Alarms on my model new Citroen go off for no good purpose – however the vendor will not repair it: SALLY SORTS IT
I bought a new Citroen C3 for £15,856 in April 2025, but within a week the car developed issues.
The alarm kept going off for no reason, usually in the middle of the night. The speed detector was beeping every time I drove on the M1 because it thought I should be going at 30mph.
A rear seatbelt was setting off beeps even when it was fastened. There was also a chip in the dashboard.
I took it back to the dealer in May, but the car was returned with nothing fixed as it said it needed to order a new part.
It was booked in again for July, when the car was kept for two weeks, but again returned without being fixed.
It went in for a third check on September 22. At this point I was told to complain to Citroen head office. This got me nowhere. Please help.
N.S., Watford.
Driving you crazy: A reader’s brand new Citroen car developed a infuriating array of faults within just a week of ownership
Sally Hamilton replies: BY the time you contacted me in February, ten months had elapsed since you’d purchased your faulty car.
Apart from not having the vehicle you had purchased for about half that time, the lack of communication and customer service was driving you further round the bend.
You expected more from Stellantis, which owns Citroen, as you have been a loyal customer.
The dealer did provide you with a temporary replacement – a Peugeot – but that was not the car you purchased and wasn’t what you wanted.
With the one-year anniversary of the unfortunate purchase looming, and with little faith that the faults would ever be repaired, you decided the only satisfactory result would be a replacement.
Your assessment that the original motor was not fit for purpose seemed obvious, so I stepped in to reinforce your demands for a replacement plus free servicing thrown in as an apology.
After several stalled attempts to elicit a response from Stellantis, I eventually persuaded it to jump start its efforts into chasing customer service and the dealer about your complaint.
Before long, it confirmed the troublesome manual C3 would indeed be replaced, and to your delight that was with a higher spec automatic version, at no extra cost.
Your monthly leasing charge will remain the same, even though the new model costs £2,667 more.
This extra cost will be met by Stellantis and the dealer. The firm also agreed to provide three years’ free servicing, worth £360.
You were thrilled with this result. Anyone who takes delivery of a new car that quickly develops a serious fault should exercise their rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. If this occurs within 30 days, they have the right to a full refund.
If they become aware after 30 days but before six months have passed, the dealer has one opportunity to fix or replace it. If that fails, they must give the buyer a refund or offer them a price reduction to keep it.
If six months have passed, the buyer must prove the fault was there all along.
If a dealer denies responsibility, it can be worth claiming under the manufacturer’s warranty.
Customers who hit a roadblock with their case can try The Motor Ombudsman’s Alternative Dispute Resolution service.
Complaints must be raised within 12 months of the issue occurring or six months of a final response from the dealer.
Ebay postage fees
Last August I purchased a cover for our motorhome on Ebay.
I was responsible for organising delivery, and used the comparison website Parcelhero, choosing a Parcelforce service which cost £12.65.
The cover was packed in a soft bag, measured 64x51x54cm and weighed just under 8kg. The parcel was delivered to me with no problem.
Two weeks later, I received an email from Parcelhero saying Parcelforce had measured the item and said it exceeded its size limit, so Parcelhero took a further £74.34 from my card. Please help.
T.M., Falkland, Fife.
Sally Hamilton replies: Facing an extra charge of a whopping six times what you had already paid came as a nasty shock.
You had used Parcelhero, which is an online courier comparison and delivery booking service, because it threw up the best-value deal – but in the end you felt let down.
When you queried the charge with Parcelhero by email (the only form of contact you could find) it replied that Parcelforce’s own measurements did not match the size you had quoted.
You disputed the courier’s assessment and forwarded photos showing the clear measurements. Parcelhero agreed to dispute the charge with Parcelforce.
You began receiving almost weekly emails from Parcelhero stating your case was in progress and that you would be informed when a decision was made.
This continued for months without resolution. By New Year you demanded action but got nowhere, and a letter to head office went unanswered.
Meanwhile, Parcelhero’s terms and conditions stated you should have been given seven days’ notice before it took further funds from your card, and that none would be taken if you raised a dispute.
You said the email notifying you of the charge arrived the day the charge was taken. You applied for a chargeback from your card provider but this was declined because the bank said ‘the service had been provided’.
On my intervention, Parcelhero delivered some better service. It took just a couple of days to discover what had gone wrong.
It seems that because your cover was in soft wrapping, its dimensions changed once it was placed on Parcelforce’s scanner.
It was found to be 84x62x53cm, and not the 64x51x54cm you entered on the online form when booking.
This meant it exceeded the dimension limit you paid for, and incurred Parcelforce’s large package surcharge. Parcelhero says its packaging criteria advise customers to use a rigid box for the very reason that soft bags are difficult to measure.
It did appeal to Parcelforce on your behalf, but confusion arose as you initially believed you had been reimbursed under the chargeback scheme. But this wasn’t the case.
On learning that you had lost the chargeback dispute, and to make up for the long delay in resolving matters, Parcelhero agreed to refund you both the surcharge of £74.34 and the original £12.65 bill.
A Parcelhero spokesman says: ‘Providing clear guidance and a high standard of customer service is central to everything we do, and we take any case where that is not met very seriously.’
- Write to Sally Hamilton at Sally Sorts It, Money Mail, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or email [email protected] ¿ include phone number, address and a note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Sally Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given.
