Stoneacre/ EMAC service plan issue

pippahall11

Hi all

I'm hoping someone can help me, I purchased a car from Stoneacre in January 2012. A few days after the purchase I had a call from Stonacre head office selling me the benefits of the service plan.

I was told it would cost me £18.27 for my first month then £18.18 every month after for 5 years to cover all the required services. I was told that I could cancel the plan at any point and receive a full refund. So I went on for the last year paying quite happily into this plan.

I had a full service in January 2013 and still continued to pay into the plan. Fast forward to January 2014, I had it booked in for it's 2nd service but ended up upgrading my car to a newer model so therfore I didn't need the plan anymore. I was advised from Stoneacre to contact EMAC for my full refund.

I emailed EMAC requesting to cancel the plan and ask for a refund, they advised me it would take 28 days to process, this didn't bother me I just thought it would be a nice bonus for this month. I had calculated I was due back around £230.00.

On Wednesday I received another email from EMAC stating that the amount of £161.95 would be refunded to my account in 3-5 working days. This meant they were underpaying me by about £70.00. I called EMAC to find out where the difference was to be advised that £18.00 is a cancellation fee (which is fine as it does state on the T&C's I received that a cancellation fee would be payable) and that £49.80 was a management fee paid to Stoneacre for setting up the plan.

EMAC advised me to speak to Stoneacre who sole me the plan to see about getting this fee back. I called Stoneacre's head office and got put through to the service department. The person I spoke to had never heard of a management fee.

I am so confused as when I purchased the plan over the phone I was never told about this management fee and now Stoneacre are denying knowledge of it and EMAC can't pay it back until Stoneacre email them to advise them to pay it back.

Sorry for the long post but I don't really know what my rights are and who to contact about this matter. I know its only £49.80 but I feel I have been ripped off becasue nowhere on my paperwork does it say anything about the management fee and Stoneacre say they know nothing.

Thanks for reading and hopefully somebody can help.

Ultrasonic

Out of interest, why didn't you want a similar plan for the new car, or was it simply non transferable?

flashg67

My cynical mind says management fee = commission paid to Stoneacre for setting up the plan.

I do wonder how these work in practice, and what amount the dealer actually get to service the car? My guess is that Emac pay Stoneacre either the full, or a large part of the 5 year amount upfront, less the 'fee', so any Emac refund will be minus that fee because Emac don't actually have that money anymore, which would explain your problem?

Edit - just a thought, have you checked the T&Cs for any mention of a deduction if the value of the services you've already had exceed the payments you have made? Unlikely if you've only had the first oil change service, but worth checking?

paren_tanna

Hi, did you manage to get to the bottom of this? I am stuck with the same situation except i didn't get any t&cs when i took the plan out. Sounds like one for watchdog to investigate. I was sold this plan by Toyota Marshall in Peterborough.