Volkswagen dealership in Portsmouth apologises to family for 'mix-up' during eight-year-old's sudden cancer diagnosis

Robert and Michelle Hood had signed a contract to buy a Volkswagen Golf on finance from the Peter Cooper dealership in Bilton Way on Saturday, October 31, just before their daughter’s health took a dramatic turn for the worse.

The next day saw eight-year-old Chloe suffer from increasingly worrying symptoms, including her losing the use of her left arm and unexplained dark bruises appearing across her body.

Her concerned parents rushed her to the walk-in centre at St Mary’s Community Health Campus, where Chloe was referred to Queen Alexandra Hospital for tests, before being taken to Southampton University Hospital where she was diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukaemia.

On Monday November 2, concerned about taking on the financial burden of a new car during a time of family crisis, Michelle phoned the Portsmouth dealership to see if they could pull out of the car purchase – beginning a dozen phone calls and emails with the firm that the family say ‘compounded’ their stress.

Referring to a conversation with a sales executive at the firm, Tesco worker Michelle said: ‘I called them on Monday and basically told them the diagnosis.

‘I said, ‘I don't know whether I can take the car or not, I will call you back’.

‘I called back in the afternoon and they basically said, “well the car’s been paid, the car’s yours, you need to take it up with the finance company, there’s nothing we can do about it”.

‘I said there's no way I can get it, I'm in Southampton – and they said they could get it delivered.’

Having signed the contract for the car purchase at the dealership, the company had no legal requirement to offer a 14-day cooling off period on the car sale.

But following a series of phone calls, a sales manager from the dealership confirmed that a cancellation form would be sent to VW Finance Services on Wednesday, November 4, and apologised for the stress caused by a ‘total mix-up in communication’.

In an email sent to Mr Hood and seen by The News, the sales manager said: ‘After the sad news we quite simply should have understood the situation and put a hold on the purchase and not expected you to take delivery - a total mix-up in communication.

‘With the lockdown situation that we currently find ourselves in I had tasked the sales team to get all their deliveries out as quickly as possible - that’s where the confusion may have come.

‘I want to personally apologise to you and your family that you felt no sympathy around the situation and believed we were looking to force the car on you.

‘This is not how we like to do business in fact we pride ourselves on our customer service, but unfortunately we have let ourselves down here.’

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The dealership also offered to buy teddy bear for Chloe, as a token of sympathy.

Driving instructor Robert said: ‘I told them they could shove their teddy where the sun doesn’t shine.’

Approached by The News, Gary Church, operations director of the dealership group, said: ‘On ascertaining the family’s tragic circumstances, other options were initially looked at by our sales team to see if Mrs Hood wanted to keep the order in place and take ownership of the car at a later date.

‘On understanding the very sad issues involved, our team proceeded to take the best possible action to unwind the finance agreement that Mrs Hood had activated.

‘When we realised the customer was not entirely happy with the overall experience, I personally made contact with Mr Hood and apologised that our processes did not happen as quickly as normal.’

Chloe remains in hospital having undergone chemotherapy last week, with her parents praising the NHS for its rapid diagnosis and treatment.

The family’s doctor – Dr Rajesh Bhateja of the Southsea Medical Centre – ‘saved Chloe’s life’ according to Robert, who praised the doctor for calling for further tests after he examined Chloe during his locum shift at St Mary’s.

He said: ‘Our doctor diagnosed her within 20 minutes and saved her life - that man is an absolute superstar.

‘My wife was broken-hearted with the cancer diagnosis.

‘It was terrifying. We were shaking like a leaf. But the NHS has been absolutely fantastic.’

Chloe remains in Southampton University Hospital undergoing treatment.

Robert has said his daughter may require up to two years’ worth of treatment, with a 90 per cent chance of a full recovery.

A message from the editor, Mark Waldron

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