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The motor industry’s self regulatory body, The Motor Ombudsman (formerly Motor Codes), has reported a 13% increase in the level of consumer calls it handled in the second quarter of 2017 compared to the first three months of the year.

The dispute resolution service saw nearly 9,700 contacts from April to June, relating to its CTSI-approved Codes of Practice setting three consecutive monthly records. However, the quantity of cases being opened has seen an 11% decrease between quarters. The Motor Ombudsman attributes the decline to the success of its adjudicators in providing consumers and accredited businesses with the necessary resources to help resolve the dispute between themselves.

The increased call numbers were most often regarding  vehicle sales, with a 21% increase in comparison with January to March on this subject. A third were in relation to cars that were not of the appropriate standard at the point of sale, and more than one in 10 contacts were consumers explaining that they felt that they had been given insufficient information to make an educated decision about the purchase of a finance product.

Service and Repair related contacts also rose by 13% in quarter two versus quarter one. Work carried out by a garage which was not agreed beforehand was the subject of nearly half (43%) of contacts, and issues around charging for diagnostic or exploratory procedures contributed to an additional 34%. A fifth of contacts related to concerns around the checking of work which had been undertaken.

Holly McAllister, Head of Customer Service and Quality at The Motor Ombudsman, commented, “Since the beginning of 2017, the Vehicle Sales Code has clearly stood out in terms of the nature of contacts that our adjudication team has worked on, and the second quarter indicates that this is likely to remain the pattern as we go through the rest of the year. Although we have seen even greater demands placed on our alternative dispute resolution service, it is nevertheless encouraging to see at the same time, the great efforts that all parties are going to in order to resolve disputes without the need for a case to be raised.”

 

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