Great British Mobility (Mobility Rental Group) is in administration as of 12-FEB-2015

mrs_m_goldsmith

I have been attempting to read Mobility Rental Group (trading as Great British Mobility) to get my 2-year old riser-recliner serviced and to get the seat riser actuator repaired (still within warranty, I believe).

All the company listed phone numbers were not answering and the website was non-functional (not even a logo or maintenance screen). So finally, after a fortnight of looking, I finally contacted another company for a quote.

Meantime, I discovered that Mobility Rental Group Ltd (who took over, and then traded as, Great British Mobility) are now in administration. There is a news article on insidermedia_dot_com slash insider slash south-west slash 134387- slash

So, I have now contacted the administrators at Begbies Traynor to see what can be done about my chair.

So far, I've been quoted a few hundred pounds to fix the actuator -- that's *if* they can locate a matching part. If not, the chair will no longer rise and I will have to replace it. So I have written the administrators to explain that I may need to put forth a claim for either repair or replacement, as I believe my chair is still within warranty, and a replacement can run about £600 - £800 pounds.

Anyway, if anyone else on MSE has done business with this company, it may be a good idea to put forth any claims you have against the company for repair under warranty before they complete the administration.

-Mrs_MG :eek:

unholyangel

Did you use finance (either agreement or credit card) to purchase it?

Is the warranty insurance backed (ie underwritten) or a manufacturers warranty? Are the retailer and the manufacturer one and the same?

mrs_m_goldsmith

Yes, come to think of it, I did use my visa to purchase -- how does that help, though?

I'm digging up the original paperwork, so will have to get back on the warranty, but I don't believe that GBM actually made any of their own furniture. Again, will know more when I find the paperwork!

Cheers!

unholyangel

If it was a visa credit card and the item was over £100 (if you ordered more than 1 item, it would be price for individual item although if it came as a set, that would count as 1 item) then you have the exact same rights with the card company as you do (or did) the retailer. Also providing you didnt pay via a paypal (or third party) since that breaks the debtor > creditor > trader chain.

You may need to obtain an independent report to state the nature of the fault is inherent (that it was a design flaw/substandard component - basically that it wasn't misuse on your part) since its been more than 6 months from purchase though.

If your claim is rejected by the card company you can also then ask the financial ombudsman to review it - which I believe costs you nothing, but does cost the card company.

If you think your purchase meets the criteria, call your card issuer and ask them to issue the forms for a section 75 claim (a right you have under section 75 of the consumer credit act - it makes the creditor jointly and severally liable).

mrs_m_goldsmith

Right! I knew that once (a long time ago ;-) but had forgotten all about it. Good reminder, cheers! Also, only read about the PayPal "disconnect" re: Section 75 the other day, so appreciate the reminder about this as well.

The repair folks came by yesterday and it turns out not to be an inherent fault, just a breakdown from lots of use. They were able to source the part and it's only going to cost about £250 to fix (*phew*) including labour. We are now awaiting the part arrival and by the end of the month, it should be functional once again. My knees can't wait!!

Hopefully, this one will last another few years. This seems like a reasonable "maintenance cost" at this point. Oh, and I found the warranty, it was only for 12 months, so I wouldn't have gotten any joy there after all.

Next time, should we need to purchase another chair, we will probably go for something like the Celebrity riser-recliner. This comes with a 5 year warranty and is a lot less expensive.

All this leaves me wondering, though, how GBM and Mobility Rental managed to go out of business, considering the massive ££££ they were raking in. Oh well, another lesson learned!

Thanks for your help!

fleurette1

This company ripped my parents off - they cold called on two elderly frail people, coerced them into parting with £3000 for a bed which was 'made to measure' and was far too low. It also doesn't work - the mattresses don't stay in place.


They went into administration a few years ago, were refinanced and kept trading, so that gave them more money to keep going and keep fleecing people.


I doubt we could get £200 for this bed despite it never being used - they preyed on the vulnerable.