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A devil of a deal?
Page 22
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Contract hire is meant to make the upkeep of a vehicle trouble-free. But our man finds out the hard way that this isn't always the case...
Words: CIA's undercover reporter Why should I contract hire? Step 1. Visit the CV Show and talk to the friendly sales people at 'XXX' truck-makers. Believe what they tell you and sign up for a three-year deal. Step 2. Run the truck for a profit.
Step 3. Try to avoid handing profit over to the servicing agents of VOC's choice.
The list of places where you can get the truck serviced is decreed by XXX. The trick is to find one with an acceptable level of incompetence. So, off we go to visit our local agent A.
"Yes," say they, "of course we will look after your truck for you. But first you need to open an account with us.
"But," says I, "the truck belongs to you, maintenance is your responsibility and at your expense... why do I need an account with your "If,says they, "we find you've broken something, we'll replace it and charge it to your account."
"If you find something broken," say I, "don't replace it, tell me about it and I'll deal with it."
"If you don't want to open an account with us," they say, "sod off elsewhere!"
So we open an account with agent A.
We soon find agent As level of incompetence close to 'perfection', so we let agent B have a go, but we leave the account with agent A. (With me?) The truck goes in for servicing at agent B. "There you go," say they. "All done. You're ready to roll."
Two hours later, the driver complains of a noise. "We'll get XXX's Super Rapid Response Repair Network out."
Out comes agent C... he checks the vehicle and reports back that there is no fault and sends the truck on its way. Two hours later, the driver complains that the knocking noise is getting worse. XXX's Super Rapid Response is called out again and agent D turns up. He finds the offside front wheel is loose. The technician only carries vital tools like a diagnostic kit and a laptop in his state-of-the-art breakdown response vehicle. This doesn't include a wheel brace. He has to make a 40-mile round trip to get one. He tells the driver the front brake disc pad had been replaced the previous day.
We contacted agent B (remember them?) to tell them when they relined the brake they had left the wheel loose. Agent B can't find our service report. When we get the report two weeks later, there is no mention of refining the front brake. When we asked, we're told, "We didn't do it. You must have done it."
Agent C said: "No fault was found, you're liable for the bill." They send it to agent A for payment from our account. Agent D said the wheel was loose and was not covered by the maintenance contract, so they duly sent their bill to agent A for payment from our account.
We immediately give agent A written notice not to pay these bills on our behalf because they were in dispute.
We gave agents C and D written notice of why they were not getting paid until the problem was sorted. We wrote to agent B telling them why we held them responsible for this cock-up. We traced the person responsible at XXX head office who deals with these problems and sent them a detailed account. We were pleased with their placatory response, but they appear to have done sod all else!
Agent A totally ignored our request not to pay the other agents.
Agent C reckoned the wheel had come loose after they had looked at it on the roadside. The noise heard by the driver before they looked at it wasn't related to the identical noise heard by the driver after they looked at it.
Agent D reckons a wheel brace is not part of the kit that should be carried on a state-of-the-art rescue vehicle. Therefore, two call-out charges and several hours' labour are justified for tightening a loose wheel.
Agent B reckons the driver should have picked it up on his daily check. The irony of the situation that he couldn't do this because the truck was over their servicing pit at the time seems to have completely eluded them.
Agent A eventually instigated court proceedings to recover the money from us. We pay up with a tight-lipped smile. The resounding silence from the truck manufacturer was deafening...
Now tell me...
Why should I contract hire? •
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