Be wary of Honda’s service plans.

woodchal

Be wary of Honda’s service plans.

We bought a five-year service plan for £600 when we bought new Honda Jazz in 2018 (we planned to keep it for 5 years) - which seemed like a good deal.

Unfortunately for health reasons my wife is unable to use the car now, so we have only used 2 years out of the 5 services included.  So, there is about £360 still “in the pot” so to speak.

We are trading in my car and my wife’s car against a new car (not Honda), but the dealer will not give any value for this service plan and Honda will not refund.

We have pushed Honda hard on refunding the service plan cost and they are not prepared to budge.  The T+C’s do state that the price is not refundable.  On checking our records we found that we had received the service plan terms and conditions some 4 months after purchase, which in our minds amounts to mis-selling, which is why I was pushing quite hard.

We started off with the plan admin team; escalated it to the Customer service team and then escalated again to the CEO.

This is their final comment

"Thank you for contacting the Honda (UK) Senior Management Group.

Honda (UK) always look to see if and how we can support our customers throughout their time with us as a manufacturer. We very sorry to hear of your circumstances and do hope that you are coping well.

Following on from our telephone conversation we had yesterday, I have had confirmation regarding your service plan. They have reviewed your circumstances and as the terms and conditions state, no refund is due for the unused services.

The unused servicing can be transferred to the buyer of your vehicle, this could be either privately sold or via a Honda Dealership, but an alternative manufacturer may not look to purchase this from you.”

This reply from Honda has glossed over the fact that we were not informed about this onerous condition until 4 months after purchase, which we consider was an unfair business practice and their replie indicates a restrictive practice by saying we had to sell it to them.  The letter sending the T+C’s came from their “Retention Product Manager” which does suggest that it is restrictive by design.

I believe Honda made a misleading omission under Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (known as the CPRs) when they failed to inform us of this non-refundable condition at the time of purchase.  Does anyone have any suggestions about how I could pursue this? 

They suggested going to the motor ombudsman, but from my initial the ombudsman, the motor ombudsman say we have to wait 8 weeks, and this is not going to be worthwhile in this situation.  Not a great way to treat custumers!

sheramber

 But you were happy to buy it because you intended keeping the car for 5years. 
So you wouldn't have been worried that it was non refundable as you intended to use it for 5 years.
Did you read the contract when you did get it?

williamgriffin

I don't see what Honda have done wrong. It's not their fault you've changed your plans. 

Probably lost a lot more than £360 by buying a new car. 

ontheroad1970

I once took out a 3 year membership of a gym.  It was much cheaper than 3 single year memberships.  I moved away part way through year two.  Did I ask for a partial refund?  No.  Why not?  By buying a 3 year membership I was effectively placing a bet that my circumstances wouldn't change.  That's the same thing that you have done.  

cymruchris

I think you're onto a loser here - you took a gamble that you'd own the car for 5 years and you've decided to part with it early (nothing to do with the difficult circumstances) - the only way you'll make anything back from it is if you sell the car privately and transfer the ownership of the package (which the t's and c's let you do), or buy another car from Honda.

It's not totally dissimilar to buying a nice apple pie from Tescos. You were committed to buying the whole pie because you wanted to eat it all - then had two slices - and decided you didn't want any more pie - so took the remaining 3 slices back for a refund. Asda would say no as they didn't sell it. Tesco couldn't resell it as it was part-eaten so they'd say no. The only way you'd get any of your money would be if someone would buy the remnants of your apple pie for a bargain price.

I know these are not the answers you want to hear - and you're obviously trying to work out a way to get some kind of credit - but due to the fact you're going to a different manufacturer - and not selling your car privately - I'm fairly sure you're not going to be successful in getting anything.

I hope you won't be signing up to  a 5 year service package on the new car?

AdrianC

There's no loss of benefit here. The car is still eligible for those services. The plan is going with the car.

Is it worth extra? Not really. But so many options on a new car don't add anything to the resale value, either. We don't have a strop because paying £2k for blingy paint doesn't add to the resale...

tommyedinburgh

I think the 5 year plan at that price is a brilliant purchase. Well done Honda for doing such a deal. 

woodchal

I do agree with all that you say.  

My problem is that when we bought the car there was no mention that the service plan was non-refundable.  That only emerged after 4 months when they sent the T+Cs.  Had this been clear at the time of purchase, like you, we might have though again.

However only finding out 4 months after purchase that it was non-refundable and intending to keep it for 5 years anyway, we shrugged our shoulders and carried on.  It is this element of mis-selling that I do not like.  Of course we should have asked for T+Cs at the time of purchase, but it is a traders obligation to point all the the details.

woodchal

cymruchris said:

It's not totally dissimilar to buying a nice apple pie from Tescos. You were committed to buying the whole pie because you wanted to eat it all - then had two slices - and decided you didn't want any more pie - so took the remaining 3 slices back for a refund. Asda would say no as they didn't sell it. Tesco couldn't resell it as it was part-eaten so they'd say no. The only way you'd get any of your money would be if someone would buy the remnants of your apple pie for a bargain price.

Not quite because I would have known that the pie was non-refundable

williamgriffin

woodchal said:

I do agree with all that you say.  

My problem is that when we bought the car there was no mention that the service plan was non-refundable.  That only emerged after 4 months when they sent the T+Cs.  Had this been clear at the time of purchase, like you, we might have though again.

However only finding out 4 months after purchase that it was non-refundable and intending to keep it for 5 years anyway, we shrugged our shoulders and carried on.  It is this element of mis-selling that I do not like.  Of course we should have asked for T+Cs at the time of purchase, but it is a traders obligation to point all the the details.

Why would you think it's refundable?

Herzlos

Did you ask if the plan was refundable? I always assumed that they weren't.
Of course, you could have insisted on seeing the contract before agreeing to it, but hindsights a wonderful thing.