8:55 am, November 24, 2022
A used car dealer has been slammed in the national press after a customer accused staff of taking her daughter’s Ford Fiesta on a 22-mile ‘school run’.
The car had been with Motorpoint Swansea due to an issue with the airbags but mother Beverley McClarnan says it was left ‘dented and dirty’ after being taken for jaunts around the Welsh town.
The Ford Pass Car App first reported a suspect journey around midnight on October 10 before the car remained parked outside a house overnight.
The following morning the tracker followed the Fiesta to a local school before it finally returned to Motorpoint shortly after 8am.
McClarnan told The Sun that her daughter, 18, had been left in tears when the car was returned covered in muddy footprints with gum and ash found inside.
She also claimed that staff rummaged through seat pockets and wiped an SD card to remove dashcam footage of what had gone on.
The 46-year-old said: ‘I want people to know that Motorpoint will allow workers to take home your car and use it to take their children to school and pick up their friends.
‘It was just catastrophe after catastrophe.
‘I came down with the flu, I was ridiculously stressed. None of my friends or family will get cars from there now.’
‘We have fallen below the very high standards we demand of ourselves’
In response to the allegations, Motorpoint has issued a lengthy statement in which it apologised ‘unreservedly’.
A spokesman said that the company had agreed to buy back the Fiesta, which had initially been bought from them in May, and cover all agreed costs as a gesture of goodwill.
However, it denied claims that the SD card had been deliberately wiped.
A spokesperson from Motorpoint said: ‘In the course of our thorough internal investigation of this particular case, we have been disappointed to learn that there have been areas where we have fallen below the very high standards we demand of ourselves.
‘Where this is the case, we apologise unreservedly.
‘In this particular case, as a gesture of goodwill and in recognition of any inconvenience caused, we arranged to buy back the customer’s car and to cover all agreed costs.
‘However, we do dispute the customer’s full narrative of events, most notably around the issue of the vehicle in question having been driven to an employee’s home overnight.
‘Although not common practice, from time-to-time it is necessary for members of our vehicle preparation team to drive a customer’s car in real world conditions when a fault has been reported that cannot be identified using electronic diagnostics on site.
‘This sort of real-world diagnostics is only ever carried out by a fully insured preparation specialist and only when strictly necessary.
‘On occasion, to expedite the process for the customer, this testing may involve the team member driving the vehicle on their journey home. Where this is the case, we have very strict rules in place regarding security, mileage and usage.
‘In this particular case, the customer’s car driven directly to and from the team member’s home and was parked overnight on a secure off-street driveway with security lighting and CCTV. Footage from the CCTV surveillance shows that the car did not move all night.
‘Additionally, we categorically refute the accusation that a member of our team deliberately wiped the memory of the customer’s dashcam device.
‘To protect the privacy of our customers and staff, it is standard practice to disable these kinds or recording devices while the car is in our care.’
