Ranty Friday 6 March

[GreenGiant 287]

This week, I thought I’d refrain from frothing over things that go on in the outside world and pick on a scab that the Motor Trade is seemingly happy to display to the outside world.

 

There has been a steady increase in this pernicious blight over the last few years. A practice that has spread from Finance Houses to auction companies, Car Supermarkets, big groups, little groups… in fact, anyone that has no shame and thinks they can get away with it. In fact, it has become just another method by which Average Joe is having his pocket picked by the greedy, greedy boys.

 

I’m talking about Admin Fees.

 

One of those Ryanair-like  phenomena whereby you tell your customers how much the thing is they want to buy, then charge more for it right at the end of the process. Because you can.

 

It’s a rip-off.

 

I know it, you know it and, more importantly, your one-time-only customers know it.

 

You see it as an essential revenue stream. They see it as a con.

You think the customers agree that the compulsory ‘fee’ you charge to cover the cost of raising an invoice should be massively disproportionate and shouldn’t be included within the up-front selling price along with all your other overheads. They don’t – they see it as a con.

You feel justified as it appears to show transparency in how there are no ‘hidden’ charges. They know there are no hidden charges anyway and see it as a con.

You think that, as you itemise it separately on the invoice, you can then advertise your cars at a slightly lower 'price' than the honest (old-school, maybe. But definitely honest.) Dealer up the road and attract more enquiries. Everyone else sees it as a con.

(And how that affects the data that certain online portals calculate their ‘valuations’ is a whole different ball of wax.)

 

Anyway, I hope it’s only a matter of time before Trading Standards sniffs around and they never find the stench of Corporate Greed pleasant. Meantime, your one-time-only customers are becoming my Customers for Life.

So Cheers for that, but why do you have to be so *%&?ing greedy?!

 

 

[Cornish Guy 45]

I was thinking about BT TV on my standard broadband line.

I object to the £35 fee for them to make sure that they have set up my broadband correctly!

Stuff them.

 

On the topic of fees. I reckon 1Link must be near the top for knowing how to charge fees!

Booking fees, chase fees etc and they are constantly pestering you in the hope that you miss the response deadlines so that they can rack up the bill.

[Wessexboy 4]

Couldn't agree more GG. The public don't need much of an excuse to assume the Motor Trade is full of dodgy practices and this just feeds their prejudices. 

 

I assume the bean counters at the top of the tree are responsible, the sort of people that have never had a face to face conversation with a customer in their lives and are therefore completely oblivious to the bad feeling this causes.

 

I think that adding an admin fee reflects poorly on these businesses' ability to manage their processes to ensure a sensible profit is made in the margin.