Evans Halshaw - COWBOYS!!!!

Harry223

Purchased a car from Evans Halshaw Stourbridge Peugeot. Within the warranty period I flagged a fault to them. I took the car in 3 times and each time and they either simply first ignored the fault, saying they could not hear it or locate it. So when I took them on a test drive the technician acknowledged the fault but when I then spoke to the service manager, he basically said there is no fault!
Put a complaint into the Dealer Principal (Lee Balfour) - it would take weeks, sometimes months to get a response from him! Eventually as I couldnt get a satisfactory response (I was basically getting 'politician' answers) I contacted the MD, whose PA apologised to me and then advised a different delaership to look at the issue.


Unfortunatley matters only got worse from here. This particular dealership (Car Store Birmingham) must have had my car atleast 10 times, sometimes they took my car and and gave it back with more faults (eg, on 2 occasions it came back with warning signs on the dashboard!). Eventually after many failed attempts they too could not solve the issue so they gave the car to Seat to fix.


Seat diagnosed 3 faults and the EH dealership advised they had commissioned Seat to fix all 3. This was a lie. They actually forged an invoice, apparently from Seat, showing they had fixed all 3! Seat actually only fixed one of the faults, the one which EH told them to fix as EH told them not to fix the other 2.



Eventually the regional director (Joe Hewkin) got involved and advised he will get Seat to fix all 3 faults. However I specifically advised him that one of the diagnoses from Seat (ie. the one fault that they fixed) was wrong as the fault was still there (this was a part that Car Store had also replaced) therefore Seat need to do a new diagnostic. What did Joe Hewkin do - he specifically told them to check that the part they fitted in the first time was correct!!



Got the car back and the fault is still there!! EH have said they will not deal with this issue anymore eventhough this was a fault flagged upto them within the warranty period. Seat have advised that as EH (and not myself) is their customer, they wont talk to me.

I have only summarised the events here but the experience I have had is much worse, everything is documented so they cannot refute anything (and they havent).



I eventually said I wanted to deal with EH's legal department but was advised that the only way to do this was if I went through arbitration. So I put together a detailed pack with all correspondence and evidence and sent it to arbitration. This has come to a halt as I have been advised that EH have simply said they do not want to participate anymore!


I have even contacted Gary Armstrong (MD of EH) - they are all the same, no one wants to take accountability.


I know that if I took the legal route then I have a very strong case as everything is documented (including EH admitting to all my claims) but I simply cannot afford this.


Please can anyone advise of anything else I can do????

Sandy75

It looks like the legal route is the next step. It may have the effect of jolting them into action beforehand but having your time in court may be the best option now.

DoaM

How did you pay for the vehicle? Was any of it on finance directly attributable to the purchase? (e.g. credit card - even for the deposit; finance loan, etc.). If yes then you can involve the finance company and raise a Section 75 claim.

The above assumes this is a normal purchase (e.g. HP / PCP / outright purchase), and not a PCH/lease arrangement.

As EH have had more than 1 attempt to make the goods conform to contract (Consumer Rights Act 2015) then you are within your rights to reject the vehicle for a refund. To do this you must stop using the vehicle immediately and return it to them.

EH can reduce the amount of refund to account for your time of ownership, but you can counter-claim if they try to be silly about it (e.g. 25% reduction ... you'll need to give us a timeline from purchase until now for us to estimate what a reasonable reduction might be).

bigstevex

Can't afford legal route, do you mean small claims/MCOL?



What's the actual fault?

Harry223

I paid for it via part exchange and the remainder via credit card.
I stopped using the credit card (ie. closed the account) pretty much immediatley as did a balance transfer.


can i still put in a claim?

Harry223

small claims? what is this?


when i do a full lock of the steering wheel it makes a noise. No one seems to know what the fault is, they (EH) have tried various fixes but fault remains

DoaM

Harry223 wrote: »

I paid for it via part exchange and the remainder via credit card.
I stopped using the credit card (ie. closed the account) pretty much immediatley as did a balance transfer.


can i still put in a claim?

I believe so, as the account was valid at the time of purchase.

DoaM

Harry223 wrote: »

small claims? what is this?

Google for MCOL

Harry223 wrote: »

when i do a full lock of the steering wheel it makes a noise. No one seems to know what the fault is, they (EH) have tried various fixes but fault remains

Is it like a knocking sound?

DavidFx

Harry223 wrote: »

when i do a full lock of the steering wheel it makes a noise.

Is the car moving or stationary?

Harry223

its like a dull sound when moving. not knocking or grinding.

Harry223

when the car is moving, but mainly when i do a 3 point turn