A shabby finance company
Dateline: November 2005
Our correspondent writes ...
In 1998 I bought a Toyota Picnic which has, with few exceptions, been a reasonably good servant and which, at this moment in time, I still
possess. But this position may change in the next few days because a company of solicitors called Lester Aldridge
have sent me several letters and emails over the past few days threatening legal action if I do not pay two instalments which Toyota say are
outstanding. The senior partner at Lester Aldridge has advised Toyota to repossess the vehicle if I do not pay the 'missing' instalments within
seven days. So by 7th December my rattling seven-year-old pile of Japanese metal and plastic could be gone from my drive.
And that, you might think, would serve me right for failing to yield to threats from a company solicitors except ...
... except that I do not owe any outstanding instalments to Toyota. The payments to which they refer (October and November 2005) were both
deposited in Toyota's bank account prior to the dates they were due - the same bank account that has been receiving my payments since 1998. I have
checked and double-checked with my own bank and they have confirmed that the payments were transferred by BACS. I have passed this information to
Toyota and their legal people several times but they still insist that I have defaulted on payment.
This situation could be laughable except that this is not the first time Toyota have lost payments that were made to their bank account so let
me take you back to the time when, having given up a job with regular pay, my reserves eventually started dwindling because my new business
venture was not taking off as fast as I hoped it would. Fortunately, my only hire purchase commitment was to Toyota Financial Services (UK) PLC so
I figured I could survive with a little help and understanding from TFS.
Although I bought the car new in 1998 and had completed the original finance agreement I had refinanced the balloon payment with TFS. Having
already repaid £19,713 for a £14,900 loan, I had an outstanding balance of £2,839.
The monthly payments were becoming increasingly difficult to meet and I had previously contacted TFS to see if I could negotiate a smaller
instalment. After all, they had benefited very nicely during a period of particularly low interest rates. Their best offer was to reduce the next
three monthly payments slightly to help out - not really a great deal of help.
After that, I struggled to make payments and eventually asked TFS about surrendering the vehicle. Their employee, Patrick Glasgow,
offered me a price that would clear the balance but it was well under the current value quoted in Parker's Guide. When questioned about this, he
then told me that if they got more from the sale they would keep the difference for themselves. Clearly this was not a good deal so I refused it.
Then there was a disagreement about the payments I had made - Toyota refused to acknowledge receipt of one payment that I knew had been made.
During subsequent conversations, Patrick Glasgow made threats to have the car repossessed even though such action would have been illegal, and he
used illegal tactics in an attempt to extract personal information claiming it was necessary under the terms of the Data Protection Act. When I
made an official complaint which was investigated by Michael Fry, Glasgow's supervisor, he denied most of it. At this point I decided I did
not wish to deal with liars and forced a court hearing in the hope I could get Glasgow in the witness box and expose his lies under oath. I also
wanted to show to the court that Michael Fry had manipulated and fabricated evidence which Toyota presented to the court.
Although I turned up for the court case, Toyota - via Lester Aldridge - appointed a very expensive local barrister to act on their behalf and,
as it turned out, this was done at my expense. This man had been briefed in respect of the legal situation but knew absolutely nothing about the
circumstances leading up to the case, and frankly wasn't interested. No-one from TFS attended the hearing so I was forced into a corner, none of
Toyota's illegal actions were exposed, and my £2,839 indebtedness was increased by £1,827.50 to cover legal expenses. What a fiasco!! Whilst I
naively believed courts dealt with issues of justice I learned that they actually protect the assets of those who can afford to buy justice and
aren't really interested in facts.
Although I was very bitter, I stuck to the terms of the court order and have paid every monthly instalment on or before the due date. So you
can imagine how I have reacted now more of my money appears to have disappeared into Toyota's mysterious black hole. They never explained what
happened to the first missing payment and, even though I proved to the judge that the payment had been made, Toyota didn't even have the decency
to apologise.
I wrote a letter of complaint to Toyota's CEO, David Betteley, and he passed it on to Brian Munday who goes by the grand title of
"General Manager Marketing and Customer Relations". His response indicates that 'Customer Relations' are not high on the priority list and I have
a mental image of a not-too-intellectual man in white overalls carrying a large brush and a bucket of whitewash. So much for complaining to this
company!!
After the first incident I eventually decided to let sleeping dogs lie, accept I had failed in my attempt to expose Toyota, and pay off the
balance on what is now a very expensive and dated vehicle. When I make the final payment I will have paid Toyota £27,919.21 for a vehicle priced
at £18,440 in 1998 - that's the purchase price plus 51.4% interest. But, worryingly, though I calculate I still owe £3,666.50 - the figure
determined by the court - Toyota have provided me with a statement showing an outstanding balance of £7,160.78. God knows what that implies but
one thing I do know is that if you ask Toyota or their solicitors a question, they usually ignore it.
Having asked yesterday for an explanation - click here to see a copy of my email -
I shall have to wait and see if Mr Betteley is really concerned about matters for which he is ultimately responsible. He may, of course, pass it
on to Brian "Whitewash" Munday again, or he may ignore my message completely, accept the advice of the solicitor, and snatch the car back without
bothering to check if someone in the organisation is pocketing some of the money I have paid.
If they do take the car, I will be left with no residual value for what has proved to be a bloody expensive vehicle but at least I will be much
wiser than I was in 1998 when I foolishly signed a hire purchase agreement with Toyota Financial Services (UK) PLC.
Although I can't fault Toyota cars, I can warn other potential customers about the dangers of dealing with Toyota's finance department if there
is any risk that you might not be able to keep up the payments. In my experience their interest rates were always extremely high but their
behaviour when things went wrong was ruthless and dishonest.
I spent some years working in the car industry and my job brought me into contact with my Japanese counterparts in Ford and Mazda. All of them
were very honourable men and I have no doubt that men like Katsuake Watanabe, and his colleagues at Toyota in Japan, are also very
honourable. Unfortunately, I don't think the word 'honourable' could ever be applied to those in management positions in the British Toyota
operation because they appear to have little or no integrity and are happy to employ liars and cheats.
Beware ... Toyota Financial Services (UK) are not nice people, nor are their legal advisers - Lester Aldridge.
Toyota update
It's now 15th January 2006. More than a month has passed since Lester Aldridge threatened to advise Toyota to
repossess my Picnic yet the Picnic is still sitting on my drive. I have since made the December payment and the January payment will be made next
week. The email I sent to David Bettely (CEO of Toyota Financial Services) on 30th November was copied to two of his staff and to
Andrew John Corke (Senior partner at Lester Aldridge). All sent read acknowledgements but not one of them had
the courtesy to reply.
Although their allegations were completely false, I suspect it would be totally unreasonable of me to expect an apology from such ignorant
pigs!!
Toyota seems to be truly international ...
We have been contacted by a gentleman in the USA who tells us the Toyota people there act just like the Mafia. He has promised to let us have
more details soon.
Definitely not a nice company - they seem to thrive on lies
I had my car repossessed by these cowboys because I was one payment behind! I phoned them up to arrange to pay it the following month but the
snotty woman at the other end was not interested.
The next day a van pulled up outside my house to take my car! The driver claimed he had a court order to take my car away and stated that I had
not responded to previous letters from Toyota! What letters? I never got any!
My car has now thankfully gone and I am just waiting for them to get in touch...
MB, Wirral
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