HP Contract dispute with VW

Grumpy_chap

I am still struggling to understand.

• The OP acquired a car on HP (though it sounds more like PCP given the £6k final payment at the end of 4 years).
• OP - please confirm PCP or HP?
• There was some kerfuffle at the outset because of confusion over whether the car would be 60 bhp or 75 bhp.  This was sorted, so the OP received the car with the larger engine at the agreed price.
• At the end of the four-year term, the OP decided to check the paperwork and found a discrepancy which was, frankly, inconsequential to the OP.  Unclear why the OP had not checked the paperwork far earlier in the term, especially given the initial kerfuffle.  
• The discrepancy in the paperwork was that the OP received the 75 bhp car but was recorded as having the 60 bhp car.  Meanwhile a little old lady had received the 60 bhp car even though she paid for the 75 bhp car in cash.  BUT this was a paperwork discrepancy only as far as the OP was concerned - the OP paid agreed price and received the 75 bhp car.
• Why did VW even share this information about the little old lady?  Breach of GDPR?  Why is the victim always a little old lady?  There are many other people that buy cars outright cash.
• The OP challenged the need to return the car or pay the balloon payment at the end of the 4-year term.  That was last June.  
• Where was the car from last June until now?  I can't imagine that VW just allowed the car to be kept and used by the OP while the issue was processed through the ombudsman.
• A year later, the ombudsman has found in favour of the OP and compensation to the OP is that the OP keeps the car and the outstanding balance of £6k is written off.  Given the error was really just an admin thing and the practical impact to the OP was nil so far as I can tell, compensation to the tune of £6k is disproportionate.  
• The person who really lost out in this is the little old lady and, if anyone is due compensation, it would seem to be her.  I assume that the financial ombudsman would have looked at the whole scenario in their assessment.
• It is not clear why VW should be "down" by £6k on this.

AdrianC

I rather suspect the OP is going to receive a demand from VW for the outstanding balloon at some point in the near future. And it WILL be enforceable, through the courts if need be.

Returning the car in full settlement will not be an option, either, as the debt will not depreciate while the car will.

hilly2020

There does seem to be a lot of confusion here, ill do my best to explain.

I had a balloon HP agreement with VW, it was only at the end of the HP agreement that the fraud committed by VW came apparent, when I say fraud by VW, I mean fraud by a VW car salesperson, who offered me a deal that was never available and they lied to me telling me I was getting a car I wasn't getting so I would sign the paperwork.
Only when I was considering my options at the end of my agreement I discovered the fraud. I was speaking and writing to VW for over a year for them to clarify what had happened.
During this time they impacted my credit report, even though I was in dispute trying to come to a solution and I was getting passed from pillar to post to different departments to deal with the situation. After a year of frustration with VW I then approached the ombudsmen with all the facts, the ombudsmen told me they can only deal in facts and not opinions or hearsay and if my facts stood up against what VW was saying he would proceed with my case.
After VW read the ombudsmen report and looked at the facts of the case they then found in favour of me and sent me a letter stating I no longer have a financial commitment with VW, they also rectified the mistake on my credit file.

So there will be no demand for a balloon payment off VW as already stated, which is a result of the ombudsmen report.

But thanks for your opinion anyway,

All the best 

born_again

What is the ombudsmen Decision Reference Number?
As they are available for all to view online?

As it would be interesting to see what they had to say. 

Jenni_D

born_again said:

What is the ombudsmen Decision Reference Number?
As they are available for all to view online?

As it would be interesting to see what they had to say. 

Do these online reports identify the individual? If yes then the OP may not wish for their forum and real identities to be so easily matched.

Grumpy_chap

Thank you for explaining OP.  I think I now understand what has happened, but the why is very confusing in what we can all acknowledge is a very exceptional case.  As I understand it:

• You were offered a VW Polo XYZ 75 bhp car in return for £A deposit plus 48 months at £B per month plus £6k balloon payment.
• There was some delay and frustration, but you were provided with the VW Polo XYZ 75 bhp car
• You made payments of the £A deposit plus 48 months at £B per month
• When you reached the end of the 48-months and the balloon payment of £6k was due (or return the car), you noticed a discrepancy in the paperwork, but that was only really some incorrectly entered numbers which are of no consequence in the daily ownership or use of the vehicle.
• There is some tale about the incorrect car, and the lower-powered car given to an old lady etc. etc. None of which is verified and unsure why VW would share that information if, indeed, it was fraud.  
• If there was such a fraud, the victim is the little old lady, and she is one the one who should be compensated.  Even then, her loss is not £6k but the marginal difference in purchase price between the 75 bhp car she paid for and the 60 bhp car she apparently received.  A difference of around £1k, not £6k.
• I assume that if the FOS became aware of such a fraud event, they would ensure that the victim of the fraud was appropriately compensated for the loss they suffered or could have suffered.
• If the tale is correct, and the fraud all happened as described, you still suffered no loss.  For all intents and purposes, the incorrect numbers on the paperwork were only an admin error in so far as there is any effect upon yourself, yet you are now "up" by £6k as you have not made the balloon payment.  Why would the ombudsman award you £6k, but not address the issue for the little old lady and leave VW £6k down?
• Still not sure what happened to the car at the end of the 4-year deal while this year-long process took place.

Was there actually something else in the process that the ombudsman found and made the decision against?  

k3lvc

Assuming any of this is true then it's one of those times when you hope representatives of the true 'victim(s)' in this are reading and see the OP gloating. Hopefully karma will come along and ensure the correct 'compo' (i.e. zero) is reflected in some future action 

Grumpy_chap

I really hope that we can get to understand the full "what happened here" as then we have all learned and may be able to revise any advice or comments in the future to take into account the underlying knowledge from this rather exceptional and unusual case.

born_again

Jenni_D said:

born_again said:

What is the ombudsmen Decision Reference Number?
As they are available for all to view online?

As it would be interesting to see what they had to say. 

Do these online reports identify the individual? If yes then the OP may not wish for their forum and real identities to be so easily matched.

No they don't.

>>DRN-2218912 The complaint Mr M complains about the charges Volkswagen Financial Services (UK) Limited (“VWFS”) asked him to pay when he returned a car after ending a financial agreement. What happened Mr M entered into a hire purchase agreement with VWFS for a new car in February 2016. In January 2020 Mr M voluntarily terminated the agreement and handed the car back. Mr M says he’s unhappy with the end of contract charges that were applied when he returned the car; he says they are excessive, and he doesn’t agree with the costs.<<

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decisions-case-studies

Just search decisions for Volkswagen

AdrianC

There are no ombudsman's decisions relevant to the OP's claimed case visible from a search for "Volkswagen" from this year.
However, there are only 8 decisions from April, and none more recent - by comparison, there are 51 total from the year, so 43 from January to March.

22 of those 51 complaints were upheld (the customer was right), 29 were not (VW did nothing wrong).