Arnold Clark Warranty....Or Not

sco0ter

I just recently purchased a 9 month old Vauxhall Meriva from Arnold Clark. I paid £295 for an extended Network Q warranty as well. My vehicle had over 12 faults with it that resulted in steering having to be replaced and facia and brake problems. I then checked with Network Q and asked to return the car under the 30 day exchange program. I was told this was fine and they would take note and contact Arnold Clark to let them know I had requested this. I was then told by the sales manager that my car was not network Q and should never have had the warranty and I cant exchange the car.

The branch Manager did however state to Trading Standards that my car WAS a Network Q vehicle. After another wrangle I was told by the sales manager that my car was NOT Network Q and should NOT have had the warranty. I was offered to keep the warranty as a sign of goodwill but no car exchange.

Contacted customer services who said the Network Q warranty does not include the 30 day car exchange. When I told them that there is no statement of this being excluded and nothing in the terms of sale they just said they wouldnt accept the car back. I then asked them just to clarify and send written proof that they would honour the Network Q warranty for a non Network Q car, they said they wouldnt take the car back (again). I have now sent another letter to try and resolve this but my advice would be to anyone that if they have any questions about thier warranty to check.

My mother in law has a Netwok Q warranty on her used car and had to pay for repairs to her handbrake that should have been covered under the warranty, but as the Network Q warranty doesnt apply to non network Q cars they charged her.

It just seems that Arnold Clark make things up as they go along.

So a quick recap.

1. Bought car and had faults
2. Told by sales manager Car not covered by Network Q warranty as not Network Q car
3. Trading Standards told by manager car IS network Q car.
4 Told again by sales manager car not Network Q and not covered by warranty but they will let me keep it
5. Asked for proof of car covered by warranty....none arrives.
6. Contact customer services and told them situation and they deny any wrong doing.
7. Contact customer services again to ask exactly whats covered in my warranty and do I get the full coverage now, they said they wont take vehicle back.
8. Told them I dont want them to take vehicle back I just want to know if my car has a warranty, again told they wont take the vehicle back.
9. Waiting for reply to warranty question again

Sorry for the long rant but these people have lied to me and gotten away with it and I still dont know if my car is covered or not

. By the way this was from Arnold Clark at the Pheonix centre in paisley and I didnt know if I should or could print any of the other parties names so people could avoid dealing with them.

chrisw

I have heard several horror stories about them. At one time there were loads of websites dedicated to the problems with them, but I think most got closed down. Here's one still running:

http://www.arnoldclark.worldonline.co.uk/

buybee

i also bought a car from them and had similar problems. after two months of headaches with them we took the car to another arnold clark branch and traded in.. we even got a good deal for it. good to know they were left with the problems that now had to be fixed.

poppy_f1

have to say i've bought 2 cars from arnold clarks and never had a problem with them, although i never bothered with the extended warrantys and to be fair to them they were really helpful with me

foolsgold99

Arnold Clark is terrible!!! Salesmen are crooks and the workshops are rip off merchants. stay well clear.

jtec25

Another warning for any potential arnold clark customer!

I bought a 2006 saab 9-3 from arnold clark about 7 months ago and paid £500 for extended warranty, when i recived the car i noticed a few faults,

1. Rattle from exhaust
2. Wheel bearing very noisey (two back ones)
3. One of the front head lights not level (pointing to the ground)

I took car back a few days later to have faults fixed then recived a call the same day saying it was all fixed, not one single thing was fixed, called them back and they said they tightened full exhaust and couldn't find any fault with bearings or lights. To cut a very long story short i had to constantly fight to have these jobs seen to and after no less than 5 times in at the garage they finally fixed original faults that i inhearited from buying car.

I was just glad it was now fixed and didn't need to go back in but a few months later the turbo started making a really loud squeling noise so again i handed it in a few times and each time was told there was nothing wong with it, which i found totally unbelivable that a noise like this was normal!
Anyway on a trip down south with the car the turbo blew up and sucked oil right through the engine and exhaust, i was very angry as i had warned them on 3 occasions that this was not right but was just glad i had warranty cover.

Arnold clark once again had me in total shock when i recived the phone call saying my warranty only covers up to £2000 per visit and the bill to fix car was going to be £3700 so I had to pay the difference!!

When i asked why £3700 when i had an independant quoet from a saab garage for £1300 for a new turbo supplied and fitted, there reply was "yes but that was before YOU sucked oil trough the engine!! I argued my case that i had it in too them with a faulty turbo three times (the last a week before it packed in) and it was ok'd by there mechanics, but they were having none of it, they wanted £1700 before they'd fix it.

I went to a lawyer and they took all my information then sent clark a letter informing them i was taking them to court over the warranty dispute.

3 days later i recived a letter from clark informing me all repairs and costs will be covered by them!


So people unless you are prepared for alot of phone calls, alot of arguments, frustration and lawyers bills just to get a service you already paid for stay well clear of these CROOKS!

Arnold_Clark_Victim

After reading the 100's and 100's of complaints about Arnold Clark I think we should all join together and make a stand against them. We will have more power together!

It doesn't matter if you no longer deal with Arnold Clark, you can help by telling us your story. I am personally still having problems but I will not let them get away with this.

Anyone interested?

happysoul

I had a problem with the electrics and I was told it would cost me but I said it was still under warranty the receptionist said it would cost me £60 for them to check whether the fault was covered by the warranty. If not I was going to be charged £60 plus whatever the cost of the repair was. Not a happy bunny so I took it to my local garage who done the repair that day and charged me £58. Would not go near Arnold Clark (Paisley) for another car. The receptionist at the garage when I took it for its first sevice looked as if I was more of an inconvenience than a paying customer. In saying that my car was recalled last year but I took it to the Arnold Clark in Garscube Road and they were fine. But then they recalled my car. So annoying to get ripped off surely something can be done about this.

ElaineThom

My son spent eight thousand pounds on a car from Arnold Clark Penrith, within he took it in for a service to be told it needed a new steering rack. After a lot of telephone calls they said this was half paid for by his extra warranty he paid for and half as good will by the manager. They said it had a cracked alloy that we had to fix ourselves and something wrong with the wishbones.
A month later he took it for new tyres as they were scrubbed clean on the front. The tyre services couldnt track the vehicle as the bushes were hanging out. He took it back in to AC to be told it needed six hundred and twenty pounds of repairs and none were covered by the FULL warranty. I complained and asked for the manager who told downright lies, I was intimidated by three people standing facing me saying it was your word against ours that he wasnt told about these faults a month earlier. They took the car into their workshop and gave us a bill of health saying it was safe and fit for the road but needed these jobs done sometime in the future.
After contacting Trading Standards I have given up on AC and took the car to an independent garage for an estimate who took the car off the road as the drive shaft was held on with one bolt and was bent! as well as the other jobs and more that AC had pointed out. I sent a letter to the finance company stating we want payment within 7 days of receipt of the letter and quoting the Supply of Goods (Implied Terms) Act 1973. Which basically gives 6 months after purchase to have all repairs rectified at their expense because they were present at the time of purchase and its up to them to prove otherwise. I've got proof of receipt today so I'll see what happens but the should know where they stand. AC know that if you bought it on HP they are not liable for the repairs as technically you didnt buy from them but they sold it to the HP and they supplied you with the car.
The manager at one point offered me an inspection of the car with him and two engineers in their workshop. Which turned out to be not allowed when I said i would take a vehicle examiner with me! They said no one from the motor trade allowed and it wasnt! They wanted to know who it was and I gave them the choice of police examiner, VOSA or an examiner from my work. We are private collision investigators. None of those were allowed.
A friend of mine went to ask the mechanic what was going on who told him the mechanic who put the steering rack in had not tracked it and there was very little wrong with it apart from that... three days after it was taken off the road because it was a death trap.

The worst thing is they are so rude and arrogant and intimidating. Trying to belittle the customers who keep them in a job. Well it wont work with me!

There is a facebook group called arnold clark suck and many more sites like this with bad feedback for the company. When is something going to be done about them and when are people going to be warned? This is the second biggest investment for most people, sometimes the biggest. Especially for young men like my son! They could have killed him! I think their behaviour is outrageous and they are trying to goad people into a reaction so they can be quite rightly put out of the garage... My advice is to keep cool and go to Trading standards and find out where you stand and ask what to do.

ElaineThom

Arnold_Clark_Victim wrote: »

After reading the 100's and 100's of complaints about Arnold Clark I think we should all join together and make a stand against them. We will have more power together!

It doesn't matter if you no longer deal with Arnold Clark, you can help by telling us your story. I am personally still having problems but I will not let them get away with this.

Anyone interested?

I'm very interested!! I've posted and started a facebook group but something more needs to be done.

Any ideas?

ElaineThom

There are a couple of facebook groups, one is Arnold Clark Suck and another is I hate Arnold Clark. for all the good they do ... I know but what more can I (we) do?