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Hi!
I'm completely new here but hoping somebody can help.
I recently VT'd my 2017 Mercedes CLA that I had on finance through Startline, my circumstances have changed and I now live and work much closer to London (as opposed to South Yorkshire when I got the car) and get the train / tube or walk almost everywhere. I made the decision to pay up to my 50% mark and VT, buying myself an old-ish Mini (that has been driven twice since i bought it!)
I wanted to start by highlighting a little bit about my experience/relationship with Startline as I worry this may be playing a part in how I am now being treated by them. A few years ago now I made a complaint to Startline in regards to how I had been treated whilst being furloughed three times through Covid and going through a bereavement. Long story short, they refused to uphold my complaint and I ended up going to the Financial Ombudsman where my complaint was upheld and they were made to remove markers on my credit file and pay me a small amount of compensation.
Following my VT notice I was contacted to arrange collection of my car, I made Startline aware of me working and living 90% of the time in London and the change of collection point, they said this was all fine. No collection charges were mentioned.
The lady from the collection company arrived to collect my car and we went around the car together taking pictures and having a general chat. We mentioned that two of my alloys were not perfect but we both said that this is to be expected from a 7 year old car that has done 65k miles. No other damage was mentioned at all. The lady asked me to sign to say that she had done her inspection and then she was on her way after complaining that she needed to quickly get the car back up to Leeds because she had another job to do before she went home.
Fast forward to yesterday, I received an email from Startline saying I owe them £607.86, of course I went into a bit of a panic and gave them a call. The man on the phone said that £132.76 is what I owed to get up to 50% paid, I completely agree with this and am more than happy to pay it. He then said the other £405.10 was due to a damaged front panel and a damaged seat (the damaged seat was already in the car when they financed it for me, but of course they wouldn't have seen the car prior to financing it). I asked him to send me an email that explained all of this and he said he would. I received an email that then mentioned that the remainder of the money was due to collection fee's and damage beyond fair wear and tear, he attached a report from Manheim with damages equalling £1,951.63 but no explanation of which damages I was being charged for and how much this collection fee was.
Some of the damages on the report actually were not on the car when it left here, there's a large patch of paint missing from the door that was absolutely not on the car when it left me, it's big enough that the lady who came to collect my car definitely would have pointed it out and would have photographed it. There are chips on my windscreen that again, were not there when the car left me. Everything else seemed to me like fair wear and tear on a 7 year old car.
With this in mind, I called Startline again and I asked for a copy of their fair wear and tear guidelines as well as a copy of my inspection report from when the car was collected and details of the collection fee. I was denied both of these things and just told that I should be happy they're not charging me the £1,951.63 and decided to reduce it for me (In my panic on the original email I'd said about me and the lady from the collections company only talking about scuffs on my alloys which was very silly of me)
I argued that I wanted everything itemising and a copy of the guidelines and again, this was refused. The man on the phone said 'you've admitted to the damaged alloys so if you just pay £240 for those plus the money to get you up to 50% we'll let you off'. I told him I was not willing to pay for any damage until I had taken advice but would pay the £132.76 to get me up to 50%.
Just to add to this information as well, this car is now for sale at a dealership in Mansfield, it still has the damage to the seat that I was told I was being charged to repair but is described as in clean condition.
Following this call I sent an email using a template from one of the threads on here explaining that I do not accept liability and that I am requesting my inspection report with the photographs to prove this damage was all on the vehicle when they collected it from me, along with an itemised bill telling me which damage I am being charged for and the collection costs as well as well as guidelines for fair wear and tear and then proof that I signed to agree to these costs. This morning I have received an email again refusing all of this, stating that it is not their job to prove the damage was on the vehicle when it was collected or to show me what damages I am paying for and that if I want to complain I need to send an email to the complaints department.
Following this email I rang the Startline complaints department and explained my situation. I told them again that I wanted to know exactly what I'm paying for. I was told I would be sent this but I haven't been.
I'm really unsure where to go from here, I worked in car sales for a long time and know finance companies will often try to bully people into paying for damages because they lose money on VT's, so am trying to stand my ground here. I'm just not sure what to do next if they are refusing to send me information about what I am being charged for. Could anybody advise?
I'm completely new here but hoping somebody can help.
I recently VT'd my 2017 Mercedes CLA that I had on finance through Startline, my circumstances have changed and I now live and work much closer to London (as opposed to South Yorkshire when I got the car) and get the train / tube or walk almost everywhere. I made the decision to pay up to my 50% mark and VT, buying myself an old-ish Mini (that has been driven twice since i bought it!)
I wanted to start by highlighting a little bit about my experience/relationship with Startline as I worry this may be playing a part in how I am now being treated by them. A few years ago now I made a complaint to Startline in regards to how I had been treated whilst being furloughed three times through Covid and going through a bereavement. Long story short, they refused to uphold my complaint and I ended up going to the Financial Ombudsman where my complaint was upheld and they were made to remove markers on my credit file and pay me a small amount of compensation.
Following my VT notice I was contacted to arrange collection of my car, I made Startline aware of me working and living 90% of the time in London and the change of collection point, they said this was all fine. No collection charges were mentioned.
The lady from the collection company arrived to collect my car and we went around the car together taking pictures and having a general chat. We mentioned that two of my alloys were not perfect but we both said that this is to be expected from a 7 year old car that has done 65k miles. No other damage was mentioned at all. The lady asked me to sign to say that she had done her inspection and then she was on her way after complaining that she needed to quickly get the car back up to Leeds because she had another job to do before she went home.
Fast forward to yesterday, I received an email from Startline saying I owe them £607.86, of course I went into a bit of a panic and gave them a call. The man on the phone said that £132.76 is what I owed to get up to 50% paid, I completely agree with this and am more than happy to pay it. He then said the other £405.10 was due to a damaged front panel and a damaged seat (the damaged seat was already in the car when they financed it for me, but of course they wouldn't have seen the car prior to financing it). I asked him to send me an email that explained all of this and he said he would. I received an email that then mentioned that the remainder of the money was due to collection fee's and damage beyond fair wear and tear, he attached a report from Manheim with damages equalling £1,951.63 but no explanation of which damages I was being charged for and how much this collection fee was.
Some of the damages on the report actually were not on the car when it left here, there's a large patch of paint missing from the door that was absolutely not on the car when it left me, it's big enough that the lady who came to collect my car definitely would have pointed it out and would have photographed it. There are chips on my windscreen that again, were not there when the car left me. Everything else seemed to me like fair wear and tear on a 7 year old car.
With this in mind, I called Startline again and I asked for a copy of their fair wear and tear guidelines as well as a copy of my inspection report from when the car was collected and details of the collection fee. I was denied both of these things and just told that I should be happy they're not charging me the £1,951.63 and decided to reduce it for me (In my panic on the original email I'd said about me and the lady from the collections company only talking about scuffs on my alloys which was very silly of me)
I argued that I wanted everything itemising and a copy of the guidelines and again, this was refused. The man on the phone said 'you've admitted to the damaged alloys so if you just pay £240 for those plus the money to get you up to 50% we'll let you off'. I told him I was not willing to pay for any damage until I had taken advice but would pay the £132.76 to get me up to 50%.
Just to add to this information as well, this car is now for sale at a dealership in Mansfield, it still has the damage to the seat that I was told I was being charged to repair but is described as in clean condition.
Following this call I sent an email using a template from one of the threads on here explaining that I do not accept liability and that I am requesting my inspection report with the photographs to prove this damage was all on the vehicle when they collected it from me, along with an itemised bill telling me which damage I am being charged for and the collection costs as well as well as guidelines for fair wear and tear and then proof that I signed to agree to these costs. This morning I have received an email again refusing all of this, stating that it is not their job to prove the damage was on the vehicle when it was collected or to show me what damages I am paying for and that if I want to complain I need to send an email to the complaints department.
Following this email I rang the Startline complaints department and explained my situation. I told them again that I wanted to know exactly what I'm paying for. I was told I would be sent this but I haven't been.
I'm really unsure where to go from here, I worked in car sales for a long time and know finance companies will often try to bully people into paying for damages because they lose money on VT's, so am trying to stand my ground here. I'm just not sure what to do next if they are refusing to send me information about what I am being charged for. Could anybody advise?
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