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Posting on behalf of my partner.
He is a below-the-knee amputee (since May) and on Higher Rate Mobility for the first time, new to Motability. He lives in a rural area in Scotland, so the nearest car dealership (in a city) is approximately 100 miles (!) away.
He found a (Hybrid) car he likes (£1999 deposit) and told them an adaptation is required due to his amputation: a left foot accelerator.
There’s a wait for the car to be delivered to the dealership – the company said they’d take care of the adaptation “later”. At one point their amendments were done in-house, but nowadays have to be fitted at another location.
A month and a half later, after numerous phone calls back and forth, the dealership phoned him a few days ago to say the car is ready and the deposit’s due. He has to be there in person to inspect the car, “okay” everything, sign forms and pay the deposit.
The 100-mile journey is arduous (being a wheelchair user / not getting on well with his current prosthetic) but it’s worth it to him to receive his car.
He insists he told the dealership from the very beginning a left foot accelerator was required ( applicable webpage here – he’s decided he wants a Twin Flip Folding Left Foot Accelerator: https://www.motability.co.uk/whats-available/adaptations/adaptation-prices?open=3 – the most expensive option from there is £99 ).
Unfortunately he realises the adaptation hasn’t been done yet and was told by the dealership a few days ago he now has to pay for the left foot accelerator? He’s upset he may have to start the whole process from the beginning again, with potential extra charges (now we’re past 1st July 2026 and higher deposits are in place, etc).
We thought the Motability adaptation was free, or at least, minimal cost, but he’s worried the full cost will run to £500+ as the dealership seemingly haven’t made provisions for it from the start.
I’ve asked if he received a breakdown of the deposit and extra charges initially and he says he hasn’t – which seems odd? He has a letter confirming the application which says “Advance Rental Payment: £1999” and that’s it.
Does he have to start this application process all over again? Are there provisions for those who find long journeys to a dealership difficult? There should be be a test drive involved at some point too (due to the left foot accelerator), once the adaptation is in place.
Sorry if these questions have been asked already, I tried searching.
Really appreciate any thoughts on this. Thank you!
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Hey @kezo If ever you wonder why do you waste your time on this forum, you must know you are a great help to so many people. Supplying this information has just urged me to write a complaint of my own. Thank you. Have a good night.
Cheers T.O.M hope your complaint gets the outcome you want 🙂
Thanks for everyone’s replies. I think I’ve upset my partner’s mum as she’s worried I’m giving away names and thinks we will get “found out” but I don’t take any pleasure in people getting into trouble in their place of work, that’s only a last resort scenario.
I’m aware of forum etiquette and have been intentionally vague for that reason, as I don’t want to put anyone “on blast” 🙂
Partner wants to give it till the end of the week before escalating.
I am reading and appreciating the information. This is totally unknown territory for us and different perspectives really help.
Thanks for everyone’s replies. I think I’ve upset my partner’s mum as she’s worried I’m giving away names and thinks we will get “found out” but I don’t take any pleasure in people getting into trouble in their place of work, that’s only a last resort scenario. I’m aware of forum etiquette and have been intentionally vague for that reason, as I don’t want to put anyone “on blast”
Partner wants to give it till the end of the week before escalating. I am reading and appreciating the information. This is totally unknown territory for us and different perspectives really help.Hi pifball,
I don’t see how you can upset your partners mum for having her son’s (your partners) best interest at heart. Even if you gave names away, there is very little we on the forum can do because, were all disabled or speak on behalf a family member or friend, who is disable just like you.
What the forum has amongs’t members, is years of experience, with some members going back to the days Motability first started and somebody like you (your partner), new to the scheme, the vast resource of knowledge on the forum, can go along way in helping someone like you (your partner), especially when things don’t go to plan.
However, only you (your partner), can take action on the advice we give to solve an issue, we a powerless to do this on your behalf and quite frankly aren’t interested in what dealer you got it from, as all acredited Motability dealers should act the same or very similar! So your partners mother has nothing to worry about 🙂
Taking it further to get the right outcome for your partner, is in your best interests. Its highlu unlikely, the dealer, the salesman will get into any kind of trouble, they will still have a job at the end of it and more importantly your partner will have the car he wants.
Once you get use to the scheme, you’ll find out some dealers sales guy looks down on you and can’t be bothered once they know your a Motability customer. If this happens you simply walk out and go to the next, it their problem not ours, your not their to be walked over. I think you got it right in a previous post, by saying the next car will be Arnold Clark!
@pifball @kezo I don’t think Arnold Clark does Nissan in Scotland. It is Barnets in Perth and Western in Stirling.
Unfortunately as someone who used hand controls for 48 years and never had a test drive, there is usually only two ways to pre test adaption’s, either you have to go to an adaption center or find someone who has them on their car, who will let you try them.
Good news!
Heard my partner’s earnest voice taking a phone call early this morning but couldn’t figure out what was going on, just as I was waking up.
He phoned the dealership first thing in the morning, nobody phoned back today.
He’s impulsive and was trying to get a temporary lease car because he’s had enough of being indoors. Mercifully the companies he phoned didn’t have a left foot accelerator vehicle in Scotland and it was too much hassle in the end, so he gave up on that (silly) idea.
I’m saying What the heck are you doing, phone Motability instead and find out what’s going on!! Eventually he did.
Turns out (even though it’s not on his Motability online account) the adaptation has been ordered in some capacity by the dealership – Motability see it on their system, a different price / brand left foot accelerator, but £99 is still do-able. No idea if the dealership’s arranged it in the same city they’re in (100 miles from partner) or elsewhere.
We’ll find out soon, hopefully, fingers crossed it gets done quickly-ish.
It’s cheered him up and Motability were very patient dealing with him (he gets frustrated and veers off-topic).
They even said there’s a process for getting MOTs / Servicing etc done closer to home. The dealership has to phone Motability and ask for the fleet control section, which will authorise Servicing / MOT at a garage which is closer.
Motability did say the garage has to be Nissan-approved, but MIL got hers done locally (about five years ago, mind you), though they are well-respected locally, I doubt they have ties to Nissan.
Thanks again for everyone’s understanding, time, and information shared. It’s been invaluable.
@pifball It shouldn’t have to be limited to a Nissan dealership that sells new Nissan cars. I am sure they will be able to find somewhere nearer That is good that you are both getting a solution and at last easing the pressure.
Partner can see it on his (Motability website) account today. Unfortunately he assumed (never assume!) that the dealership put it on there (turns out they didn’t) and it’s the wrong type of accelerator.
He phones up the dealership all annoyed, assuming they’d placed the adaptation order, to be told, again “we don’t deal in adaptations”.
Why he does this to himself, I don’t know, I keep telling him to phone Motability from here on in.
The modifications company was mentioned and he phoned her direct (again, he shouldn’t be doing this, it just winds him up…..) and she made an interesting comment: “Many dealerships are doing this nowadays. The way Motability is going, I don’t blame dealerships for pulling out of doing adaptations”.
Motability are talking to the dealership and the Motability said they are baffled the dealership keeps saying no.
I’m telling him to wait and stop phoning people as it just complicates everything!
It might be worth you assisting here, just plainly tell the dealership, this is a motability car, it requires adaptations, you cannot refuse to put this on. They’re risking them being a motability dealership in general, also say you’ll be going to the complaints side from motability as this is unacceptable.
Motability phoned back (I’ve told him to only contact them in future!).
The dealership can’t travel and the adaptations company (Motability) chose can’t travel as the adaptations place is in such a remote location – this seems to be the sticking point.
(There is a adaptations company in Glasgow that does pick ups, partner urged Motability to choose them instead – not sure why they weren’t chosen in the first place, but hopefully we’re back on track).
As commenters have said on here (thank you) if the dealership is on the Motability scheme they have to help customers get adaptations, Motability won’t reveal specifics but their internal team is going to look into that, they take this behaviour very seriously.
A decision next week.
Good to hear your getting somewhere, albeit slowly.
Just wondering if you emailed the CEO’s dept, as your partner would have been given a single point of contact in the right place rather than general customer service staff?
From my knowledge, the adaptions installer carry out the adaption at the dealership you get the car from and work with the dealership to ensure the adaptions are fitted ready for you to drive away, in what is a seemless process.
You learn, as you go along, but your partner should never be afraid of cancelling and going elsewhere, if a dealer doesn’t treat you right or to the rules they should abide to!
Motability are right to look into this and the dealership shouldn’t be accredited!
Really appreciate the CEO email information, if he has no progress by mid-week I’ll do that (he is very reactive and easily stressed, telling him I’m emailing will just get him worked up again and I’m trying to distract from this subject now).
He was even in tears on the Motability call – this is the point where he relays information that’s out of context and goes on tangents – this only wastes time and frustrates him more. (I’m not criticising, just it’s best to let him calm down now).
If he was to draft a CEO email it’d go on forever, so I’ll take care of that! 🙂
Good to hear your getting somewhere, albeit slowly. Just wondering if you emailed the CEO’s dept, as your partner would have been given a single point of contact in the right place rather than general customer service staff? From my knowledge, the adaptions installer carry out the adaption at the dealership you get the car from and work with the dealership to ensure the adaptions are fitted ready for you to drive away, in what is a seemless process. You learn, as you go along, but your partner should never be afraid of cancelling and going elsewhere, if a dealer doesn’t treat you right or to the rules they should abide to! Motability are right to look into this and the dealership shouldn’t be accredited!
@kezo Whilst I very much respect your numerous bits of advice on this forum and I do agree with your advice to email the CEO, as I have no idea what the Motability customer service department/call center, mean by their ambiguous definition of passing it on to their “internal team”.I still think it was worth @pifball and her partner contacting the dealership General Manager, to sort out the problem, as I never see the answer of just making the lazy and incompetent Motability sales person’s life easier by just walking away and leaving the next and any future Motability customer’s with the same problem. If the Dealership GM takes on the Motability contract, he/she also takes on the responsibility of carrying out the Motability rules and regulations.
As, @pifball has said this is a large 30 year old Motability dealership, who must have issued many cars with a disabled Motability listed adaption fitted to their cars, over the years.
@kezo Whilst I very much respect your numerous bits of advice on this forum and I do agree with your advice to email the CEO, as I have no idea what the Motability customer service department/call center, mean by their ambiguous definition of passing it on to their “internal team”, is. I still think it was worth @pifball and her partner contacting the dealership General Manager, to sort out the problem, as I never see the answer of just making the lazy and incompetent Motability sales person’s life easier by just walking away and leaving the next and any future Motability customer’s with the same problem. If the Dealership GM takes on the Motability contract, he/she also takes on the responsibility of carrying out the Motability rules and regulations. As, @pifball has said this is a large 30 year old Motability dealership, who must have issued many cars with a disabled Motability listed adaption fitted to their cars, over the years.
Passing it on to their internal team, most likely means passing the buck, by giving a vague date of suggesting they are sorting it. On the other hand, if the call centre had said “we have passed this onto the dealer team (internal) and requested they call you on Monday or “x” day, I would be more inclined to believe them, but on a positive note somebody from Motability did ring back today.
I can only assume, with Motability ringing back and saying the dealership can’t travel, they have spoken to the dealership and most likely a manager, possibly the sales manager. Admittedly, that isn’t the equivulent of an area manager or dealer principle/owner, but should still be sufficient if a saleman/woman is falling out of line and a dealer (sales) manager can easily take over the order, unless for some unlikely reason, its no longer dealership protocol to deal with adaptions.
My view with Motability CEO or rather his department, is issues typically get sorted within 24hrs, with a single point of contact throughout and the customers happy. The dealership may be told by the dealership side of Motability how it should be done, so it doesn’t happen again. In comparison an area manager or dealer principle may not like the particular sales guy, he/she has made lots of mistakes in the past or their looking to offload peple due to slow sales and come down hard on him or her, but thereal problem has never be solved. At least Motability would keep it a dealer level in the first instance. Thats my thinking anyway?
Motability phoned back (I’ve told him to only contact them in future!). The dealership can’t travel and the adaptations company (Motability) chose can’t travel as the adaptations place is in such a remote location – this seems to be the sticking point. (There is a adaptations company in Glasgow that does pick ups, partner urged Motability to choose them instead – not sure why they weren’t chosen in the first place, but hopefully we’re back on track). As commenters have said on here (thank you) if the dealership is on the Motability scheme they have to help customers get adaptations, Motability won’t reveal specifics but their internal team is going to look into that, they take this behaviour very seriously. A decision next week.
Motability don’t choose who fits your adaption. They list their accredited adaption suppliers, that they deal with. The suppliers usually give you the name of their accredited fitter’s and YOU choose (sometimes with the help of the dealer, but obviously not in this case), who the fitter is. So there should be no problem with you choosing the Glasgow firm, who seem very experienced and willing to fit the adaption.
You should be able to simply tell the dealer/Motability sales person who you have chosen and he/she has to do the paper work, as the designated Motability sales person. He/she also has to collate between the dealership and the fitter, where and when the adaption gets fitted.
Having had over 40 years personal experience of having adaptions fitted to my 11 Motability cars, without any problem, I would recommend you go down this road. If you are still having a problem, then you still have the option to escalate the complaint.
The only problem with us all escalating our external Motability problems to the CEO office, is that, if every Motability customer does it, it then becomes the customer service point in itself if we all bypass the initial customer service center, we will then eventually, not have that option for escalating major Motability policy issues, to the CEO, as they will eventually no longer act on complaints to his office, as is my experience of working for/representing of a Government Department, much larger than Motability.
But please, as a joint disabled Motability customer, we should never have to walk (or wheel) away from an unforced problem, with a dealer or Motability, due to someone else not knowing or doing their paid job right .
Too many of us disabled drivers had to fight to get rid of the three wheeler Invacars and fight for Mobility Allowance, Motability, and Motability Dealerships to participate, in the 1970’s. I am also less than impressed with Motability’s handling of your problem.
Sorry @pifball, I, was watching the recorded football, and was delayed in giving further advice.
@ pifball and others. The processes should be,
1. Motability list the cars and subsidized adaptions available to the customer. The customer decides which car and adaptions they go for and finds a Motability dealer who provides that Motability car.
2. You are then provided with a list of fitter’s from the adaption supplier, which YOU then choose, (with the agreement of the fitter).
3. The dealer then orders the car and adaptions with Motability on the order day and then works with the fitter as to when and where the fitter fits the adaptions, as per Motability Dealership terms and regulations.
4. Usually, when the car arrives at the dealer, you inspect the car, before the adaption is fitted, as you are inspecting the car before the adaption is fitted to the accepted car.
5. When the car is at the dealer with the adaptions which has been fitted, either at the dealership or at the adaption center and returned to the dealership, then only if you are satisfied with the adaption, you then recheck the car and put your PIN in and happily, drive the car away and enjoy.
My current car/order arrived with two major wrong spec’s, which was fortunately picked up by me, not the dealer before the adaption was fitted and I had to get the car changed with the help of the multi dealership General Manager, as neither the Motability sales person, the sales manager, Skoda nor Motability were of any help, what so ever, all four telling me I would have to re order the car from scratch. Only the General Manager was able to get the right spec car delivered in half the time.
If I had not picked the problem up before the very expensive adaption was fitted, then I would have been left with a major problem, by not rejecting the car, before the adaption was fitted. So never just trust that people will do their job right, always double check, by yourself .
@callmejohn I agree with just about all you say, but I have never done or had the option to do this:
4. Usually, when the car arrives at the dealer, you inspect the car, before the adaption is fitted, as you are inspecting the car before the adaption is fitted to the accepted car.
I also have many years and cars on Motability and I have only had one major ‘coq-up’. It does happen
@pifball you seem to be having a nightmare with the order, I hope you are able to get it sorted and not be out of pocket.Skoda Enyaq Race Blue
@callmejohn I agree with just about all you say, but I have never done or had the option to do this: 4. Usually, when the car arrives at the dealer, you inspect the car, before the adaption is fitted, as you are inspecting the car before the adaption is fitted to the accepted car. I also have many years and cars on Motability and I have only had one major ‘coq-up’. It does happen @pifball you seem to be having a nightmare with the order, I hope you are able to get it sorted and not be out of pocket.
When my original order came, it was with a black interior instead of a cognac interior, which was easy to spot. It also did not have the winter pack (heated, steering wheel, back seat and windscreen) which I would not have noticed, picking it up in May. The Motability rep did not let me know any of this.
The wrong £4,000 AP plus extras, car was being fitted with a £600 of my money (£2,000) person hoist, if I and only I had not picked up on the mistake before the hoist was fitted, then I fear that I could have been left with a major dispute on my hands.
So whilst Motability customer’s who don’t need to adaptions, need to check the car before entering their pin. Customers who do need adaptions, really need to check the car before the adaptions are fitted by a third party and then check both again, once the adaption is fitted, before entering your pin.
Partner phoned Motability earlier. They say their dealership partner team has launched a “serious complaint” as the dealership is still refusing to add an adaptation.
The dealership’s Managing Director has responded to them saying, “We told (my partner) from the beginning we don’t do adaptations” (I find this a bizarre excuse as surely they know this is completely inappropriate when dealing with disabled applicants. This isn’t exactly how the last 6-7 weeks played out, either, as partner was strung along with vague “we’ll sort it out later”s).
Motability are focussing on keeping the application live, trying to urge the dealership to get the adaptation done locally (nearest place is 45 minutes away).
If this can’t be resolved, Motability can easily transfer the application to another dealership but they then said (to be fair, the Motability assistant was reading from policy notes) that the transportation costs for a transfer would cost my partner! Of course he got upset when told this.
Paying for someone else’s muck-up, I don’t think so..!
He just received a text message with a summary of the phone call from Motability – if there is a transfer, the dealership aren’t willing to pay – so Motability are still trying to organise a local adaptation (it’s really sounding like the dealership are unwilling to help with either option).
That is completely unacceptable! Your partner shouldn’t have to pay a single penny for the dealership’s screw up.
”We don’t do adaptations” is a rubbish excuse for a Motability dealer, especially after stringing him along for nearly two months.
Tell your partner not to accept paying transfer costs. The basic customer service agent was likely just reading standard rules from a script, but this isn’t a normal cancellation it’s dealer failure.
Here is what you / he should do next:
- Call Motability back and ask to speak directly to the manager handling the “serious complaint.”
- Push back on the transfer fee: Tell them firmly that because the dealership lied and wasted weeks going into months, Motability or the dealership needs to cover any transport costs as goodwill, state its overstraining you and this isnt trouble free travel
- Put it in writing: Send a quick message through the Motability email summarizing the MD’s comments and the delay so it’s all officially logged.
Don’t let them bully him into paying for their mistake. Motability standardly waives these costs or covers them when a dealership drops the ball this badly!
@shaan200 really appreciate your reply and thanks for the pointers about what to focus on next. Motability should be phoning back tomorrow – I’ll be emailing if this gets dragged out.
Absolutely agree, partner shouldn’t be paying any transfer costs, I’m hoping it doesn’t come to this (application transfer) as it will likely leave him hanging even longer.
Best option is the local adaptation company. I’m not sure why the dealership are so adamant they can’t arrange this but let’s face it, it’s not the applicant’s problem!
@pifball I am wondering how much this is a policy decision, as apposed to how incompetent the people you are dealing with and how they, the dealership and Motability are handling it.
Technically the dealership don’t do/fit adaption’s, that is why they have to liaise with the adaption’s fitting company. How Motability’s “internal team” could possibly accept a Motability accredited General Manager telling them that the do not accept orders that need adaptions fitted, is bewildering. They only have to contact the Glasgow adaption fitter’s. To be honest, I very much doubt this happened. Motability should not be claiming that any additional adaption fitting costs should be charged to your partner.
As you and you’re partner are inexcusably going round in circle’s without getting anywhere, If it was me, I would be wanting to speak directly to the General Manager, pointing out the next step is as @kezo’s suggesting, emailing Motability’s CEO and threatening both Motability and the Dealership that if they do not sort it out quickly, then you will contact the media, who love helping out with stories like this.
I’m confused (not difficult) on two counts.
Firstly, I am at a complete loss how an accredited Motability dealership can refuse to arrange adaptations yet still remain accredited. Surely, they should have their Motability contract removed as they are not fit for purpose.
Secondly, this ‘transfer cost’ issue sounds like a complete red herring. Unless the replacement garage is in the same dealership group, it is highly unlikely that the original garage will release the car, unless Motability have already purchased the car. The new dealer would want to order from the manufacturer themselves in order to qualify for their volume based discounts and incentives.
If Motability don’t own the car (and I would think that they don’t) then I think it’s a complete non-starter. The original dealer will be unlikely to release it and the new dealer won’t want to buy it. If they do own the car then they should be able to get it moved at their cost, as they shouldn’t have allowed your partner to be put in this situation.
Keep in mind that until your partner enters the PIN number, he has the upper hand and has no liability for the car whatsoever and can simply walk away and start again elsewhere which, I must confess, I’d be tempted to do as a point of principle.
Customers who do need adaptions, really need to check the car before the adaptions are fitted by a third party and then check both again, once the adaption is fitted, before entering your pin.
Top tip that. Sorry for drifting off subject.
Skoda Enyaq Race Blue
Its now late afternoon Wednesday, 10 days after initially posting here asking for advice, 6 to 7 weeks down the line, yet in reality your no further forward and still going round in circles!
Motability focusing on keeping the application live, trying to urge the dealership is absolutely nonsense. Motability should be reiterating to the dealership, what an accredited dealer is and their responsibilities of what is expected of them – not being pussy footed about by the dealership or its managing director.
For Motability then go on and tell your partner, if it can’t be resolved the application can easily be transfered to another dealership, but transportation costs for a transfer would be charged to your partner, is bollocks regardless whether the assistant was reading from a policy sheet or not, if the case had gone to a senior mananager, the assistant would be reading from notes, not a policy sheet!
As, I said from the start, dealing with Motability customer services for such a case, would just go round in circles and will go on and on and on, causing your partner more and more undue stress. The fact the managing director, is siding with the salesman and reiterating the dealership doesn’t deal with adaptions your only going to get it sorted one of two ways-
1/ Contacting Motability CEO’s department would have seen an outcome/solution within 24hrs and we wouldn’t be here now and in my honest view, is by far the best way forward to get this resolved quickly in your partners favour.
2/ However, I’m beginning to think the best way forward, to avoid further undue stress on your partner, is to cancel the order and go to Arnold Clark or other dealer (if any). That way, your partner starts from fresh, with a new dealer, with no bad blood over the next 2-3yrs should there become a fault or during service intervals. You never know they might have something in stock your partner likes and perhaps most importantly take disabled and adaptions responsibly!
Keep in mind that until your partner enters the PIN number, he has the upper hand and has no liability for the car whatsoever and can simply walk away and start again elsewhere which, I must confess, I’d be tempted to do as a point of principle.
I keep saying it from the start 🙂 I appreciate it is their first vehicle and the partner only recently joined us, the one leggies lot, but still I would expect self-preservation mechanism firing long time ago.
Sent from a mobile device.
Apologies for briefness and spelling mistakes.Motability Skoda Enyaq SportLine 85x April 2024 (unhappy customer - Ombudsman pending)
Motability Mazda CX-60 PHEV July 2023 (unhappy customer - early termination on mechanical grounds)
Motability VW Touran Family Pack May 2019 (happy customer)@pifball @kezo I don’t think Arnold Clark does Nissan in Scotland. It is Barnets in Perth and Western in Stirling. Unfortunately as someone who used hand controls for 48 years and never had a test drive, there is usually only two ways to pre test adaption’s, either you have to go to an adaption center or find someone who has them on their car, who will let you try them.
@pifball I very much agree that it has now reached the time that you should be contacting the MB CEO, to complain about both the Dealership’s and Motability’s disgraceful handling of your partner’s order,Can I just ask you why you both have not contacted Western Nissan, Stirling about them ordering a car for you, as you say they are 30 miles nearer to you and it is only 30 miles (35 minutes), from the Glasgow adaption fitting company.
Maybe that would be a better solution.?
You both are getting pretty close to the new September MB rule changes, even if some won’t effect you, if you stay in a. rural area.
Partner wants to give it till the end of the week before escalating. I am reading and appreciating the information. This is totally unknown territory for us and different perspectives really help.
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