Peugeot dealer causes service plan confusion
CASE STUDY Furious reader discovers pre-paid package wasn’t what he thought he’d bought
SERVICE plans are a great way to save money. They allow drivers to spread maintenance costs over several months, at a fixed price with no surprises, instead of paying for each visit. The only shock you might get is if you find you needn’t have spent as much on a plan – as reader Jonathan Edwards discovered after purchasing a Peugeot 108.
Jonathan, from Tring, Herts, told us: “I bought the car from Palmers Peugeot in Watford in October 2014. I was persuaded to buy a three-year service plan for £16.37 per month, on the understanding that this was a 25 per cent saving over usual service costs.”
Yet three months later, Jonathan noticed something didn’t add up. “I read in Auto Express that Peugeot’s own service plan costs £12.99 per month,” he said. He phoned Palmers and asked why he was being charged £3.38 more each month, totalling £121.68 over the three years. The sales manager then told him he hadn’t actually signed up to a Peugeot plan, but Palmers’ own scheme.
Jonathan said: “When I asked why it was more expensive, he explained it was a more comprehensive plan covering more things. He gave me an example that the air-con would be regassed free of charge under Palmers’ plan.”
Jonathan then decided to stick with Palmers’ scheme, rather than change to Peugeot’s one and lose three months of payments. All went well until he noticed his air-con needed regassing, whereupon Palmers told him this wasn’t covered by his plan, and was chargeable. At this point, Jonathan contacted Auto Express.
After we got in touch with Peugeot UK, and Jonathan told Palmers that we were investigating, he was told that the airconditioning would indeed be regassed for free. However, he was also informed that although the plan was more comprehensive than Peugeot’s, it didn’t cover free air-con regassing.
A Peugeot spokesman said: “We can confirm that a dealer, as a franchised business, is within its rights to quote third-party service plans.” Jonathan was happy with the outcome, and continues to use Palmers for servicing.
“Sales manager told him he hadn’t actually signed up to a Peugeot plan, but the dealer’s own scheme”
FROM: Colum King AS with Mike Taylor (Issue 1,500), I would love to have a Jaguar E-pace, but I feel it is the right car at the wrong time. It’s too heavy and uneconomical, with fuel consumption figures not far off those of its F-pace big brother. And how come there’s no hybrid option?