It's currently with the Financial Ombudsman Service. The idea being they are an independent adjudicator and have certain powers as an official body, they take facts and the story from both sides of the complaint, then make an impartial decision on what actually happened and decide the best outcome.fufty1 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2017 1:44 pmI really don't get why no government body has stepped in to sort this out.
How can you possibly be expected to buy a £30k car that is broken from the start, and keep paying for it while the thing has been off the road basically for a long time?
I know you don't want to go down this route, but if it was me I would be dumping it at their door, stopping payments and waiting for a court date to sort it all out.
You start with an adjudicator decision - Which is effectively and overworked call centre representative as far as I can tell. If his decision is not accepted by either party (myself or BMW) an appeal can be made where a proper Ombudsman makes a final decision which, if accepted by myself is legally binding on BMW. However, BMW can still be assholes and refuse to comply which will take a court order to get the result. That's my understanding anyway.
I made an official complaint to BMW Financial Services because my gearbox whined and BMW / Sytner failed to act or provide any evidence it was normal. I also complained about a multitude of rattles, specifically a boot clunk which I believe is panel gap or weld related, but never confirmed. I argued the car was of unsatisfactory quality and I asked for a repair, replacement or refund. It took 8 weeks for a firm and final response from BMW which effectively said BMW say the noise is normal so tough, and completely failed to acknowledge the rattles/clunk. They said if you don't like it, complain to the ombudsman. So I did.
But I'm miffed as The Ombudsman have offered BMW opportunity after opportunity. The FoS should have have seen the lack of any evidence as the BMW story of events and realised BMW have been unhelpful, then made a decision on that basis. I.e. BMW treat me like sh*t, waste my time and fail to answer my complaint at all, it was clear something wasn't right and BMW failed to help. But instead the FoS gave BMW months to get the report which I had already been asking for, for 3 months prior! By this time the vehicle leaked complicating matters. Now The FoS have sent the independent report for BMW comment. That's f*cked me off again as I explicitly said not to. That was my ammo and evidence should this go to court. BMW's had thier official statement, now it's my turn. What if BMW rebut the report, will I need a 2nd independent opinion? Where does this end?
Rant over.
