The Motor Ombudsman’s Knowledge Base sees 166,000 article views in Q3
The Motor Ombudsman’s popular online Knowledge Base, a reference tool designed to provide motorists with responses to some of the most common queries on car ownership, vehicle maintenance and dispute resolution, has set a new record for the number of article views in a single quarter, since the resource was unveiled at the start of 2019. During the third quarter of 2021, 166,043 views were seen across the 10 categories, a 110% rise versus the same period in 2020 (79,175).
The Q&A in the New and Used Car Sales category about whether owners are able to return a car within the first 14 days of ownership, as well as the implications of buying a vehicle at a distance and at physical premises, retained its top spot as the most referred to question during 2021, with 16,187 views between 01st July and 30th September. The second most consulted Q&A, also in the New and Used Car Sales area of the Knowledge Base, was “Can I get a deposit refund?” (7,632 views), which was followed by “Sold a faulty car, what can I do?” (6,793 views), up one place from the second quarter in terms of its popularity.
The service and repair article relating to what action a consumer can take if a garage is taking too long to repair their car, remained as the fifth most read article between July and September, a classification which has stayed consistent throughout 2021.
Mediation emerged as a hot topic for consumers during the third quarter of 2021, with two articles making entries in the top 10. The Q&A about how much it costs to take part in The Motor Ombudsman’s mediation process was the sixth most read article, with the Q&A on how long it takes once both parties have agreed to participate, coming in at number nine.
In terms of searches on the Knowledge Base, consumers were wanting to know about subjects, such as the delayed delivery of a vehicle even though a deposit had already been paid, and what to do following a verbal agreement with a garage. The most frequently entered generic terms in the search bar were “warranty”, “faulty” and “deposit”.