Servicing Stop - Environmental Surcharge

JanuaryBlues26

I had my sons car serviced through booking company Servicing Stop. 
When i received the invoice there was an Environmental surcharge of £85 plus VAT. When i asked what this was for they said it was to do with disposal of oils etc. So I went direct to the garage and asked them how much they would have charged and they said they do not charge this to the customers as they re-cycle their waste oils.  Is this therefore legal that Servicing Stop charge the customer 10% of whatever the extra charges are when the garage doesnt charge them. How does HMRC justify this as well? In the Terms and Conditions it states its 5% but this is still too much when the garage arent actually charging them anything!

Grey_Critic

You are aware that all displaced parts are your property and that includes the oil. Tell them you require all displaced parts returning to you including the oil thus saving on the charges and you require return of your money within 7 days. 

Nobbie1967

They’re trying to pull a fast one. Sounds like a made up charge to boost profits as garages include this within their standard charge for a service. With tyre companies it is usually on the invoice if they dispose of the old tyres. I’d refuse to pay given that you have evidence the garage that did the work didn’t make a charge for it.

Woodstok2000

Grey_Critic said:

You are aware that all displaced parts are your property and that includes the oil. Tell them you require all displaced parts returning to you including the oil thus saving on the charges and you require return of your money within 7 days. 

That's not going to work if you only tell them afterwards. You need to inform the garage up front that you want to retain the parts before they do the work.

Woodstok2000

JanuaryBlues26 said:

I had my sons car serviced through booking company Servicing Stop. 
When i received the invoice there was an Environmental surcharge of £85 plus VAT. When i asked what this was for they said it was to do with disposal of oils etc. So I went direct to the garage and asked them how much they would have charged and they said they do not charge this to the customers as they re-cycle their waste oils.  Is this therefore legal that Servicing Stop charge the customer 10% of whatever the extra charges are when the garage doesnt charge them. How does HMRC justify this as well? In the Terms and Conditions it states its 5% but this is still too much when the garage arent actually charging them anything!

They quite both a 5% and a 10% charge in their t&Cs. It  appears to be for the auditing and due diligence that ensures they use garages who have appropriate environmental processes in place rather than a direct pass through cost, so it's probably legally sound. The issue is that they quite two different costs up front. I would complain and hold them to the 5% charge.

Ibrahim5

And never, ever use them ever again of course.

paul_c123

Ibrahim5 said:

And never, ever use them ever again of course.

You keep bashing the trade and saying not to use them - what's your suggestion for what people should do to service their car?

WellKnownSid

paul_c123 said:

Ibrahim5 said:

And never, ever use them ever again of course.

You keep bashing the trade and saying not to use them - what's your suggestion for what people should do to service their car?

I would say...

So I went direct to the garage
...go direct to the garage to arrange the service in the first place, not after you have arranged the service by contracting a third party who can charge whatever they like, but at the very minimum will charge you more for the same service than going direct to the dealer.

jimjames

paul_c123 said:

Ibrahim5 said:

And never, ever use them ever again of course.

You keep bashing the trade and saying not to use them - what's your suggestion for what people should do to service their car?

Go direct and avoid a middle man like Service Stop. I don't often agree with that poster but in this case he is spot on to avoid this bunch

Barkin

I think paul_c123 was referring to that posters continual bashing of 'the trade' in general, rather than Servicing stop in particular.

paul_c123

JanuaryBlues26 said:

I had my sons car serviced through booking company Servicing Stop. 
When i received the invoice there was an Environmental surcharge of £85 plus VAT. When i asked what this was for they said it was to do with disposal of oils etc. So I went direct to the garage and asked them how much they would have charged and they said they do not charge this to the customers as they re-cycle their waste oils.  Is this therefore legal that Servicing Stop charge the customer 10% of whatever the extra charges are when the garage doesnt charge them. How does HMRC justify this as well? In the Terms and Conditions it states its 5% but this is still too much when the garage arent actually charging them anything!

So your car had £850 of additional work done?

Having checked the T&Cs, they are indeed sloppy because one page mentions 10% environmental surcharge and another mentions 5%. The problem is, they are double charging because waste oil is in fact a positive cost "waste" material (like for example metal and batteries - yes technically its waste but it has a value; and unlike say plastics, which have a negative cost). Waste oil is blended and burned in small to medium scale furnaces, typically as part of the waste treatment plant and modern ones have scrubbers too. So all told, not that bad for the environment. 

If its in their T&Cs they can justify it. I guess they are making some kind of environmental point that they are re-investing some of that money into, errrr............. well they just waffle at that point. So its just an extra charge they make, for profit. Much like the admin charge for being paid when you sell your car to WBAC, or Ryanair charging you to have a **** on the plane if you don't visit the loos at the airport, etc. But if its in the T&Cs nobody reads, they've got you.

What is the connection to HMRC? They are interested in collecting taxes, they don't audit terms and conditions or how much businesses charge consumers.