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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Anna Tims

Our cars were towed away for repair and are being held to ransom

Problems started when a Bidfood lorry reversed into a car outside a house and repairs got underway.
Problems started when a Bidfood lorry reversed into a car outside a house and repairs got underway. Photograph: Maureen McLean/Alamy

A Bidfood delivery lorry reversed into my car outside my house in January. Bidfood used a fleet management company, VMS, to arrange repairs and provide a hire car. Since then, I have had no meaningful updates from VMS. The manager assigned to my case is unavailable when I ring, and promised callbacks don’t materialise. In the meantime, I have received five penalty charge notices (PCNs) for unpaid Ulez (ultra-low emission zone) charges, indicating that my car has been driven without my knowledge.
BN, Brighton

Thus begins one of the most extraordinary cases I have ever investigated. Soon afterwards, I received an almost identical complaint from NC in Hertfordshire. Her car was damaged by a lorry belonging to food wholesaler Bidfood in June.

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