Section 75 Claim or not?

LazyDog11

Hi,

I used the AA for a pickup and dropoff MOT service as I was off work with a back injury, paid with a credit card. They picked up my car and then later emailed me a long and expensive list of repairs it "needed" to pass the MOT. I knew that some of those repairs are not even part of the MOT test so I asked them to return the car so I could have it checked over somewhere else. They refused to bring the car back as it was not roadworthy given the MOT fail. I wasn't happy about this but couldn't pick it up myself so I asked them to have it recovered and towed back to me - this is their policy according to their T&Cs - but they refused again. They essentially weren't moving the car unless I agreed to and paid for all of the repairs. I was eventually forced to cough up £780 for these repairs just to get my car back, about £300 of which I have since had confirmed were not necessary to get the MOT certificate and shouldn't even have been tested for as part of the MOT.

I went through the AA complaints procedure, arguing that their T&Cs stated that I could have my car recovered if it failed the MOT and couldn't be driven, but they ignored this (literally didn't even acknowledge it in their response) and stuck exclusively to the line that they couldn't drive an MOT failed car back to me and refused to uphold my complaint. I also tried a chargeback but my card provider were only interested in knowing if I had been charged what I had been billed for, not if any terms had been breached, so they also wouldn't uphold my claim.

The AA aren't part of the motor ombudsman scheme so is there any other resolution service I can use to deal with this issue? I know I can try a section 75 claim but I would prefer to have the AA rectify this rather than my credit card provider letting them off the hook.

Sandtree

How much did you pay for the original service and how is it shown on the invoice? For S75 the "item" must be over £100.

Its unlikely there is any official ombudsman sitting over it as its not a regulated part of their activity. It may be they subscribe to an Alternative Dispute Resolution service but these are optional

k3lvc

More importantly did 'The AA' provide the service ? Their site suggests that although they take the original booking/collect the base payment they act as an agent for independent garages

More details and complaints procedure here Smart Care (theaa.com)

Out of interest was the balance paid to the AA or to the garage who carried out the work and what paperwork/contract did you sign explaining your rights/obligations ? 

born_again

I think S75 maybe out of the window.

>>

Free vehicle pick-up and return

In most cases, we can arrange to have your vehicle collected from any address and dropped off when the work is finished.

bris

What repairs were not part of the MOT?

It's not like an MOT statuion to check parts that are not needing checked.

Its also true that if it can't be drived away after a fail due to a dangerous fault but it can be recovered. 
But that doesn't mean the AA have to do it. It's up to you to get a recovery service that will.

The "when the work is finished" statement is obviously after the work, looks like they don't like failures leaving before getting fixed, There will be a nice commision paid to AA for any work carried out, they don't do it for nothing.