A Cape Town woman whose new Ford Fiesta apparently spontaneously caught fire while parked in her garage, is locked in a dispute with the Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa over compensation for her financial loss.
Dalida Hugo said the car was parked in a locked garage at her rented flat in Sea Point on March 26 when it burst into flames, severely damaged the vehicle, her garage and adjoining garages, and also destroyed personal belongings she had stored in the garage.
The car, which Hugo bought last year, was written off by her insurance company. It had done about 12 500km and had not yet had its first service.
She claimed she was out of pocket to the tune of about R130 700.
This included the R19 260 shortfall between the payout from her insurance company and the settlement amount on the vehicle finance contract with Ford Credit, insurance costs of R7 775.12 for the eight-month period prior to the car being damaged and written off, the value of personal belongings destroyed in the fire, and the costs of repairs to the damaged garages and building.
Ford SA on May 20 offered Hugo a R30 000 discount on a new Ford vehicle after a firm of independent forensic investigators it appointed determined that the official cause of the fire was “accidental” and there was “no evidence to suggest the fire originated as a result of any design defects”.
A letter from Ford SA to Hugo said the report of the investigators indicated the fire originated in the engine compartment in the vicinity of the air filter housing and battery, and there was no evidence of any deliberate ignition, pre-fire forced entry or any interference with any of the electrical components or connections on any of the harnesses.
Hugo accepted an offer from Ford SA of a rental vehicle for the duration of the investigation.
However, after expressing dissatisfaction with the R30 000 discount offer, Hugo received another letter from Ford SA on the same day requesting her to return the loan vehicle by the following day (May 21).
Hugo was also warned she would be liable for the charges for the vehicle from May 22 and informed the offer of a R30 000 discount would be terminated on May 27.
She wrote to Ford SA and complained that as a single person, she felt she was being bullied by the company and their offer was totally unacceptable.
Hugo also complained that she was placed under huge emotional stress and anxiety because of the length of time it took for Ford to finalise its investigation and the pressure placed on her by other tenants and owners in the flat complex to repair the damage caused by the fire.
Hugo told Business Report she wanted Ford SA to place her back in the same position as she was before this incident and take financial responsibility for all the losses she had incurred because of their product.
Lloyd Marlowe, a Ford SA spokesman, said the offer of a discount was a gesture of goodwill to assist Hugo with the purchase of a replacement vehicle and not to compensate her for a fault on the car.
“While Ms Hugo’s insurance company has already reimbursed her at replacement value for a new vehicle, we wanted to express our goodwill to Ms Hugo.” Marlowe said Hugo was given seven days to consider Ford’s discount offer, which it believed was sufficient for her to make a decision. The loan vehicle was “a courtesy that was extended to Ms Hugo for the entire seven week duration of the investigation. As the investigation is now concluded, we have requested the vehicle’s return,” he said.
Marlowe confirmed Ford SA had a specific policy on dealing with customer complaints. The company placed the well-being and satisfaction of its customers first and employed a process to address customer complaints as speedily and as efficiently as possible. He noted: “We followed the same process in dealing with Ms Hugo.”
Hugo lodged a complaint with the motor industry ombudsman and also consulted a lawyer. Attempts to obtain comment from the ombudsman were unsuccessful. Hugo is waiting for legal advice on the matter. - Roy Cokayne