Claim Appeal Processing Time

Hi! I'm wondering if anyone has dealt with the similar problem. I received my offer for the Emissions Modification back in January and was waiting this whole time for the approval of the modification. Modification for my car model finally got approved this summer. During the time of signing my original offer there was a clause saying that you can change back to buyback later. I decided to change to buyback last month, so I called claims customer service and the lady I spoke to has told me that I can go ahead and change my option to buyback. All they had to do is reset my account and I needed to go back and fill out the info to get my new offer. I went to my account and started from scratch. I entered all of my info and it gave me a message saying that the only option I now have is emissions modification and the amount I will get is 50% less than what my original offer from January was. I am beyond pissed. I keep calling VW claims and they keep telling me that there is nothing they can do, because resetting the account basically wipes off the old offer. I later found out that I'm not getting the buyback option, because I bought my car when my lease was over in August 2016 and supposedly the cut off date was June 28, 2016. No one has ever told me that when they said they will reset the account (I would never agree to it if I knew this). Also, how come back in January I was eligible even though I entered the exact same info...very suspicious. I am very frustrated with this whole process and I don't know what should I do now to get the amount I was quoted in my offer from January. Last time VW claims told me to send an email to their claim appeal committee and ask for appeal. I have sent them two emails already in last month, but no one is replying to me. Has anyone experienced something similar? What did you do? I just don't want to lose money because their staff is so uneducated when they give advice and tell you "sure you can change to buyback"...what is the claims appeal processing time?

Get in touch with the lawyers handling the case and talk with them. They are the best ones to try and help you out. Their phones and email addresses are posted here in the threads. Their home page is: https://www.lieffcabraser.com/

If I'm understanding it correctly, you own a car that you'd previously leased, and you bought the car in August 2016. In that case, you're considered an Eligible Lessee under the terms of the FTC Consent Order:

O. “Eligible Lessee” means (1) the current lessee or lessees of an Eligible Vehicle with a lease issued by VW Credit, Inc.; (2) the former lessee or lessees of an Eligible Vehicle who had an active lease issued by VW Credit, Inc. as of September 18, 2015 and who surrendered or surrenders the leased Eligible Vehicle to Volkswagen; or (3) the current owner of an Eligible Vehicle who had an active lease issued by VW Credit, Inc. as of September 18, 2015 and who acquired ownership of the previously leased Eligible Vehicle at the conclusion of the lease after June 28, 2016. For avoidance of doubt, no person shall be considered an Eligible Lessee by virtue of holding a lease issued by a lessor other than VW Credit, Inc.

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...and in case that wasn't clear enough:

R. “Eligible Owner” means the registered owner or owners of an Eligible Vehicle on June 28, 2016, or the registered owner or owners who acquire an Eligible Vehicle after June 28, 2016, but before the deadline to submit a claim under the Settlement Program, except that the owner of an Eligible Vehicle who had an active lease issued by VW Credit, Inc. as of September 18, 2015 and purchased the Eligible Vehicle previously leased by that owner after June 28, 2016 shall be an Eligible Lessee.

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Lessee restitution is half of Owner restitution.

I feel sorry for you, but you should have read the Settlement Agreement more closely before selecting which option to go with.

The reason you initially received an emissions offer for the full amount is because VW was not researching the claims closely due to being so far behind in processing.

Back in January Volkswagen overpaid many claims, but now that the amount of new claims has slowed, they are looking at each claim much more closely, and it appears that they found that the initial offer they gave you was incorrect.

You'd be best off selling to a trusted third party and having them turn it in for the full amount.