Faults with business lease car

AndyG82

So I make a complaint to Mercedes Benz Finance about the number of faults and safety recalls my X Class has had since day one of my business lease in April last year. I asked to reject the vehicle following the near 3 months the car was in the garage. They refused this and offered me 2 months payments back plus £150 goodwill gesture and if I wasn’t happy, to escalate with the financial ombudsman. So I raised with the financial ombudsman who advised they don’t deal with this and they contacted Mercedes Benz to advise the same. Now Mercedes have actually withdrawn their offer to reimburse me 2 months of the 3 months I was without my vehicle, because I escalated the complaint to the financial ombudsman. Surely something ethically not right about that. Customer service is seriously lacking and this will be the last time I use Mercedes. Now escalated to the Finance and Leasing Association.

I know this is through my company, but do I have any rights here?

NottinghamKnight

You don't have consumer rights because you are a business. You've saved money by undertaking a business rather than personal transaction but then have limited comeback.

AdrianC

No, the business does not have any comeback under consumer rights legislation.

You definitely don't, because YOU aren't the customer - the business is.

Sandtree

What legal structure is the business? What size is it if a Ltd?

On what grounds did the FOS reject the complaint? Because your a business or because you didnt have a final response from the finance company first or...

ontheroad1970

Personally I don't think what Mercedes FS is a bad offer at all.  They have offered more than 2 months payment free - 2 months plus £150 towards another month.  Remember that the finance house has to pay the Ombudsman regardless of the finding.  As far as Mercedes are concerned, you declined their offer when you went to the Ombudsman, so they have simply refused to offer it again.  I suspect the Ombudsman would have decided that it was a reasonable offer.  

You are now back at square one with fewer bargaining chips.

Sandtree

ontheroad1970 said:
Remember that the finance house has to pay the Ombudsman regardless of the finding. 

Not 100% true, regulated entities get a number of freebies each year from the FOS based on predominately their size but one or two other factors... they also have to pay a standing levy each year also based on their size even if they have no complaints.

If the complaint is totally vexatious or frivolous then they will also normally not charge. If the FOS didnt rule against but decided it didn’t have an interest because the size of the OP’s employers/business I don’t know if this is one of the grounds for no charge being levied or not.