This is how recovery companies treat your car!
Discussion
So due to name and shame rules I can't say which company this is but lets just say they are one of the biggest insurance companies in the UK and their recovery operator. Below are facts as agreed by the insurer complaints department so please don't dispute them!
My car was having a minor respray job at my preferred repairer after having a minor altercation with a pizza delivery boy. I paid an increased excess to have it taken to an excellent specialist repair and paint shop.
Car collected and delivered to the paint shop where I then paid a separate invoice to have them to touch up every stone chip, scratch and mark on the entire car. It left their workshop in perfect condition having had paint on front, back, both sides and roof and then professionally mopped and polished. Also, crucially, they recorded the mileage to the 0.1.
Car due for delivery 6pm Tuesday. I call at 4pm Tuesday to confirm the delivery time as I have to leave work early. Call center staff of the recovery operator have no knowledge of this, despite them being the ones who organised it. Come 6pm they still have no idea what is going on but seem more panicked. I then get a call from the paint shop asking if everything is ok as the recovery operator just call them to arrange collection despite it had already been collected at midday! Now very concerned I contact the delivery operator who say they did collect it but it has been left securely overnight as the driver ran out of hours. I arrange delivery for Wednesday 6pm.
2pm Wednesday I call to confirm 6pm delivery. New call centre staff member say nothing arranged. Then spends the next 2 hours trying to find where my car is. At 6pm I lose my sh*t with them and ask what the hell is going on. I speak to someone else and they say my car will be with me at 8pm. I tell them it better be as I have a dinner at 8.30pm. Car arrives at 8.45pm and it is FILTHY. I mean black with crap all over it and as I look at it on the back of the flat bed I can see scratches on the freshly painted splitter. Driver tells me this is not the correct type of flat bed for the car.
As I go to start is driver tells me how to start my own car and then tells me he really wants to hear it run. I then start it and it sound like of spanners, misfiring and popping. Delivery driver then informs me he collected it from a motorway service station as he thought it was a breakdown. Keys left with petrol station attendant!
Cue complaint to delivery company and then insurance company who investigate. Car was independently assessed who upheld my complaints but the delays in complaint handling, investigation and subsequent independent assessment means I have not had use of my car for 9 weeks. This is after the return for the original repair, it has taken a further 9 weeks from its original return to come back to me in working order.
This is what they found:
Car collected and left at 1st motorway service station. Keys left in petrol station.
Car collected from service station 1 and then left in a lorry park of a motorway service station OVERNIGHT with keys given to petrol station.
Car collected next day and delivered to me filthy and running rough. Also it has covered 0.3 miles whilst on the back of the delivery truck.
Delivery drivers and company confirm it was not driven by them as they moved it on and off the flat bed with a winch.
Insurance company upheld complaint and offered me £200 compensation.
Now I am not a ambulance chaser by any means but £200?!!? Not a chance. My uber bill for being without my car is more than that, not to mention paying for 9 weeks tax and insurance I couldn't use, or being able to travel over Christmas. Total joke. Thoughts appreciated.
TL:DR Car and keys left on 2 occasions with petrol station attendants including an overnight and car returns with increased mileage and running rough.
Edit - for clarification and more detail. 9 weeks was not the length of repair, this was the delay investigation and further repair after it was originally returned to me filthy, damaged and not running properly. Subsequent investigation and repair of damage caused in the delivery company's hands takes a further 9 weeks.
My car was having a minor respray job at my preferred repairer after having a minor altercation with a pizza delivery boy. I paid an increased excess to have it taken to an excellent specialist repair and paint shop.
Car collected and delivered to the paint shop where I then paid a separate invoice to have them to touch up every stone chip, scratch and mark on the entire car. It left their workshop in perfect condition having had paint on front, back, both sides and roof and then professionally mopped and polished. Also, crucially, they recorded the mileage to the 0.1.
Car due for delivery 6pm Tuesday. I call at 4pm Tuesday to confirm the delivery time as I have to leave work early. Call center staff of the recovery operator have no knowledge of this, despite them being the ones who organised it. Come 6pm they still have no idea what is going on but seem more panicked. I then get a call from the paint shop asking if everything is ok as the recovery operator just call them to arrange collection despite it had already been collected at midday! Now very concerned I contact the delivery operator who say they did collect it but it has been left securely overnight as the driver ran out of hours. I arrange delivery for Wednesday 6pm.
2pm Wednesday I call to confirm 6pm delivery. New call centre staff member say nothing arranged. Then spends the next 2 hours trying to find where my car is. At 6pm I lose my sh*t with them and ask what the hell is going on. I speak to someone else and they say my car will be with me at 8pm. I tell them it better be as I have a dinner at 8.30pm. Car arrives at 8.45pm and it is FILTHY. I mean black with crap all over it and as I look at it on the back of the flat bed I can see scratches on the freshly painted splitter. Driver tells me this is not the correct type of flat bed for the car.
As I go to start is driver tells me how to start my own car and then tells me he really wants to hear it run. I then start it and it sound like of spanners, misfiring and popping. Delivery driver then informs me he collected it from a motorway service station as he thought it was a breakdown. Keys left with petrol station attendant!
Cue complaint to delivery company and then insurance company who investigate. Car was independently assessed who upheld my complaints but the delays in complaint handling, investigation and subsequent independent assessment means I have not had use of my car for 9 weeks. This is after the return for the original repair, it has taken a further 9 weeks from its original return to come back to me in working order.
This is what they found:
Car collected and left at 1st motorway service station. Keys left in petrol station.
Car collected from service station 1 and then left in a lorry park of a motorway service station OVERNIGHT with keys given to petrol station.
Car collected next day and delivered to me filthy and running rough. Also it has covered 0.3 miles whilst on the back of the delivery truck.
Delivery drivers and company confirm it was not driven by them as they moved it on and off the flat bed with a winch.
Insurance company upheld complaint and offered me £200 compensation.
Now I am not a ambulance chaser by any means but £200?!!? Not a chance. My uber bill for being without my car is more than that, not to mention paying for 9 weeks tax and insurance I couldn't use, or being able to travel over Christmas. Total joke. Thoughts appreciated.
TL:DR Car and keys left on 2 occasions with petrol station attendants including an overnight and car returns with increased mileage and running rough.
Edit - for clarification and more detail. 9 weeks was not the length of repair, this was the delay investigation and further repair after it was originally returned to me filthy, damaged and not running properly. Subsequent investigation and repair of damage caused in the delivery company's hands takes a further 9 weeks.
Edited by R11ysf on Wednesday 28th February 12:39
thebraketester said:
Disgusting.... Have you found out what the running issues are?
Running issues have been sorted and was just generally gone over to find anything wrong but my concerns are as it was left twice with a petrol station attendant, what was to stop them doing 4 am donuts in the car park as they were given the keys to a car with no supervision. How can any company who you give possession of your car to think this is anything but negligent? I certainly never gave permission for my car to be handed to the control of an unrelated petrol station attendant!
TheAngryDog said:
WRT to the compensation, surely it would be the delivery company you should go after, not the insurance company?
The OP doesn't have any contract with the delivery company. He does with the insurer.But compo for what? A good clean, and a quick tickle to sort the rough running (now fixed - what was it?)...
0.3 mile - 500m - is hardly unreasonable for transferring between wagons a few times.
TooMany2cvs said:
TheAngryDog said:
WRT to the compensation, surely it would be the delivery company you should go after, not the insurance company?
The OP doesn't have any contract with the delivery company. He does with the insurer.But compo for what? A good clean, and a quick tickle to sort the rough running (now fixed - what was it?)...
0.3 mile - 500m - is hardly unreasonable for transferring between wagons a few times.
k things up.Compo is a difficult one, but at the end of the day he lost use of his car through no fault of his own. I assume that you would be happy to take this on the chin, right?
When I have had cars relayed they haven't moved more than a few metres, so 500m is a little excessive. That is over a quarter of a mile, and that is quite a distance.
Gecko1978 said:
my guess is.compensation woukd cover days extra without the car due to delivery issues not the 9 weeks as that was due to additonal work paid for by the Op. Car running badly again its fixed now.and we assume clean again.
So yeah he is out of pocket but not not much
Assuming it was all covered by the insurance then he would have been provided with a loan car whilst his was in for repair?So yeah he is out of pocket but not not much
TooMany2cvs said:
The OP doesn't have any contract with the delivery company. He does with the insurer.
But compo for what? A good clean, and a quick tickle to sort the rough running (now fixed - what was it?)...
0.3 mile - 500m - is hardly unreasonable for transferring between wagons a few times.
Compensation for what? Are you serious? As I said I am not an ambulance chaser after com-pen-say-shun but seriously?But compo for what? A good clean, and a quick tickle to sort the rough running (now fixed - what was it?)...
0.3 mile - 500m - is hardly unreasonable for transferring between wagons a few times.
Ok how about 9 weeks with no use of my car. 9 weeks I've paid for insurance I couldn't use it. 9 weeks I paid for road tax I couldn't use. How about hundreds and hundreds of pounds in uber and taxi bills? Or the not being able to travel to see family over Christmas as I had no car?
I was not given a hire car as a replacement, I was just paying for everything myself.
If you really think it is nothing, then can I have you car for 9 weeks for nothing?
bobtail4x4 said:
hurstg01 said:
TooMany2cvs said:
R11ysf said:
Delivery driver then informs me he collected it from a motorway service station as he thought it was a breakdown. Keys left with petrol station attendant!
Zafira?Didn't the driver actually leave the keys with the petrol station himself when it first broke down??
Superhoop said:
bobtail4x4 said:
hurstg01 said:
TooMany2cvs said:
R11ysf said:
Delivery driver then informs me he collected it from a motorway service station as he thought it was a breakdown. Keys left with petrol station attendant!
Zafira?Didn't the driver actually leave the keys with the petrol station himself when it first broke down??
R11ysf said:
TooMany2cvs said:
The OP doesn't have any contract with the delivery company. He does with the insurer.
But compo for what? A good clean, and a quick tickle to sort the rough running (now fixed - what was it?)...
0.3 mile - 500m - is hardly unreasonable for transferring between wagons a few times.
Compensation for what? Are you serious? As I said I am not an ambulance chaser after com-pen-say-shun but seriously?But compo for what? A good clean, and a quick tickle to sort the rough running (now fixed - what was it?)...
0.3 mile - 500m - is hardly unreasonable for transferring between wagons a few times.
Ok how about 9 weeks with no use of my car. 9 weeks I've paid for insurance I couldn't use it. 9 weeks I paid for road tax I couldn't use. How about hundreds and hundreds of pounds in uber and taxi bills? Or the not being able to travel to see family over Christmas as I had no car?
I was not given a hire car as a replacement, I was just paying for everything myself.
If you really think it is nothing, then can I have you car for 9 weeks for nothing?
Your uninsured losses - including a reasonable amount for alternative transport while the collision damage is being repaired - are part of your insurance claim from pizzamopedboy. If your choice to have the rest of the work done while it's there delayed the return, that was your choice. You chose the repairer, so any extended repair time due to their delays is not the insurer's problem.
<edit> Anyway, how far away is this preferred bodyshop, that it needs 24hrs between collection and delivery?
Edited by TooMany2cvs on Wednesday 28th February 11:07
Sorry to hear that OP.
Can't say I'm holding out too much hope with the recovery service that are looking after the Tiv at the moment.
Long story short, it appears that a coolant pipe of some sort was been damaged on Sunday morning whilst out for a drive - there a lot of fluid was coming out of the bottom of the car that smelt like it.
We called recovery who were very disorganised when they arrived. The driver nonchalantly said 'start it up then' when it came to loading the car. When we said we don't think it has coolant, we're not running it he tried to dismiss us as saying it's fine to do so (he previously said that he isn't very good at mechanicals...really)!
As he was about to leave with the car, we asked him not to start it whilst he had the car - and followed up with a call to the recovery company so it's on their records. Fingers crossed they've listened.
Can't say I'm holding out too much hope with the recovery service that are looking after the Tiv at the moment.
Long story short, it appears that a coolant pipe of some sort was been damaged on Sunday morning whilst out for a drive - there a lot of fluid was coming out of the bottom of the car that smelt like it.
We called recovery who were very disorganised when they arrived. The driver nonchalantly said 'start it up then' when it came to loading the car. When we said we don't think it has coolant, we're not running it he tried to dismiss us as saying it's fine to do so (he previously said that he isn't very good at mechanicals...really)!
As he was about to leave with the car, we asked him not to start it whilst he had the car - and followed up with a call to the recovery company so it's on their records. Fingers crossed they've listened.
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