Cazoo subscription cars : unfair changes to contract

frazzy123

Cazoo closed down their car subscription service to new customers a number of months' ago but now it looks like they are going after existing customers to cut costs. 

Had an email yesterday to say that they will remove the cancellation penalty fee from the start of January 2023 BUT could also give 3 months' notice to terminate the subscription EARLY.

This could be terribly unfair to subscribers like myself who have "locked in" longer deals as inflationary pressures mean the same deals are no longer available.  Also, it means that any excess mileage does not have chance to even-out over the period of the contact.

Surely they can't just change the contact length mid-term?  It seems like contacts  are pointless if the issuer can just change them at will.  Imagine if your mortgage deal was ended early by the provider.

Anybody else in this predicament?

DullGreyGuy

The contract will have terms that cover the ability for one party to make unilateral changes else it requires both parties to agree. 

Nobbie1967

How long does the agreement have to run? Have you checked the contract for any early cancellation clauses? If they break the contract, they would be liable for your additional costs in setting up a new agreement over the remaining term.

born_again

frazzy123 said:

Cazoo closed down their car subscription service to new customers a number of months' ago but now it looks like they are going after existing customers to cut costs. 

Had an email yesterday to say that they will remove the cancellation penalty fee from the start of January 2023 BUT could also give 3 months' notice to terminate the subscription EARLY.

This could be terribly unfair to subscribers like myself who have "locked in" longer deals as inflationary pressures mean the same deals are no longer available.  Also, it means that any excess mileage does not have chance to even-out over the period of the contact.

Surely they can't just change the contact length mid-term?  It seems like contacts  are pointless if the issuer can just change them at will.  Imagine if your mortgage deal was ended early by the provider.

Anybody else in this predicament?

Sounds like they have the 90 day notice period in the T/C for variation of terms. Which is just the same as banks have 😶‍🌫️ 

So if you are not happy then you can walk away without penalty.

frazzy123

Thanks people.  Point is, I don't want to walk away but they want to get rid of me because the deal is too good.  I'm pretty sure this has happened before with people on great mobile phone contracts.

Terms don't even cover their cancellation, as far as I can see :www (dot) cazoo (dot) co (dot) uk/cazoo-terms-of-subscription/

Herzlos

Are you saying they've given you 3 months cancellation notice for the deal, or that they've changed the terms so that it's possible in the future?

Because you could argue with the current state of lead times, you've got no chance of setting something else up within 3 months.

Flight3287462

Probably better putting this on the parking sub-board.

Ectophile

Flight3287462 said:

Probably better putting this on the parking sub-board.

Why?  It's nothing to do with parking.

q0s

I’m in the same boat as @frazzy123. I’m hoping Cazoo doesn’t terminate my subscription early. I noticed that it recently sold its subscription business in Spain to another company so I suppose that’s a possibility in the UK as well. Fingers crossed…

Moomoo66

I’m in the same boat I wrote an email to CEO Alex Chesterman haven’t had a reply. I have been looking around at the subscription deals and the prices are absolutely horrendous. There’s no way that I could afford another subscription car. I think that Cazoo should honour our contracts. 

Moomoo66

frazzy123 said:

Cazoo closed down their car subscription service to new customers a number of months' ago but now it looks like they are going after existing customers to cut costs. 

Had an email yesterday to say that they will remove the cancellation penalty fee from the start of January 2023 BUT could also give 3 months' notice to terminate the subscription EARLY.

This could be terribly unfair to subscribers like myself who have "locked in" longer deals as inflationary pressures mean the same deals are no longer available.  Also, it means that any excess mileage does not have chance to even-out over the period of the contact.

Surely they can't just change the contact length mid-term?  It seems like contacts  are pointless if the issuer can just change them at will.  Imagine if your mortgage deal was ended early by the provider.

Anybody else in this predicament?

frazzy123 said:

Cazoo closed down their car subscription service to new customers a number of months' ago but now it looks like they are going after existing customers to cut costs. 

Had an email yesterday to say that they will remove the cancellation penalty fee from the start of January 2023 BUT could also give 3 months' notice to terminate the subscription EARLY.

This could be terribly unfair to subscribers like myself who have "locked in" longer deals as inflationary pressures mean the same deals are no longer available.  Also, it means that any excess mileage does not have chance to even-out over the period of the contact.

Surely they can't just change the contact length mid-term?  It seems like contacts  are pointless if the issuer can just change them at will.  Imagine if your mortgage deal was ended early by the provider.

Anybody else in this predicament?

Yes me I’m upset they’ve done this and I cannot afford the prices other companies charge. They said we can buy a car from Cazoo but my credit is bad it’s so worrying.