Car service plan

Deb2023

In July 2021 I took my 10 month old car to be serviced. At the service centre, they asked me if I had a service care plan. I said no and they told me the benefits of the plan was to spread the cost of your service payments over the year so you don’t get this massive bill in one go. I said great, that’s such a good idea so I signed the paperwork. August 2022 I took my car in for service number 2. Each time I asked for the invoice I was told it was going to be available online but never was and then I forgot. August 2023, I take my car into be serviced and I ask about the service care plan. I’m told it was a 2 service plan and that I will have to pay the full amount today because I have had my 2 services. I say but I haven’t used up all the money in the plan and am told, we can’t help you because we have been taken over by another provider so I will have to call up. I ask for all my receipts. So I call customer service who put me through to service care who tell me that their records show that the total amount for my services 1 and 2 was £730.  Whereas my receipts show that the total amount was £642, vat included. I paid £840 on the plan. I am told, that the service plan also covers breakdown cover. My car is brand new and breakdown cover comes included, why would I pay for that twice? I am also told regardless of the amount, your plan covered two services which is what I had. So I say it would have been cheaper to pay cash. Customer services tell me I can make a complaint. I have just been on the phone for one hour going from one department to the next. Has anyone else checked their service care plan? This is miss-selling. 

eskbanker

Deb2023 said:

I say but I haven’t used up all the money in the plan

[...]

I am also told regardless of the amount, your plan covered two services which is what I had. So I say it would have been cheaper to pay cash.

You'd need to check the terms of the service plan, as it sounds like the company believes that it entitled you to two services (with costs spread over two years) whereas you felt that it was a pot of money that you had the right to fully deplete.

Aylesbury_Duck

Deb2023 said:

In July 2021 I took my 10 month old car to be serviced. At the service centre, they asked me if I had a service care plan. I said no and they told me the benefits of the plan was to spread the cost of your service payments over the year so you don’t get this massive bill in one go. I said great, that’s such a good idea so I signed the paperwork. August 2022 I took my car in for service number 2. Each time I asked for the invoice I was told it was going to be available online but never was and then I forgot. August 2023, I take my car into be serviced and I ask about the service care plan. I’m told it was a 2 service plan and that I will have to pay the full amount today because I have had my 2 services. I say but I haven’t used up all the money in the plan and am told, we can’t help you because we have been taken over by another provider so I will have to call up. I ask for all my receipts. So I call customer service who put me through to service care who tell me that their records show that the total amount for my services 1 and 2 was £730.  Whereas my receipts show that the total amount was £642, vat included. I paid £840 on the plan. I am told, that the service plan also covers breakdown cover. My car is brand new and breakdown cover comes included, why would I pay for that twice? I am also told regardless of the amount, your plan covered two services which is what I had. So I say it would have been cheaper to pay cash. Customer services tell me I can make a complaint. I have just been on the phone for one hour going from one department to the next. Has anyone else checked their service care plan? This is miss-selling. 

The crucial thing to check is what that paperwork says.  If it was a two year plan that covered two annual services and breakdown cover, and that's what you've had, then I don't see you have a legitimate complaint about mis-selling.  How did you know you hadn't used up all the money when you say they didn't provide the invoices, they weren't online and you forgot to check?  Does the paperwork for the plan make it clear that breakdown cover is included?

It seems likely that the plan covers two annual services and provides breakdown cover, which accounts for the difference between what you paid and the value of the two services, so it's not certain that it would have been cheaper to pay cash.  

You may have a case of it being mis-sold if what you received differs from what's in the plan documentation.  Does it?

Money_Grabber13579

Do most (all?) service plans not give a certain number of services for a fixed price a month, rather than providing a pot of money? If the latter, it would always be better to just put money aside every month into a savings account and use that to pay for the service instead.

Any that I have encountered entitled time to a number of services - the first I had was bad value for money as the servicing cost less than my total monthly payments but I got a really good deal in the second; 5 services for the price of 3.

Ayr_Rage

Who provided the service plan, the service centre or a third party company ?

In the policy conditions does it say that it includes breakdown cover ?

It may be that this is a case of not checking what was included before buying the service plan rather than misselling.

My own service plan consists of three services and an MOT for £XXX but I never get any invoices, they just do the work as specified by the manufacturer.

jlfrs01

Service plans are seldom good value unless the owner wants to have their vehicle serviced at a main dealership. Even so they don't cover all items. If you're a low mileage driver it could mean long service intervals as I found out during Lockdown when my car was basically sat on the drive at home and as a result It had 1 service in 18 months. My service plan is with a company called EMAC, I got 1 free MOT with it but it works in exactly the same way as the OP's, I pay £25 per month which accrues over time. Last time I had it serviced there wasn't enough money in the fund so I had to top it up which is what the t's and c's explained.
What car has a good guide to service plans here: https://www.whatcar.com/advice/buying/are-car-service-plans-worth-it/n18824

Deb2023

Hi, I asked the service centre this morning for a copy of the receipts. I received no paper work with the plan. I checked my service plan account and it was not added. Breakdown insurance was not specified at point of sale and they would have known on a brand new car I would have already had breakdown cover. I was also not told it was a 2 service plan. I was reminded, this morning, the company who use to run the service centre are no longer running it. And this company have no idea about the policy that was sold to me.

eskbanker

Deb2023 said:

I received no paper work with the plan.

Surely you didn't sign a blank sheet of paper?

Deb2023 said:

I said great, that’s such a good idea so I signed the paperwork.

Deb2023

Just checked my email. I signed a digital document called a service order. Full policy document was not attached to the email. 

eskbanker

Deb2023 said:

Just checked my email. I signed a digital document called a service order. Full policy document was not attached to the email. 

No links, or any clue about where to locate the terms, e.g. trawling through the website indicated by the domain name being used?

Deb2023 said:

I checked my service plan account...

Does that perhaps allow access to any documentation?  If you want to try to make a case that you're not getting what you paid for, then the onus is really on you to be able to demonstrate that....