Shire Leasing..

[Vaheed Akhtar]

Hi All,

I've got a major issue with Shire leasing and was wondering if anyone has any legal/sound advice for me. It's a little long winded, so please bare with me.

I signed a lease with a coffee company (Rijo42) 2 years ago to hire a coffee machine for 3 years. All well and good for the first few months, but I realised with their price of products, I wasn't making anything back after paying the £91 a month to them for the machine. Things got so bad with it, I had to sell cups at 50p! The problem in the main was that the same coffee, which is also being sold at two other canteen's/cafe's around me, got a bad name from one of them - which then effected my sales.

I started buying coffee beans at half of their asking price and all of a sudden they started sending me letters saying that if I don't buy any ingredients from them, my right to have the machine repaired for free, was there to be any damage/fault to it, will be removed and that I would be charged for the service.

The machine has a fault on it and they are refusing to come out and fix it, unless I either a)pay for the call out or b) buy a box a coffee from them for £100+ - I rang shire leasing and asked for a copy of the original agreement and they won't send me one.

What do I do? I could just cancel the DD but I don't want to end up with a bad finance history. I refuse to pay their prices for coffee. So I'm stuck with a £90 a month machine, which is sitting there making f-all for me.

H-E-L-P

 

This sounds to me like a supplier problem, not a leasing problem.

If you look at your document you might well find a designated service supplier. Alternatively go back to whoever supplied the machine to you. In the vast majority of cases lease contracts do not cover service.

Are you sure you are not confusing the supplier & the leasinng company?

 

[Vaheed Akhtar]

This sounds to me like a supplier problem, not a leasing problem.

If you look at your document you might well find a designated service supplier. Alternatively go back to whoever supplied the machine to you. In the vast majority of cases lease contracts do not cover service.

Are you sure you are not confusing the supplier & the leasinng company?

Hi,

Rijo42 are the suppliers of the equipment, but Shire leasing are the brokerage. As far as i understand it, they are both tied into the same agreement with their own various terms and conditions.

 

The finance brokerage aren't responsible for the maintenance of your machine, or for delivering coffee

I have no idea what your arrangement was with Rijo42, but it obviously makes most sense to pursue them as they have the means to rectify the situation.

It strikes me that the title of the thread is misleading and possibly malicious - surely it should be problems with Rijo42?

 

[bovine]

It is Rijo that you need to talk to and check you contract. Whenever we do stuff through leasing, it has the normal 1 year support/service contract. Year 2 and 3 are optional and are offered at the end of the year. Sounds like Rijo offer support free if you buy coffee from them. Obviously its not free, but the support cost is loaded in with the coffee cost. So the more coffee you buy the more likely you will need repairs, so the cost is loaded in. Quite a good idea, as along as you the customer realise you are paying for the coffee and support on each bag. You didnt realise this and bought cheaper coffee elsewhere and now want them to fix the problem for free.

Sorry, but I suspect you are in the wrong and I suggest you start buying their coffee again! Oh and congratulations on getting this post so high up google rankings. Shire and Rijo will be pleased.

 

[Vaheed Akhtar]

It is Rijo that you need to talk to and check you contract. Whenever we do stuff through leasing, it has the normal 1 year support/service contract. Year 2 and 3 are optional and are offered at the end of the year. Sounds like Rijo offer support free if you buy coffee from them. Obviously its not free, but the support cost is loaded in with the coffee cost. So the more coffee you buy the more likely you will need repairs, so the cost is loaded in. Quite a good idea, as along as you the customer realise you are paying for the coffee and support on each bag. You didnt realise this and bought cheaper coffee elsewhere and now want them to fix the problem for free.

Sorry, but I suspect you are in the wrong and I suggest you start buying their coffee again! Oh and congratulations on getting this post so high up google rankings. Shire and Rijo will be pleased.

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. As I've already mentioned, the original agreement did not include a clause to say that I HAD to buy coffee from them in order to have the machine serviced/fixed in future. I'm certain of this. I've even requested a copy of the original lease agreement which has turned out to be a mini mission.

Rinjo42, as far as I'm concerned, have me pushed in a corner - I've even requested the machine to be transferred to another sandwich shop to see if I can make a go of it there, and I've also offered to buy the first lot of ingredients from them - but they won't do it....despite getting assurances that they would (6 moths ago). Remember, there's as much in this for them, as it is for me. It feels like after I've signed the 3 year lease, they couldn't give two hoots about any problems thereafter.

I make VERY little from the coffee - and as a customer, I would expect a little help in trying to promote it a little more - If it were my company, I would do my upmost to help someone who is selling my product.

I've requested for a balance to pay it off 3 TIMES from Shire. Now, correct me if I'm wrong here, but I have every right to criticise both these organisation. I've leant something here though and that NEVER to hire a coffee machine ever again.

 

Shire Leasing might be due for criticsm for not providing a settlent figure or for not forwarding copy documents (though they are within their rights to charge for the latter)

However the title & tone of your post have implicted them in the delivery - or otherwise - of service from your supplier, which is entirely wrong.

The leasing contract will not cover ongoing issues such as maintenance or supplies as thse remain matters between you & your supplier.

 

[bovine]

Without sight of the original agreement, it is not possible to be 100%, but I would say that ongoing maintenance and repair of the coffee machine would most likely not be included in the cost of the lease. The finance agreement is for the coffee machine, not support. Unless you specifically asked for years 2 and 3 support to be included, it wont have been.

The machine most likely had a 1 year warranty. The cost of the coffee they sell includes the cost of ongoing support. Dont buy the coffee, dont get the support.

Obviously shire should give you the figures and paperwork, but as far as making sure the machine is repaired that is down to you. Rijo have made it easy by including the cost in the coffee, but have fallen down my not explaining it to you. If they had explained to you their pricing structure it would probably have been seen as a good deal. By this not happening, you have assumed they are over charging you and trying to con you. In my opinion this is not the case.

You probably need to charge more for the coffee. 50p a cup is rather low!

The issue now is to get the machine up and running and making money again. Probably best to buy the coffee from them and keep buying the coffee from them.

Just to re-iterate what I have said - the problem you have with shire and rijo is the machine is 2 years old, the warranty has expired and the machine has a fault. No one will come and fix it for free because there is no service cover.
You were offered an ongoing support if you bought the coffee from them. You didnt and now they want to charge you for the repair. This is perfectly reasonable and to say shire and rijo have acted badly is quite unreasonable!

Sorry if this sounds a bit harsh, I am just trying to help you.