Just wanted to warn about a different Drive Assist scam.

Drive Assist failed to collect their car from me on the day arranged. I had to call them twice to rearrange and at the time explained to them that my insurance for the car had stopped the night of the day that they had failed to collect and that I could no longer be responsible for the car as they had failed to collect it. This was not disputed at the time and I was under the impression that this would not be an issue.

When they did collect they found a few scratches (which like other people I believe were there when they delivered the car) and are now trying to charge me £694.00 for them!! I have since been told that although the orignial collection date was on a Thursday and it wasn't actually collected until the following Monday this does not count as a late collection. Appartently a late collection is over 72 hours late and Sat is counted as a half day and Sunday isn't counted. There isn't anything about this in their paperwork.

Am going through their dispute team at the moment.

Hiya,

I have just had a car picked up from these cowboys this morning....the car was an absolute disgrace when I got it and they're now saying there is a stain on the seat. Can they just take money from your bank account?

Hi this has aslo happenned to me, i have received a letter saying it is my fault and they are going to take 230.00 from my account within 14 days, i am worried sick, what do you suggest they say there was a new scratch on the alloy.

thanks jay

Dear Blue Dave

I have just read your email and had another thought!

When your wife returned your hire car to the garage, did she have to sign any paperwork or did she purchase any petrol? Can you wife remember the time that she handed the hire car back to the garage and does she have proof of this? Would the garage have recorded the time that you wife handed your hire car in either on some paperwork or on the computer? Did the garage have CCTV and if so, are you able to obtain a copy as proof of handing the vehicle back on a certain date at a specific time?

The reasons why I am asking these questions is that if your wife, for example, returned the car say at 2 pm on 5 April and Drive Assist did not collect the vehicle until a day or so later, then surely you could argue that someone else may have made the car dirty after you handed it back to the garage? If so, you were not present and surely your responsibility ends once your wife left the hire car with the garage?

Have you spoken to the garage since and made a complaint? If it is the garage's responsibility to take car of the hire car until Drive Assist collect it then surely Drive Assist should be contacting the garage instead of you, making enquiries about the alleged damage?

Is this common practice with the local garage? Has this kind of problem been in existence for sometime? If so, it definitely needs reporting to Trading Standards. Is the local garage a member of a trade association? If so, have you contacted the trade association and asked for their advice?

Have you reported this to Trading Standards and asked for their advice via the ConsumerDirect general phone number?

Good luck and please continue to keep everyone posted.

Hi Donna, and all. I have had an acknowledgement letter from Drive Assist today, saying they will respond fully within 28 days. They are obviously not playing the 'we've lost your letter' game. So, we wait and see. Also in the post this morning came their Vehicle Condition Report showing the alleged damage, and saying they will be in touch in due course. Odd, since the invoice for damage arrived 6 days ago. Just goes to show further what a disjointed organisation they are. And I have just noticed that the report states the inside of the vehicle is noted as 'Dirty'. This again is wrong. My wife is most fastidious about things like that. However, the car was returned in a thunderstorm, so there would have been inevitable wet footprints at least, but we retained the paper mats that the vehicle was delivered with and used them all the time, so even this wouldn't have been too bad.

The galling thing is that when we had our phone call about collecting our own repaired vehicle,my wife said she would have to arrange a lift to the garage. 'Oh, no', said the very friendly garage girl, 'you just bring your hire car to us, and you can drive your vehicle away'. As an 'approved repairer' the garage must know what Drive Assist are up to, and they must have had pound signs in their eyes when they advised my wife to bring the car to them. At the garage, no attempt was made to inspect the vehicle, nor was such an opportunity even offered to us. We did everything we were advised to do by the garage on the day of the vehicle return.

Can I put out a general appeal. If anyone has got a Mercedes-Benz B150, reg no BG58YAW currently from Drive Assist, let me know, because I would welcome the opportunity to be able to examine the vehicle for myself again.

Keep ya posted. Best wishes, Dave.

Hello Donna

I have just read your post. I don't know if you have already done this but it sounds like you are well within your rights to contact the Data Protection Commissioner and report Drive Assist for disclosing someone else's details to you as it is not in compliance with The Data Protection Act. I have read posts before on this website and it appears to be a common problem that customers' information is muddled up and sent to the wrong customers. This practice must stop.

Are you aware of the OFT's Guidelines on Debt Collection? Drive Assist cannot chase a person who is not their debtor and does not owe the debt to them. IHave Drive Assist harassed you in any way for this debt that belongs to someone else? E.g. phone calls, letters, etc. If so, then it is a criminal offence and you would be within your rights to report them to OFT. t is not in accordance with these guidelines and the OFT now have extra powers to investigate and where necessary fine companies for non-compliance. If you have not considered this option, it may be worth looking into.

In court, a judge would be entitled to throw the case out if the facts presented to him/her are incorrect and belong to another customer! You would just need to prove that the facts belonged to someone else. Have you got the other person's details? If so, have you contacted the other customer? I don't think anyone would be amused if they discovered that DA disclosed their details to another customer.

Good luck and keep us posted.

hi dave

cant believe they still think they can get away with this all the time. i cancelled my bank account so they couldnt take any money. i received a FINAL letter from them about 2 weeks ago and they were taking about someone elses case not mine - they cant even respond to the correct people with the correct information. they told me tough thats their final letter whether the facts are right or not. i have now told them to take me to court. i have been told by numerous people in the know that they dont really stand a chance of winning in court. stick it out to the end, dont back down to them!!!! i will let you know if they ever do take me to court (highly unlikely) keep us posted on how you get on.

good luck

donna

Hello everyone,

well, it's happened to me too. Had a hire car from Drive Assist while my car was being repaired.

I had the treatment of being told about all the marks that were already on the car - a 58-plate Mercedes B series. Hardly a like for like replacement for my X-reg peugeot 206, but I wasn't going to complain about that. But I made a mental note to go over the car with a similar toothcomb when it was returned.

The car came in a dirty condition after being driven around the lanes near my home, but I hadn't been raining, so I don't quite know where all the splashes came from. However, there were two recorded marks on the vehicle that neither I nor the driver could actually find.

Unfortunately, the garage rang my wife while I was at work, and told her to bring the hire car back to them, and she could take her own car home. Which she did.

No-one at the garage offered to check the hire vehicle on it's return. Then, 4 days later, came the invoice asking for £304 for damage. A mark up to 30mm, it said.

I know there was no mark on the vehicle. So, having given credit card details to cover any parking fees or fines that may occur, I rang my card company and reported my card as lost. So card cancelled, but I'll have a new one in a week.

Before writing my letter of complaint to Drive Assist (I rang them, but couldn't be put throughto the 'right department' for some reason), I looked them up on the internet, and found all the forums and all the complaints about them.

So, I'll let you know how I get on. Must go now - I've got letters to write to Drive Assist, Trading Standards, BBC Watchdog, and my Insurance company (Sheila's wheels).

That's another point - if an Insurance company comes out top in the comparison website, ask yourself why they are so cheap. Chances are they've outsourced their claims procedure to Drive Assist. And Sheila's Wheels are the same company (same address, same policy numbers) as Sainsbury's Bank insurance, who in turn are owned by HBOS, who themselves have been in the news quite a lot recently.

Dave.

hi pussycat

thanks for taking the time out to get me all this information, i will contact anyone i can. i also noticed that drive assist had basically said you signed a diagram and terms and conditions, which i knew i hadnt. when i looked at the paperwork again yesterday i noticed all 6 signatures are exactly the same, which means i can prove they copied my signature from the screen i did sign and pasted it on the rest.

not sure if office of fair trading can help or not, a solicitor told me to write to them to inform them, might be worth you writing to them with your story too, especially when 10 months on your still dealing with it.

thanks

donna

Dear Donz

Have searched again and the site you could look at is The National Association of Credit Hire Operators (NACHO) for short. Sorry about the confusion. The website is http://www.nacho.org.uk

NACHO claim that they work closely with the credit hire and insurance industry. They also say that they work with ABI, BVRLA, FLA and SMMT.

Drive Assist are NOT members of ABI although follow the terms of the ABI's GTA agreement. I don't know if they are members of the other organisations. If they are, then it might be worth following the organisation's complaints procedures.

Persevere with your problems.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

P

Dear Donz

CAB stands for the Citizens Advice Bureau and they give free, confidential legal advice to anyone. They may be able to assist you further. As you work full-time, they may have a telephone or email service and you may be able to email them in your area. Some CABX offer a late evening service for people who cannot get time off work to see them during the day.

Drive Assist belong to an association something like the national association of hire car operators. However, beware that Drive Assist's managing director sits on this board! I will have another search for this and get back to you.

In the meantime, try and destress yourself somehow. You don't want to add to your problems.

When you have exhausted all avenues of help, you might like to think about contacting your local MP to see if he/she can lobby the Government and get permanent action taken against Drive Assist. I think the law needs changing as hire car companies often delay and cause problems when consumers want to resolve their car insurance claims! Mine still isn;t settled after 10 months.

Good luck in your endeavours.

Take care

PS. Are Trading Standards able to assist in any way?

dear pussycat

thanks for your concern, i have now had another letter from driva assist today saying tough we stand by our decision to charge. i wrote to office of fair trading last week and complained to my insurance company. i also had advice from a family friends solitor who have said its clearly a con. i sent a letter today to watchdog and the fso and am trying to fin details of the NACRO but can only find an email address. what is CAB? i will look into the unfair contracts terms act today. am getting so stressed out i have a full time job but cant even concentrate on work. i am spending most of my days trying to deal with these con artists.

if anyone has any other ideas too that would be great. i will keep you posted on how i get on

thanks again

donz

x

Dear Distressed Donz

I was absolutely appalled by your awful treatment. May I suggest that you and others who have experienced problems with this terrible company, write to Watchdog, as well as the FSA and possibly the CAB. CAB's collect social policy evidence and pass this onto the relevant authorities including the Government and campaign for changes in the law. I think that the Office of Fair Trading should now investigate both the car insurance and hire car industry and make necessary changes in the law to protect consumers. Have you also tried reporting this company to Trading Standards as well?

YES, you can sue anyone including companies for personal injuries such as inconvenience and distress. There are solicitors and companies that specialise in personal injury claims. The maximum you can claim is 1K but if everyone started making a stand then this should make this company back down. Drive Assist also belong to a hire company organisation something like NACRO. Someone did have the email address on their blog on this website. It may be worth approaching this organisation too.

Good luck with your endeavours and I hope that you overcome your distressed state.

PS. Have you checked out the Unfair Contracts Terms act? It may be worth looking into this as well.

its been interseting readin the responses from those who work for DRIVE ASSIST. after finding this forum today i have finally been able to stop crying about the stress this company have caused me. i had an accident back in january through no fault of mine and my insurance company advised a hire car would be provided to a similar standard of my own car (which was a punto 1.2 53reg). driva assist were due to give me a car that same day, i then had a call about 5pm that afternoon advising it would be the following day. approxiamtely 3pm the next day they called again advising the had no cars and would be another 24 hours, the following morning i was advised they had no small cars and the smallest car they could provided was a VW passat (that was all the information they gave). the driver then turned up with a 58reg 2.0 passat and spent 20 minutes in my kitchen chatting while checking my liscence information. when we then went out to the car he showed me how the ignition worked as it was not a key ignition then asked me to sign a hand held computer to say i received the vehicle. at no point did he tell me what i was agreeing to, i found this out at a later date. hje then jumped in a car and left. about 5 weeks laer a different man came to collect the car and spent approximately 30 minutes outside combing the car inch by inch. he pointed out lots of stone chips - wear and tear is it not?. and also pointed out a couple of tiny scratches (so small he couldnt find them again straight away) and a scuff at the front of the car. i refused to sign his hand held computer as i know these damages were not caused by me. i received a letter advising all this was £800 worth of damages but that my complaint had been logged and they would investigate. this was 2 weeks ago, i have now since had another letter saying out of good will this will be reduce to £200 and will get deducted from my account within 14 days - NO IT WONT. as far as i am concerned we are still in dispute, i have not accepted there offer of good will and out of principal am not paying for damages i KNOW i did not happen while in my possession. i have told them not to take any payment and have sent another letter to them today telling them take me to court if you like - im not paying. i have also warned them i will go to fsa and my solicitor will take on my case for me.

and those of you who work for drive assist that write on here saying how its your company that are innocent and us consumers just want to get out of paying need to be bought down a peg or 2. some of us ARE innocent and also do not have the money to pay for things that they know are not their fault. the way i have been treated has made me a wreck and if i could sue YOU for damages (emotional damage) then i would - bet you wouldnt pay though would you!!!!!

i am hoping your response to my most recent letter sent to your company will be more satisfactory or be warned i will take this as far as i need to!!!!

You could try and take it up with the repairing garage as they may be be able to shed some light on your situation although very unlikely.Your other option would be to take it up with your insurance and express your concerns about the garage using the car after you had dropped it off.Don't forget the garage does rely on the insurance companies for work so any possible threat from them may get you a result.Also ask for a copy of the collection and delivery vcr from Drive Assist to show the damage as you can dispute the claims if the vehicle was left at the garage on there insistance,therefore relinquishing you from all responsibility for any damage.Hope that helps