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Hi,
We ordered a car for business contact hire in March 21 from a broker – V4b. We specifically requested that this car was to be delivered when our existing lease (also brokered with them) ran out – this should have been 5th June.
We were told on email before signing up that “There would be nothing to pay until after delivery anyway (apart from our broker fee) and you can cancel up to registration stage”. We took this to mean no cancellation fees.
However, we then signed the T&Cs and did not realise that it contained a clause saying there is a cancellation charge (12 (A) on the link below) of 15% of the P11d value.
https://www.v4b.co.uk/terms-and-conditions.html
We have checked in with them several times between March and the delivery date and have been reassured on email several times the new car would be arranged for when our other car went back.
We also actually ordered an identical car for another member of staff in April, which was delivered with no issues in May.
A week before the old car went back, we still had no delivery details, so we chased up over several days with no information, until finally the broker came back the day before it was due to say it would not be delivered, it was still awaiting EV grant approval and the delay was indefinite.
Clearly we queried this, having received another identical vehicle only a couple of weeks before, which appeared to have got the approval in a normal timescale. We also queried that the vehicle we signed up for actually had a list price above the EV grant approval limit and therefore would not qualify. The broker also said he was told by another dealership that features are having to be removed from this specific car model to meet the grant requirements, so we also asked about this, what was being removed, etc. We have had no answers from the broker, he has “passed it on to the dealership” who have also not provided any answers.
We feel these are potentially “stories”, nothing has ever been substantiated – we asked for the dealership details to ask our questions directly but were told we could not have those and had to go through the broker.
So eventually we have now said we would have to look at cancelling as this is another 2 weeks with no answers at all.
We were told there would be 15% of the P11d value according to the T&Cs – which works out as just under £6k. We expressed surprise/unhappiness, and the broker immediately “negotiated” with the dealership for this to be reduced to £2k and said he could do an invoice then and then.
We are also suspicious that he cannot get hold of them to answer our relevant questions, but can instantly talk to them about this fee.
We think the charges are unfair as we believe we have been misled and lied to. We are thinking of putting in a complaint about the service/lack of communication/broken promises etc. And asking for some answers/proof our car was in fact at this dealership, and a proper answer as to what the issue was with the grant approval.
The question really is are we likely to have any chance of success with this?
Or are we “scuppered” because we signed up to the T&Cs and they will prevail? Have we got any argument or recourse if we complain?
Any help appreciated.
We ordered a car for business contact hire in March 21 from a broker – V4b. We specifically requested that this car was to be delivered when our existing lease (also brokered with them) ran out – this should have been 5th June.
We were told on email before signing up that “There would be nothing to pay until after delivery anyway (apart from our broker fee) and you can cancel up to registration stage”. We took this to mean no cancellation fees.
However, we then signed the T&Cs and did not realise that it contained a clause saying there is a cancellation charge (12 (A) on the link below) of 15% of the P11d value.
https://www.v4b.co.uk/terms-and-conditions.html
We have checked in with them several times between March and the delivery date and have been reassured on email several times the new car would be arranged for when our other car went back.
We also actually ordered an identical car for another member of staff in April, which was delivered with no issues in May.
A week before the old car went back, we still had no delivery details, so we chased up over several days with no information, until finally the broker came back the day before it was due to say it would not be delivered, it was still awaiting EV grant approval and the delay was indefinite.
Clearly we queried this, having received another identical vehicle only a couple of weeks before, which appeared to have got the approval in a normal timescale. We also queried that the vehicle we signed up for actually had a list price above the EV grant approval limit and therefore would not qualify. The broker also said he was told by another dealership that features are having to be removed from this specific car model to meet the grant requirements, so we also asked about this, what was being removed, etc. We have had no answers from the broker, he has “passed it on to the dealership” who have also not provided any answers.
We feel these are potentially “stories”, nothing has ever been substantiated – we asked for the dealership details to ask our questions directly but were told we could not have those and had to go through the broker.
So eventually we have now said we would have to look at cancelling as this is another 2 weeks with no answers at all.
We were told there would be 15% of the P11d value according to the T&Cs – which works out as just under £6k. We expressed surprise/unhappiness, and the broker immediately “negotiated” with the dealership for this to be reduced to £2k and said he could do an invoice then and then.
We are also suspicious that he cannot get hold of them to answer our relevant questions, but can instantly talk to them about this fee.
We think the charges are unfair as we believe we have been misled and lied to. We are thinking of putting in a complaint about the service/lack of communication/broken promises etc. And asking for some answers/proof our car was in fact at this dealership, and a proper answer as to what the issue was with the grant approval.
The question really is are we likely to have any chance of success with this?
Or are we “scuppered” because we signed up to the T&Cs and they will prevail? Have we got any argument or recourse if we complain?
Any help appreciated.
