The consumer’s issue:
“I bought a new vehicle in April 2016 with an upgraded multimedia system. However, many of its functions don’t work and haven’t since the car was brand new. On driving home with my new vehicle, the system crashed and would not recover. Despite numerous software updates, the system still doesn’t work and only one of the faults I’ve reported has been resolved. The accredited business doesn’t deny that there is a problem, but they have been unable to fix it. I was offered a refund of the upgrade cost, but this doesn’t resolve the faults or the fact that the functionality is less than the basic, free system. I am looking for compensation for the reduced functionality and for the issue to be repaired.”
The accredited business’ response:
- The vehicle has been investigated by our dealerships who have worked with our technical team.
- Parts have been changed under warranty to see if the problem can be rectified.
- The software has been updated and tests carried out to see if the concerns have been resolved.
- We are aware that some of the issues are outstanding and have offered to reimburse the cost of the upgrade as a goodwill gesture.
The adjudication outcome:
- The adjudicator didn’t uphold the customer’s complaint.
- He had no technical evidence, which demonstrated the consumer’s vehicle was suffering from a manufacturing defect – and he didn’t think there was anything more that the accredited business could do.
- The consumer was unhappy, as he had provided evidence of the problems he was experiencing, and asked for the adjudication outcome to be reviewed by the ombudsman.
The ombudsman’s final decision:
- The ombudsman also couldn’t uphold the customer’s complaint.
- She recognised that the system was experiencing problems and the consumer’s ownership of the vehicle had essentially been spoiled.
- However, the accredited business’ only liability under warranty is to rectify manufacturing defects, and it was clear that that the repairs were not working.
- As such, the ombudsman said that this was a complaint better suited to the seller under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
- She asked the accredited business to ensure that, if a fix was found within six months of the vehicle coming out of the warranty, it would be applied free of charge to the vehicle.
- There was nothing further she could ask the accredited business to do as they were adhering to their obligations under the warranty, and the goodwill offered was considered to be reasonable in the circumstances.
Conclusion:
- The accredited business was not found to be in breach of the Motor Industry Code of Practice for New Cars and no award was made to the customer.