A consumer champion says he has saved disgruntled consumers £10,000 just this year alone - on everything from a kitchen refund to unfair parking fines and a burst watermelon. And the secret, according to Scott Dixon, is complaining.
Scott, who is an expert on motoring disputes, says you don’t need to have a background in law to fight for your rights. He has published a book and also helps others through The Complaints Resolver blog.
He said: “What started as a hobby based on a lifetime of unique and bad experiences has turned into a passion in helping consumers in raising awareness of consumer rights. These are life-changing amounts of money for people and my knowledge isn't common knowledge.”
He shared his biggest successes so far in 2023 with the Mirror:
Parking tickets - £940
There are two different types of parking tickets and their names can look confusingly similar. Parking tickets issued by local authorities and councils are called Penalty Charge Notices. These are legally enforceable.
Tickets handed out by private firms - such as an independent parking ticket company on behalf of a bigger business - are called Parking Charge Notices. If you think you've been unfairly fined, appealing it is free to do.
Scott says he has helped people cancel more than a dozen parking fines this year. Some of the most common reasons drivers have been able to successfully appeal fines include:
- Road signs were hidden
- You entered the wrong number plate into a machine
- The meter was broken
- You were minutes out of time
- Your vehicle had broken down
Scott said: "One of my followers contacted me on Twitter as her elderly Mother overstayed in a local car park by 11 minutes. The car park only allows you 45 minutes to park and shop, which is unfair on elderly and disabled drivers who need more time to read the Terms and Conditions of the signage and to do their shopping.
"These unscrupulous private parking operators prey on consumers not knowing what I know, which is why I do what I do in raising awareness of consumer right."
He explained how customers need to be given sufficient time to read any Terms and Conditions on signs. In another example, he told how he helped a driver cancel a fine after they accidentally entered the wrong location code on the RingGo parking app.
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MOT scare - £750
Scott intervened when a garage refused to let a driver take his car home after an MOT. The motorist had paid £89 upfront for a service and MOT - but the car failed its MOT.
The garage said it would charge the driver £749 to fix the fault. The owner of the car disputed this, as he had not agreed for the work to be done - but the garage tried to keep hold of his vehicle until he paid up.
Scott advised him to issue a letter of Before Action, threatening to take the company to the small claims court if they don't release the car.
He said: "They tried to keep the car and wouldn't release it until he paid their extortionate invoice. A look at the reviews online demonstrated a consistency with their unscrupulous tactics and behaviour.
"I cross-referenced the complaint against various paragraphs within the Consumer Rights Act 2015 with advice and the steps to take to secure a full refund."
Kitchen refund - £8,100
Scott helped out when a customer struggled to get a refund for a kitchen that was riddled with various faults. He got involved after a mutual connection tagged him into a tweet the complainer posted on Twitter.
He said he cross-referenced various paragraphs from the Consumer Rights Act 2015 against her complaint. It meant she was able to secure a refund after "quoting chapter and verse" from the Consumer Rights Act 2015 in her complaint letter, he said:
The woman was originally offered a £5,500 refund until she approached Scott for advice and secured a full refund. Scott said: “Never accept the first offer unless you believe it is fair. Firms often use this as a tactic to close complaints and deny you a full and proper remedy."
Tesco Clubcard vouchers - £120
Scott helped one Tesco customer get her Clubcard points back after she made a mistake when trying to redeem them against a Hotel.com booking. Tesco lets you redeem your Clubcard points at triple their value if you use them against a "Rewards Partner" - although this is being reduced to double their value next month.
The woman wanted to use her Clubcard points to book multiple rooms and admits she didn't realise you could only make one booking per code. It meant she ended up losing £120 worth of Clubcard vouchers.
After failing to secure a refund through the Tesco customer service team, she contacted Scott. He advised the her to email the Tesco CEO.
He said: "The CEO probably won't read it but the escalated complaints team will. Say that you are a loyal customer and upset at how your complaint has been handled."
Bus fine - £70
A driver was able to cancel a £70 bus fine based on poor signage thanks to some very niche advice from Scott. He says he spotted that the bus lane was wrongly marked as a "bus only route" - stating that buses need a 45 degree dotted taper line to filter traffic into an adjacent lane.
He explained: "This is impossible on a one-way street."
Burst watermelon - £10
Scott managed to secure a £10 goodwill gesture from Asda after a burst watermelon caused a mess for his mum and dad. He said his dad had pressed the watermelon to see if it was edible - only for it to burst and spray foul liquid over his mum's coat.
He contacted Asda citing the Consumer Rights Act 2015. It states goods ought to be fit for purpose, as described, satisfactory quality and services ought to be carried out with due care and skill.
He said: "I had to press hard on that as they only offered £5 originally, which I rejected. You rarely accept the first offer unless you are happy with it and consider it reasonable. They doubled it after I pushed back saying it simply wasn't good enough in light of the distress caused and cited customer loyalty. What does £5 buy you these days?"
Scott is the author of How To Complain: The Consumer Guide to Resolve Complaints and Motoring Disputes
