Volkswagen Financial Sevices - shambolic

Andy665

My 24 month lease agreement was settled early with Volkswagen Financial Services on 6th March with the vehicle being confirmed as being collected on 26th March.
On 21st March I received a "Notice of arrears" letter from them - on calling them they advised this was automatically sent and I should ignore it - they guaranteed that no default notice would be placed on my credit file.
The vehicle was not collected as confirmed on 26th March and despite many attempts to contact them it has still not been collected - I appreciate there would be delays due to the lockdown but no information is forthcoming from them at all.
On 13th April I received another "notice of arrears" letter - again I called and was advised that my account was settled in full, there was nothing owed and that no default notice would be applied.
On 8th May a default notice WAS applied to my credit file - on calling them they stated that whilst my account was settled in full and nothing was owed the account cannot be closed until they have collected the vehicle - they could give no indication when this would be.
I requested that the default notice be removed immediately - they stated this would not be possible due to their "systems" and that the default notice would remain in place until the vehicle had been collected by them.
How can this be deemed acceptable business practice - I have settled my account in full, they acknowledge that it is settled, they know I have not defaulted, they know they have placed a default notice on my credit file but they refuse to remove it until they have collected their car which is sat on my drive awaiting collection.
I know a good few people are in the same position as me who have agreements with Volkswagen Financial Services (which also covers Seat, Skoda, Audi, Porsche and Bentley).
I have raised an internal complaint and will be raising a complaint with the FCA but is their anything else I can do - I have a good credit rating and do not appreciate a default notice being applied, irrespective of the fact that I know it will be removed eventually

eskbanker

Andy665 said:

I have raised an internal complaint and will be raising a complaint with the FCA but is their anything else I can do

You could also report them to the ICO, as their practices would appear to be in breach of their obligations under the Data Protection Act (which requires them to store and process your personal data accurately, etc).  Unlikely that any of these will make much difference to your situation but may help others in future....

[Deleted User]

In practical terms no, given the current situation and timelines.

Once the vehicle is collected, ensure everything is tidied up and perhaps ask for a goodwill gesture.

Don't raise a complaint with the FCA as they'll just bin it. Send it to FOS.