing a questionable product. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn't.

 

It does need regulating as is no different like all insurance companies and underwriters backing a losing horse and calling foul.

[obiter dictum]

Just a sore point

 

I lost all respect for Quentin after he just faded away after getting mass support over the price of fuel and the fuel demonstrations. People really respected him thinking he was sticking up for the motorist being ripped off

 

Peoples perceptions were that he was "Paid off" as to why he just vanished from publicity, as did the fuel protest without his participation

[Hammy1962]

Again, Heliosuk, the fact that you call independent engineers 'Muppets' is a disappointing generalisation. I know personally some very experienced and highly qualified independents, some of whom do work for 'Warranty' company's or whatever you want to call them.

 

A previous point was that the warranty company pays for these inspections and so whoever is doing the 'independent' inspection must be biased to the company. A pretty damming slur on a 'Professional', from another 'Professional'. Can you imagine the CAG outcry if the warranty company didn't pay for the inspection and the end user had to foot the bill to ascertain who was liable.

 

I know, because I asked, what proportion of inspections are passed and those that fail and why. However, this is commercially sensitive information and not for misguided amateurs on a public forum, retired or not.

 

H

[obiter dictum]

My once local so called highly trained Vauxhall main dealer engineers are all ex Kwik- Fit employees. (That is in England)

Edited September 2, 2015 by Andyorch
Irrelevant to thread

[Conniff]

It's not blinkered Hammy, it is what the advert is claiming that my post is about. As for qualifications, you know what my qualifications are.

 

Vodafone have been sanctioned on one of there adverts for saying virtually the same thing in their adverts:

 

Hutchison 3G UK Ltd, trading as Three, challenged whether the following claims were misleading and could be substantiated:

 

1. "we're unbeatable at connecting your calls" and similar claims in ads (a) and (b); and

 

2. "unbeatable at keeping your calls connected" in ad (b).

 

CAP Code (Edition 12)

 

The complaint by Three was upheld and they have been told they cannot show that advert again with those claims in them.

 

You need to be able to substantiate claims like that and WW haven't.

Edited September 2, 2015 by Conniff

[Hammy1962]

Are Kwik - Fit employee's not allowed career progression?. Maybe they just wanted to better themselves and a move to a franchised dealer would be a good way of doing that as the franchise would have access to the relevant brands training.

 

Or does having Kwik - Fit on your CV mean that you cannot work anywhere else, ever.

 

Why does it matter where it is.

 

H

[Conniff]

I don't see where Kwik-Fit comes into warranty advertising claims ?

[obiter dictum]

The term saying these warranty engineers are highly qualified is subjective to your own point of view

[Hammy1962]

And where, exactly, has anyone used the term 'warranty engineers' ?

 

H

[obiter dictum]

"Again, Heliosuk, the fact that you call independent engineers 'Muppets' is a disappointing generalisation. I know personally some very experienced and highly qualified independents, some of whom do work for 'Warranty' company's or whatever you want to call them

[Hammy1962]

Please read the post again.

 

For the laypeople, and those on here who are clearly not experts, the engineers are 'Independent'. Not warranty. They work for all manner of organisations, public, private, legal. Most, if not all, are qualified, some have a lot more qualifications and could be described as highly qualified.

 

This is neither subjective, nor a point of view.

 

I'm an engineer, some would say highly qualified, not an English Teacher. Although I am English.......................................... oh, never mind.

 

H

[heliosuk]

I hear what you're saying Hammy but I have yet to witness one of these so called highly qualified engineers doing a thorough inspection to determine root cause of the failure. In fact here are some of the statements I have personally witnessed when some of these so called engineers who you are at pains to endorse have made:

 

On the inspection of a failed auto box with a known failure mode, " can ŷou point out the 1st, 2nd and 3,rd clutches for me."

"The oil smells funny"....

 

On the inspection of a seized engine:

That journal doesn't look the same as the others, do you think this one might have caused the failure in the others.

 

On an RAC pre sale inspection

Can you point out the sump to me?

 

These are just a few of many and you wonder why I call them muppets?

 

In determining an insurance premium the underwriters take into account many facts but as you point out much warranty information is commercially sensitive so it's nigh on impossible to work out a proper premium and then when the customer comes to complain it's all hidden in the small print under fair wear and tear.

[scaniaman]

Gee, you guys have got Hammy on his high horse LOL.

Hammy, your counting seems a little astray when you state there are only two experts on this site. I know of two, plus myself, so that's three at least.

 

Now I can give you first hand info on a warranty company. Firstly, they will not pay for investigative work eg: diagnostic check. (but why do fully experienced mechanics need a computer???). When it comes to electrical faults like mine, the time spent on tracing the fault can be far greater than the time required to correct the fault, so what's the point in having a warranty if it doesn't cover the whole cost.? When speaking to these people, their terminology is always "IF" we pay out.

 

They look round to find the garages with the lowest hourly rate and not the ones with best expertise. In my case they sent me to the bottom of the local garage pile. I refused to allow them to examine the car without a Lexia computer, same as makers. Even with the correct computer, it is doubtful if any fault codes will come up---at least they admit this.

 

What really annoys me is that manufacturers are using these insurance companies to provide warranty cover on used cars their franchise holders sell.

 

Also annoying is the fact that these "specialist" garages don't employ a sparkie but send all electrical work out to local auto electrician--then pay him sweety money.

 

Will keep you updated on my claim.

Edited September 4, 2015 by citizenB
spacing for easier reading

[Hammy1962]

I sat down and wrote a lovely, long response to your post.

 

Then deleted it.

 

Over and out.

 

HHH

[scaniaman]

It may be difficult to give Quentin any credibility over this advert, or vice versa, but that lanky bugzer the BBC sacked would have been more in keeping with the calibre of Warranty Wise

[Hammy1962]

It always amuses me when Quentin says in the advert that he personally wrote the policy.

 

I don't think so, it was written by specialist lawyers & underwriters.

 

He may have had some input in small parts of the policy but the wording and figures were done by experts

 

I actually saw the advert tonight for the first time and I'm afraid to say QW does not say he personally 'wrote' the policy. He actually says he 'designed' the policy. Which is a long way from writing it.

 

If the forum is to continue to allow personal criticism of celebrities then posters must try harder to quote said celebrities more accurately.

 

H

[Conniff]

More clever use of words to fool the public.

 

Celebrity actually means 'solemn ceremony', so a rather apt name for the lot of them I think.

[obiter dictum]

A lot of "Has Been" celebrities now appear on daytime tv

 

They are trying to flog us anything from life insurance to funeral plans

 

I suppose it was only natural for Quentin to try and flog us car warranties

 

I wonder what Clarkson will try and flog us in a few years??