Drover / Cazoo recalling lease car with 2 days notice, due to car suppliers withdrawing

freeganneist

I leased a car with Drover last year. Drover was recently taken over by Cazoo. I received an email informing me of the change, saying not to worry, nothing has changed and the lease will continue as before. My lease is currently due to expire at the end of August but I had a phone call from Cazoo today saying that Drover's lease partners (the ones who supplied the cars) have withdrawn from their deal and have asked for their cars back in 2 days time. Cazoo say this is a surprise to them, but that they do need to collect the car.

Is anyone else in the same position? I imagine there must be Drover/Cazoo customers who are currently on holiday, customers who are using their cars for work, customers who have plans to use their cars over the next few days etc etc .  I don't want to hand our car back in 2 days time because we need it!

Grumpy_chap

Are CAZOO offering you an alternative vehicle to bridge the gap between returning the lease car and the end of August when the vehicle would need to be returned in any case?

daveyjp

And what does your lease say about this situation.  Look under the termination clauses and see if a break in the lease can be instigated by the lessor.

freeganneist

I came here to ask if anyone is in the same position (see original post). 

If there's anyone out there who is an ex-Drover customer and who's been affected by this (I was informed that these Drover suppliers "suddenly" backed out of their deals, and caused "huge surprise" at Cazoo) I'd be interested in hearing about your experience.

Thanks

freeganneist

To clarify, after a second phone conversation, what Cazoo want is to terminate the contract that I entered into with Drover, and swap it to a new contract under new terms. I suspect that this is not actually about the current car and supplier, as they explained in the first call, but is an attempt to terminate Drover contracts. 

I would advise anyone who receives one of these phone calls is to ask for clarification in writing, along with a comparison of the old and new contracts

freeganneist

Also, to add to this, it smells like a scam. Cazoo are NOT offering a replacement car under the current contract.  So this is how I read it:

Cazoo own their own cars. Drover didn't, they were middle-men. Cazoo want to stop paying their Drover car suppliers, given that Cazoo have a load of cars that they own themselves. Not only do they have their own cars sitting idle, they want to lease them out at higher price under contracts that give them a better terms. So they're trying to scare the Drover customers into signing new contracts, with different terms, by making them panic. If you think you may lose your car in two days time, it's quite likely you might fall for this. 

It took a lot of questions to find out that they actually wanted me to sign a new contract. That information wasn't volunteered. I expect they'll have sprung that at the end, after I'd bought into arranging the "replacement car" within two days.

ontheroad1970

freeganneist said:

Also, to add to this, it smells like a scam. Cazoo are NOT offering a replacement car under the current contract.  So this is how I read it:

Cazoo own their own cars. Drover didn't, they were middle-men. Cazoo want to stop paying their Drover car suppliers, given that Cazoo have a load of cars that they own themselves. Not only do they have their own cars sitting idle, they want to lease them out at higher price under contracts that give them a better terms. So they're trying to scare the Drover customers into signing new contracts, with different terms, by making them panic. If you think you may lose your car in two days time, it's quite likely you might fall for this. 

It took a lot of questions to find out that they actually wanted me to sign a new contract. That information wasn't volunteered. I expect they'll have sprung that at the end, after I'd bought into arranging the "replacement car" within two days.

Which is why Daveyjp asked you what was on your contract which you shot down with your next post.  If you want any assistance or for your thread to have any traction it's best not to be so abrupt.

freeganneist

ontheroad1970 said:

freeganneist said:

Also, to add to this, it smells like a scam. Cazoo are NOT offering a replacement car under the current contract.  So this is how I read it:

Cazoo own their own cars. Drover didn't, they were middle-men. Cazoo want to stop paying their Drover car suppliers, given that Cazoo have a load of cars that they own themselves. Not only do they have their own cars sitting idle, they want to lease them out at higher price under contracts that give them a better terms. So they're trying to scare the Drover customers into signing new contracts, with different terms, by making them panic. If you think you may lose your car in two days time, it's quite likely you might fall for this. 

It took a lot of questions to find out that they actually wanted me to sign a new contract. That information wasn't volunteered. I expect they'll have sprung that at the end, after I'd bought into arranging the "replacement car" within two days.

Which is why Daveyjp asked you what was on your contract which you shot down with your next post.  If you want any assistance or for your thread to have any traction it's best not to be so abrupt.

I haven't asked for assistance. I am warning other customers of sharp practice. In response to me asking for written confirmation of the terminated contract, and starting an investigation into who really owns the car, Cazoo have admitted that the story about the supplier asking for it back in 2 days time was incorrect. They actually own the car themselves. It was a complete lie. If I hadn't pushed back they might have panicked me into signing a new contract. I expect most people would be so stressed by these phone calls, in the time of Covid, that they'd give in under pressure. 

So no thanks, I didn't ask for help and I have no intention of being part of this forum's "spanish inquisition".  If, as I requested, anyone reads this who is a Cazoo subscription customer and can share their own stories, that would be helpful to others. Otherwise, be on your guard. In the best light, Cazoo employ untrained uncaring staff who have no qualms about threatening to collect the car with two days notice. I suspect otherwise; they only changed their story when they could see I was a bit more competent than they'd expected. 

ontheroad1970

So because you didn't ask for help that gives you the right to be rude?  I would respectfully suggest you read the site rules.

greyteam1959

What a rude person the OP is.
Reading the site rules might be useful to them.

[Deleted User]

Just sit back and wait and see what happens. I suspect nothing will happen. They are just creating panic so folk end up signing new contracts when there is really no legal requirement to do so.