first rant of the day

[peanut]

yesterday I reported my Father's car stolen in London.

Metropolitan Police tried to persuade me to accept a 'Recovery & Storage ' option if the car is found.

Basically I agree to pay a recovery company nominated by the Police £300 to tow the car to an ajacent garage where they charge a further £20.00 per night until I collect it.
( Naturally if it is undrivable its going to cost an additional expensive tow truck to the scrapper.)

As the car is a 20 year old Nissan Bluebird worth about £30.00 scrap I declined.

This morning someone rang me purporting to be from the Police . Some thick pushy sheila tried very hard to get me accept the £300 recover deal because she said the insurance company might not pay for recovery.

I again declined but she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

What a bloody con it all is isn't it. Police get a back hander from the nominated recovery company and the storage company probably. The recovery company get well paid by your insurance company and you and I pay for the whole scam by increased premiums Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[swee'pea99]

That's absolutely frigging outrageous.

 

[meenaghman]

Yep. And woe betide if they have to get forensics down to the vehicle. Means they'll just leave it there collecting dust. I'm pretty certain it was nearer 50 pounds storage a day too. In my case the car had already been towed away and stored awaiting forensics.. It was an alfa 164 v6 and the guys managed to drive it about 600M up the road taking out 8 - 9 parked cars on the way. Hope you had decent tyres on the car. apparently one of the things the insurance guys note in terms of whether cars been looked after (as in my case every body panel was smashed).

 

[2Loose]

Outrageous indeed.

When my motorbike was stolen, it was fortunately recovered less than half a mile away from my house - great, I thought!
That is until I was told that a recovery company had taken it 8 miles further away and charged me 150 quid for the priviledge of having to get a cab to fetch it, all the while unsure if the bike was rideable or not.

Ripoff!

 

[Fnaar]

That's just mad... if some d!ckferbrains nicks your car, why the hell should it cost you a penny?

 

[Davidc]

Noses in the trough.

Everything about cars is set up to extract money from their owners and pass it on to government first, then local government, then a load of hangers on like towing and clamping companies, NCP, etc.

I haven't included garages - at least they provide a service.

I haven't included oil companies 'cos Shaun would throw me off the forum if I gave my opinion of them.

 

[gaz]

my granddads car got stolen in south london, reported it to the cops, and when they found it they just rang him. and we had to go pick it up. All we had to do was get the AA to come and help us start it, and it was recovered.

 

[peanut]

I've just realised something. if I don't accept the Police offer and the Police find the car they will phone an independant recovery company to collect the car before they tell me and I'll then get stiffed with an even bigger charge .

 

[swee'pea99]

my granddads car got stolen in south london, reported it to the cops, and when they found it they just rang him. and we had to go pick it up. All we had to do was get the AA to come and help us start it, and it was recovered.

Was this recent? Because if it was, I'd confront plod with it and say 'what gives?' Who decides whether this recovery company gets involved, and on what basis? I'd make life hard for them (because it does strike me as completely out of order) right up to and including getting my MP involved.

 

[marinyork]

What's the status of the car once it is stolen (and presumably has damage way beyond its worth)? As it is only worth £30 it is a write off and so is the property of the insurance company? So I'm wondering about the wiggling room that the police aren't telling you about. If it is the property of the insurance company it's not your problemo. I can imagine police office stressing other points, being a cynic, imagining that the insurance company won't play ball and off to the scrap heap the car goes, meaning less kerching for the police and garage. Or is that too cynical?

 

[peanut]

[quote name='swee'pea99']Was this recent? Because if it was, I'd confront plod with it and say 'what gives?' Who decides whether this recovery company gets involved, and on what basis? I'd make life hard for them (because it does strike me as completely out of order) right up to and including getting my MP involved.[/quote]

I have learnt to my cost that big organisations hold the cards. You really can't fight them. They'll simply make things even more difficult for you in the long run.

I complained to Lloyds Tsb Bank about my business banking manager who was a right cow.
next thing I get is a letter from her boss that as I am clearly unhappy with the Bank I would be better going elsewhere.

Lloyds closed my bank account with 30 days notice and it took me 15 weeks to register another Ltd company and open a new Ltd Company bank account with another bank.
In the mean time I had to take out an £8000 personal loan and a £6000 overdraft to survive. Without a Ltd company account no-one can pay you.!

 

[swee'pea99]

I have learnt to my cost that big organisations hold the cards. You really can't fight them. They'll simply make things even more difficult for you in the long run.

That's another appalling story! I would question your main point though - you can fight city hall. Plod don't like tangling with MPs, eg, and will often back down rather than get involved in something that's 'not worth the hassle'. And even with private organisations, I've found you can often get results by going straight to the top.

In the case of your bank, eg, I personally wouldn't have hesitated before sending a letter to the CEO, asking him whether he feels this is an appropriate way to treat loyal customers. Then the minions around him will all run around like headless chickens for a bit while they try to decide whether you happen to have a cousin working on the Daily Telegraph....

 

[Davidc]

Or is that too cynical?

Don't be silly - of course it isn't.