Issue with Skoda Service Plan - no-one accepting fault

Shackletron

Apologies for the long and complex post!

I'm really struggling to figure out how best to escalate my issue, speaking to Skoda has been very frustrating and (as you'll see), quite misleading. I feel like there's a bit of smoke and mirrors going on. Hopefully someone will be able to help or at least point me in the right direction. 

I have an active Skoda Service Plan which I am now unable to use and I am having enormous trouble dealing with Skoda Financial Services. 

I bought my car from a Lookers Skoda branch in North Manchester back in 2016. I took out a service plan when I bought the vehicle and then I took out a new service plan with Skoda on the 8th of June 2021. This was on the day my car had just had a major service carried out. I have the invoice for this service.

The new plan started from that date, and since then I have been paying £18 a month into the plan. I utilised this plan on the 21st of September 2022 to get my car serviced again. I do not have a full copy of this service but I have contacted Skoda Financial Services today and they have advised that the service was a minor service and cost £158.45 against the service plan. This was carried out at the North Manchester branch of Lookers Skoda. 

Since that time, the North Manchester branch of Lookers Skoda has closed. I was advised that I should use the Lookers Skoda branch in Stockport to utilise my service plan. As I live and work in North Manchester, this would not be possible for me to do without taking a day off. There is no car collection service for the Stockport garage and, if there were, I would have to pay extra money to get my car collected. If I were to drive myself, it would take me roughly 30-40 minutes to drive there (long during busy periods) and then I would have to find my way back home using public transport, before doing the same steps in reverse to collect my car. This would be impossible to do in a full work day and would therefore require me to take holiday to do so. This has rendered my service plan unusable. I should point out at this stage that the other closest garage is in Bolton, but the same issue applies in that I'd have to take a day off to get my car there and then collect it.

I raised a complaint with Skoda at the start of May about this and only yesterday did I end up having a conversation with someone at Skoda to try to resolve this. 

The person at Skoda advised me that they couldn't refund my money because of the terms of the contract I signed (see below in quotes):

"I have reviewed the agreement we hold for you and the terms state you can cancel the plan by providing us with a 28 day notice period.

For your clarity, the terms of the FPS plan state you are not be entitled to a refund. Please refer to section 7 of your agreement titled 'Termination by you' which confirms:

'If you terminate this agreement the amounts already paid by you are not refundable as these are reflective of our costs incurred in providing you with a service or service and maintenance or service, maintenance and tyres and other costs associated with the administration and set up of the agreement'

I have reviewed the maintenance history of the FPS plan and can see you have had work carried out on the SKODA Fabia under the plan. A balance has been paid of £432.00, 24 payments, with a service already used at a cost of £580.80   It is also reasonable for us to believe you have understood the terms and conditions of the plan as we have a signed agreement."

Obviously there was a 28 day period where I could cancel the policy, but the garage where I started the policy still existed 28 days after I took out the new policy. If I had known my services would have to take place in a garage further afield, I would not have signed the service plan. 

Secondly, the information concerning the service they have (in quotes - major service at £580.80) is hugely different to the information I have received directly from Skoda Finance this morning (minor service at £158.45). 

The £580.80 service is something I was told over the phone yesterday was a major service. Again, this is odd for a number of reasons. The service completed on the 8th of June 2021 was a major service (and cost £186.89), so why would Skoda Manchester complete a major service twice in a row? 

During a phone conversation I held with consumer services yesterday, I asked whose fault it was that I was paying into a service plan that I could not use. I asked this question twice and was not given a suitable answer. I was even told that "it was just one of those things".

I found this to be extremely unacceptable and upsetting. That is not an amount of money I am happy to write off given the garage has moved to a location inaccessible to me. 

A couple of things to unpick here then:

1. Why was I told vastly different figures on my service plan? Based on the information I got this morning, I have paid £432.00 into the plan since the 8th of June 2021 and spent £158.45. This means I have £273.55 in the plan yet to spend - but as stated - I would now have to take a day off to do this. Am I in credit or debit on the account? Today's information is that I am in credit.

2. Whose fault is it that I cannot use the plan? Skoda Customer Relations yesterday suggested it was the fault of Lookers who closed the branch in North Manchester, but if I contacted Lookers, they would say the service plan is separate to them. In fact, when I called them this morning, they could not even access my previous services completed at the North Manchester garage. 

I'm still after a full refund of the monies I have paid into the service plan but now cannot use. 

At this point, I've contacted Skoda again on Twitter, I've replied to Skoda customer services with a similar breakdown as posted here and I've contacted a few other consumer groups online to ask for advice. 

Can anyone offer any further advice as to how to escalate this? If my conversation this morning was accurate, I have £273.55 sat in a service plan I cannot use and I'd really like to get it back - especially after the "it's just one of those things" line. That was galling in the extreme. 

jimjames

The cost of the plan isn't a case of having a balance "yet to spend", if you want that feature then paying into a savings account  to pay for servicing is a better option. You are paying for servicing to be carried out and it covers the cost of whatever needs doing for that, if it's more then it's not your responsibility to pay more than the monthly amount.

Your options really are to stop paying any more (which may not be possible depending on the contract you signed) or to use the dealership that is now available to you. You could try writing to Skoda UK complaining that the dealer has shut but it would be very much their goodwill. I would also avoid your references to it being like a bank balance.

Shackletron

Thank you @jimjames! I understand your bank balance point, I will tailor my communications with Skoda accordingly based on that. 

I am considering stopping payment but I am holding off while I try to get this resolved. This is something I can definitely do as that is what was offered to me yesterday. I understand that it's their goodwill, it's just very frustrating that the terms of the service plan were set before the garage I was able to use closed. The only way to use the dealership available to me would be to use a days holiday, something that I would be unwilling to do.  

I will try contacting Skoda through another medium and see what I can do. 

400ixl

Your service plan contract is with Skoda Financial Services to be used at any franchised Skoda dealer at the point in time a service is due. Can you not arrange for the car to be serviced on a Saturday and wait whilst it is done?

What line of work do you do? Can you work remotely, many main dealers allow customers to work from the dealership (i.e give you somewhere to sit and a guest wifi connection) during the service.

I don't see any breach in contract here that results in you getting a refund of any money. They are providing the service you contracted for. If it is anything like my Audi one then the plan covers 1 major and 1 minor service whichever way around they are required.

Shackletron

Thanks @400ixl! I take your point about servicing on a Saturday - they are open Saturday mornings, but it's not ideal that I have would have to block out that time from my free time and wait around while the car is serviced. I cannot do my job remotely unfortunately. I'm actually starting a new role soon where I need to be on site in the short to medium term. That may change going forward but in the period when the next service would be due, it wouldn't be possible for me to be remote. 

It sounds like our service schedules are pretty similar, I should have had the minor then major switch as you have. There is conflicting information about what actually happened in my last service as I said in my longer post.

I think you're 100% right, I don't think they have breached their contract, it's just a frustrating set of circumstances. 

400ixl

Agree its frustrating for you.

My case works the other way around. I purchased the care from an Audi dealer 150 miles away. Paid £10k on finance to get the free 2 year service plan (then cancelled the finance) and it left me with a plan that I can then use with my local Audi franchise dealer. I wouldn't have been able to do that if the plan was associated with the dealer.

Have you asked if the plan can be used at a franchised Volkswagen, Seat or Audi dealership which may be closer?

Shackletron

That's a good point - I'm not sure about that. I will check the alternative dealerships. I will raise that in my communications with Skoda. A quick search suggests it might be more accessible, but Skoda have not mentioned that as being possible on my service plan. I will investigate! Thanks again. 

Bigwheels1111

I travel a 75 minute drive to get my car serviced, as the main dealer service plan is £85 a year cheaper.
Even after fuel costs. I have the time.
Your situation seems unfair as not your fault.

Shackletron

Thank you @Bigwheels1111 - as I said, if I'd known about the garage moving, I'd not have signed the newer service agreement. It's unfortunate and not my fault. I've sent a further message to customer services further outlining my issue and the tactless way I was dealt with yesterday. 

Bigwheels1111

Shackletron said:

Thank you @Bigwheels1111 - as I said, if I'd known about the garage moving, I'd not have signed the newer service agreement. It's unfortunate and not my fault. I've sent a further message to customer services further outlining my issue and the tactless way I was dealt with yesterday. 

Keep at it, since I got my Peugeot 5008 in 2016, Ive made 3 complaints, first got me £100 comp from Peugeot direct.

Second got me a refund for 4 year AA cover I had paid for but had not been provided ( part of service contract )

+  interest and a good will gesture £450 ish.

Third was last year when they did not provide an emmisions test sheet with my mot.

I asked in person and called 5 + time only to be ignored.

Peugeot head office gave me another £100 credit.

Thats 2 more free mot's.

10 years main dealer service plans - years 1-5 £13.42 a month £805.20

Years 6-10 £14.99 a month £899.40.

£1704.60/10 = £170.46 a year.

Not bad as includes Adblue every year and brake fluid changes every 2 year.

Shackletron

Cheers buddy - that's all very encouraging. I'll be contacting Skoda Head Office as a next step if I don't hear anything. I did make a successful complaint a few years ago because they'd claimed to have fixed an issue with my gearbox, only for it to re-occur immediately, and I got a free service out of them. 

It seems like this is not a question of the contract, but an issue of fairness which is not my fault. I'll keep at it!