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Urgent help needed with ARNOLD CLARK - horrendous company!
brendenconnolly
Posts: 21 Forumite
in Motoring
Hi, I wonder if anyone is able to help me make sense here on whether we have any case against Arnold Clark, in light of our recent unpleasant experiences with this dreadful company.
On 17th July 2013 my Mum went to the Bishopbriggs branch, and spoke to a salesman (I better not name him), about buying a new Dacia Sandero.(She has bad taste lol) Having gone through all the details, and explained that there was a 3 month or more wait for the vehicle, she decided to go ahead and order one. The finance was all approved by Santandericon, she paid her deposit, signed the paperwork and all that was left was to await a phone callicon to say the car has arrived.
On 13th November, she received a call from her salesman to say her car would be available for collection on 20th November, and that all was ok. My Mother then arranged with her current finance company to do an early termination agreement on her current car, and return it to them under the terms of that on 20th November.
On 19th November she received another call from the salesman at Arnold Clark. They had just realised the agreement was made 3 months ago, and as such Santander required them to re-propose the business. We were surprised at this, since it was all signed and sealed, however they went ahead, and Santander, for reasons known only to them, declined the application.
They then went ahead, without permission, and proposed her business to another 5 finance companies, without asking permission, discussing terms, or referring to my Mum in any way - the multiple searches led to multiple declines, and her credit score has reduced as a result of this where credit is now going to be more expensive for her because of the impact of these unauthorised searches of her credit file. This deplorable tactic just stinks of a desperate salesman, but the consequences don't affect him. Or Arnold Clark.
Having spoken to Santander, it seems they have done nothing wrong. The terms of their commercial agreement with Arnold Clark stipulates that where a customer waits more than 3 months for a vehicle, the finance will need to be re submitted, but that customers expecting such a delay should be clearly informed at the point of sale. Nothing of any of this was mentioned.
My Mum is the sole carer for her elderly mother in law, who has Alzheimers and mobility problems, and relies on the car. She works for an NHS out of hours service inaccessible to public transport, and her car is essential for that. What they are causing her to do is incur considerable expense to rent a car, in order to go about her daily life, while sorting out car finance separate to any dealership, and then finds another car to buy, from anywhere other than Arnold Clark.
I spoke to the salesman. He accepts no liability.He was not interested in even speaking. I have spoken to his sales manager and e-mailed him a complaint. He has not answered, and will not take calls from me now, or return calls. On the one occasion I spoke to him, he said he was going to try and arrange a hire car at their expense, but now he will not even communicate. I have spoken to their customer services, who have asked me to e- mail them. I have e-mailed the OFT and spoken to the FCA but still cannot find out if there is any actual legal wrongdoing here that they can be pursued for, it's very difficult.
It boils down to the fact that they withheld vital information about a financial product they sold, which has resulted in expense and inconvenience, or have they?
On 17th July 2013 my Mum went to the Bishopbriggs branch, and spoke to a salesman (I better not name him), about buying a new Dacia Sandero.(She has bad taste lol) Having gone through all the details, and explained that there was a 3 month or more wait for the vehicle, she decided to go ahead and order one. The finance was all approved by Santandericon, she paid her deposit, signed the paperwork and all that was left was to await a phone callicon to say the car has arrived.
On 13th November, she received a call from her salesman to say her car would be available for collection on 20th November, and that all was ok. My Mother then arranged with her current finance company to do an early termination agreement on her current car, and return it to them under the terms of that on 20th November.
On 19th November she received another call from the salesman at Arnold Clark. They had just realised the agreement was made 3 months ago, and as such Santander required them to re-propose the business. We were surprised at this, since it was all signed and sealed, however they went ahead, and Santander, for reasons known only to them, declined the application.
They then went ahead, without permission, and proposed her business to another 5 finance companies, without asking permission, discussing terms, or referring to my Mum in any way - the multiple searches led to multiple declines, and her credit score has reduced as a result of this where credit is now going to be more expensive for her because of the impact of these unauthorised searches of her credit file. This deplorable tactic just stinks of a desperate salesman, but the consequences don't affect him. Or Arnold Clark.
Having spoken to Santander, it seems they have done nothing wrong. The terms of their commercial agreement with Arnold Clark stipulates that where a customer waits more than 3 months for a vehicle, the finance will need to be re submitted, but that customers expecting such a delay should be clearly informed at the point of sale. Nothing of any of this was mentioned.
My Mum is the sole carer for her elderly mother in law, who has Alzheimers and mobility problems, and relies on the car. She works for an NHS out of hours service inaccessible to public transport, and her car is essential for that. What they are causing her to do is incur considerable expense to rent a car, in order to go about her daily life, while sorting out car finance separate to any dealership, and then finds another car to buy, from anywhere other than Arnold Clark.
I spoke to the salesman. He accepts no liability.He was not interested in even speaking. I have spoken to his sales manager and e-mailed him a complaint. He has not answered, and will not take calls from me now, or return calls. On the one occasion I spoke to him, he said he was going to try and arrange a hire car at their expense, but now he will not even communicate. I have spoken to their customer services, who have asked me to e- mail them. I have e-mailed the OFT and spoken to the FCA but still cannot find out if there is any actual legal wrongdoing here that they can be pursued for, it's very difficult.
It boils down to the fact that they withheld vital information about a financial product they sold, which has resulted in expense and inconvenience, or have they?
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Comments
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A few searches for car finance are unlikely to affect the access to or ability to get credit. The "scores" are meaningless.0
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A few searches for car finance are unlikely to affect the access to or ability to get credit. The "scores" are meaningless.
That's not the information I've had from Credit Expert, and Checkmyfile - in any case, they have no right to perform multiple searches with every lender on their panel in a desperate attempt at avoiding their error and securing the sale, without reference to the customer, or discussing the terms offered by alternative lenders - surely that's not allowed. And this is only one aspect of the whole unfortunate incident.0 -
I assume CreditExpert charged you for the score?brendenconnolly wrote: »That's not the information I've had from Credit Expert, and Checkmyfile - in any case, they have no right to perform multiple searches with every lender on their panel in a desperate attempt at avoiding their error and securing the sale, without reference to the customer, or discussing the terms offered by alternative lenders - surely that's not allowed. And this is only one aspect of the whole unfortunate incident.0 -
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brendenconnolly wrote: »That's not the information I've had from Credit Expert, and Checkmyfile
They would say that, wouldn't they."Retail is for suckers"
Cosmo Kramer0 -
Just to chime in on the checks. Were they checks or applications. This is an important point because checks are done on your file all the time by various people (just get an insurance quote from one of the comparison sites and see the number of checks done soar) whereas actual applications are what dent the score. If the other companies are simply a check, then no harm has been done at all.0
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brendenconnolly wrote: »My Mum is the sole carer for her elderly mother in law, who has Alzheimers and mobility problems,
Who is driving Mother In laws Mobility car ?Be happy...;)0 -
To me, to go from accepted to declined by multiple lenders in 3 months rings alarm bells. Much more than the affect of a couple of searches. After all, the first few searches would have only showed one or two rather than the 5.
Can she arrange to keep her current car?
Can she look at local car hire companies who can do medium term rentals with her using her own insurance? This will bring down the cost of typical car hire drastically.0 -
spacey2012 wrote: »Who is driving Mother In laws Mobility car ?
Not that its relevant, but probably ops mum whom is also choosing the car0 -
spacey2012 wrote: »Who is driving Mother In laws Mobility car ?
Doesn't say she has one.
But, as the OP's mother would use the car for her own work a Motability car wouldn't help because it would used without the beneficary/for their benefit which isn't allowed.What if there was no such thing as a rhetorical question?0
This discussion has been closed.
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