extended warranty worth it?

Followers

5 June, 20187 yr

This has been a very interesting discussion. I do agree with the point that the Financial Ombudsman doesnt cost the customer and that is only as it should be. I think a real gripe is if you decide you need the services of a solicitor if you are not familiar with legalese and the legal process. I myself was quoted a four figure sum and that was NOT on a "no win no fee" basis, I would have had to pay whether my claim succeeded or not. My own warranty dispute was considerably less than this sum and i didnt engage the solicitor. Yes, I understand that the financial ombudsman is there and yes, I understand they do have successes to their credit which is very good for the consumer. My point is that going down the solicitor route is often very expensive and there are no guarantees of success and the Skoda dealers and Skoda UK are very well aware of this. That is one reason why they get away with so much. As a former Lord Justice put it " The Law like the Ritz hotel is open to all"(!)

5 June, 20187 yr

The law was made for one thing alone, for the exploitation of those who don't understand it.

5 June, 20187 yr

Buyer beware because Warranty sellers can be thieving barstewards & VW Group above the law.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/440772-nightmare-fabia-vrs-engine-replacement

5 June, 20187 yr

I would never ever expect any real result from involving any of the many ombudsmen, my friend had a long running issue with his phone/internet provider, they messed up his original account and somehow closed it down a month before he moved house, and gave the line and number to the new owner a month before he advised them that he was moving essentially next door, but, after opening up a new account things did not go too well, issues with internet use, this was dealt with eventually by someone in UK who sorted everything out correctly - wrong, a month later he was aware that he was being billed for two accounts at the same address, after 9 months and too many chats with "senior managers" he placed the matter into the hands of the relevant ombudsman, lots of friendly talk but no action, it took him another 6 months to get the second account closed down and suitable compensation paid out to him. Next energy suppliers, as he built a new house next door to his original old house, he was responsible was organising the supply and fitting of meters, which was carried out as per the correct procedures, electric smart meter failed a few times as it seems they are meant to - it is the way that they get fitted by competent people that seems to be the problem with tails coming loose, gas smart meter also fitted and checked, seemed okay but a week later he could not interrogate it, after a couple of months the fitting company give in and replaced it, so far so good, all that was over by February 2017, to date that gas meter has not been added to the national reg of gas meters so it can't be read remotely - and billing is only done by remote reading of smart meters, energy ombudsman has directed maybe Transgas (my guess) to reg that meter, as the energy supplier is one of the smaller ones, Transgas (my guess) are not bothering - too much bother for them, when my friend got back to the energy ombudsman's office they just say that they have done all thy need to - goodbye! Now of course my friend can not go for any better energy deals because he is or should be in debt to his current gas provider who can't bill him, though maybe in some cases the ombudsman's involvement is enough to get things moving.

6 June, 20187 yr

I was going to extend my warranty when the car's own one was near the expiration date, as I had already had to have a new cylinder head, turbo and then complete engine replaced, along with light switch and a few small issues. I was advised however, by the dealer I purchased from, that although he would happily sell it to me, there COULD be issues regarding claims, IF the insurer (I understood it to be Skoda U.K.) Realised I was a driving instructor, using the vehicle for business. So, beware anyone who has a vehicle they use for work, rather then for personal pleasure or commuting to and from work (Same as insurance) As you could actually be conning THEM if they have to pay for a repair, unless the cover allows you to use the vehicle for business purposes. Being a car, I doubt they would expect it and may not realise but mine has dual controls so if they spotted them, say, during an inspection, they would throw the claim to the side line! BTW, the car was off the road for a week whilst negotiating and fitting the new engine, I was offered a courtesy car but it didn't suit my needs and even though I could have used it for the week and drove around and to and from the dealership, I would have had to park it without a permit, risking tickets etc so decided not to take it. I would not have been able to take students in it though.

8 June, 20187 yr

I would suggest to the person who asked the original question to bear in mind that the Skoda garage will certainly not "fast track" any warranty claim. I made this point in an earlier post and think it needs emphasising. That means you will have a fault on your car that may or may not mean it cannot be driven. Its bad enough if it can still be used but if its undriveable that's much worse. The temptation will be to use your normal local independent( if you have one of course) who will very likely be able to diagnosis and fix much quicker than waiting two weeks or more to even get it diagnosed for Skoda to diagnose then wait for authorisation then wait weeks again for a booking that finally fixes it. The snag is of course that you have to pay the independent and you cant claim it back under the warranty as only Skoda garages are allowed to be involved in the whole warranty process. So its perfectly possible to have to wait weeks to get it booked in for diagnosis then the warranty company(Skoda) decline to authorise the repair. You have been without the use of the car for weeks all for nothing! You have to approach the independent in the end anyway. Nor will Skoda reimburse you, I know that for a fact, again its a case of only Skoda garages and Skoda personnel being allowed to be involved in warranty irrespective of long waiting times for bookings. You can invoke Skoda customer services as I did but they are as useful as a chocolate teapot and will only parrot the same mantra of "only Skoda are allowed to be involved". Steer well clear of the warranty process if you value your sanity.

2 weeks later...

19 June, 20187 yr

Unless I am mistaken I have not seen anybody mention using the small claims court procedure once you have exhausted all the usual channels. The limit on small claims is £10,000 so most of what has been discussed is well within scope. It is not expensive either and you don't need a solicitor.

What is important is that you keep records, obviously copies of correspondence, but also written notes of verbal conversations. Small claims is a procedure where you do not need a solicitor, but as others have remarked you just need to be honest and present your case in a workmanlike and sensible way. The court will see through any efforts to obfuscate lines of responsibility, and if you have bought a car from Skoda, and they have sold you a Skoda warranty who then start to play ping pong about who is liable, then the court will in the time honoured phrase "cut the crap" and get to the issues.

I'd also advise that it is bad form to "threaten" to go to the small claims court as they are used to that. If you get no satisfaction then advise them you will invoke the small claims procedure...THEN JUST DO IT regardless of whether their attitude changes!!!! You can always stop the procedure later if they suddenly change attitude, but in my experience its best to get a judgment as you can enforce that legally. It means they have to play the game your way and not vice versa. It changes the power axis in your favour.

I worked for a warranty company from 1978 to 1981 in the Claims Dept, latterly on a Ford branded main dealer scheme..though we were not Ford. I have to say that in those days Ford behaved pretty well, but we are nearly forty years down the road from my experience and if anything things seem worse now than then in terms of unfair claims rejection, in spite of a raft of consumer legislation. In our case we had a "Ford Head Office decision is final" policy over difficult claims, so we didn't really have this problem of Skoda Warranty playing themselves off against Skoda UK....well to nothing like the extent of some of the things I have read on here.