Persevere with Complaints for poor products/service

[wkiwi]

Just have to boast about a couple of successes i have had (on behalf of someone else).
First was a horse trailer company that charged someone over £200 for something that should have been under warranty - they were very insistent that the items concerned were not covered. I eventually quoted the consumer goods act at them and they refunded the lady her money (sadly without including the extra they had charged for a credit card fee or an apology, but you can't have everything.

Second was an energy company that suddenly added over £1000 to a bill! After numerous discussions by email (tip - don't do by phone unless you can record what the other person said) the amount dropped down to under £1000, then just over £500, then after two months it has dropped to £0. Did get an apology this time too. A bit of research on the internet can work wonders, and I hadn't even got around to quoting Ofgen licence codes to them!

So, if you have had poor service or products that haven't lasted as long as you think they should, then it is definitely worth finding out your rights and complaining - if they give you the brush off, then do persist as both times the person would have been seriously out of pocket when they didn't deserve to be.

 

[Dry Rot]

Good for you, wkiwi! Sadly, you are in the minority. I was brought up to complain from an early age as I am the grandson of a senior police officer. (I regularly complain about the software used to run this forum! Much good it does, but that's IPC for you!).

Complaints are valuable. How else does an organisation get to know when their efficiency if below par? The problem with complaints is that they are too often ignored or taken as an insult. Another problem is that people do not know how to complain or to who.

When I went into hospital over night, the conditions were disgusting. I wrote a straight forward factual account when I got home using the hospital's own complaints procedure. (Stink of urine in the dayroom, urine left on the toilet floor until it dried up, cleaning schedules not completed in months, congealed food stuck to dinner plates, etc.).

I got a rather rude letter back telling me to go forth and multiple. I did not follow that up with a letter to my MP as I should have done. I was in hospital again recently and everything is sparkling clean. Why? I was discretely informed that there had been an outbreak of MRSA. Well, well....what a surprise!

A neighbouring farmer allowed his livestock to stray all over the countryside. According to the fatal accident inquiry when a motorcyclist hit a cow and was killed, I had made 23 complaints to the police about straying stock. I had seen it coming and had even written to the Lord Advocate about it. Some times one does not complain long or loudly enough but at least the procurator fiscal has been moved on for turning a blind eye to the misdemeanours of his pals.

I could go on. Sadly, we do not have a culture of complaining in this country. Maybe if we had, there would be fewer things to complain about. But if you do complain, please do so politely and unemotionally. Stick to the facts and write your complaints to whoever is in charge, don't shout at the miserable lacky behind the counter who is probably just trying to do his job and doesn't have the brains to do different.

Using Google, I recently found the personal email address of the head of Hewlett Packard. A few clicks and I had an instant response to a question I had failed to get answered by the lower ranks. Complaining to the right people does work. British Airways once laid on a chauffeur driven Rolls Royce to take me home after I had stuck to my guns about a mistake in one of their manuals. I particularly enjoyed that one!

 

[TruthorDare]

Had major problems with a mobile phone provider and an energy company, quick email to the CEO's and hey presto prblems solved within a week..

Ummm perhaps that might work with insurance company and car repair centre who are taking the mick atm, 6 weeks to get parts for a 5 yr old Ford? and horrendous customer service from the repair company, time for a few emails I think

 

[blitznbobs]

We complained to an energy company who tried to charge us an extra 500 quid for something we didn't have... They wiped that out saying they calculated in error... Now every so often they send us checks for small amounts (eg £1.72) telling us they got their calculations wrong again... We haven't used that energy company in 7 years so God knows what they r calculating wrong...

 

[MyBoyChe]

Completely agree with DryRot. Complaints are the only way people know if they are failing. There is a right way to do it though, ranting and raving will get you nowhere. Stick to the facts, leave emotion out of it, know your facts and legal position and complain to the right people. I have had many successes over the years both with bad service and poor quality products. I think my best result was getting a 6 month old 52" TV replaced because the sound was playing up, the manufacturer didnt meet the terms of their promise with regard to the repair timeframe. We got to keep the old set (which we had repaired quite cheaply) and a new one was delivered. We Brits are not very good at complaining or haggling, Im quite good at the former but hopeless at the latter, what does that say about me I wonder

 

[wkiwi]

Glad I am not the only one! Dry Rot - a chauffer driven Rolls sounds sublime!!
MyBoyChe - I can't haggle very well either; it makes me feel like i am being insulting, even when i am in a country where i know that the price is higher than the person wants specifically because of this. I haven't bought anything expensive when travelling anyway, so I just figure that if i like at that price anyway, then i have made the person's day.
I have noticed that it is nigh on impossible to find email addresses for senior company people though (or even an individual person). I got to stage 3 of the energy company complaints system before being 'assigned' one person to deal with it. I too agree with not beating the messanger on the front counter/first line of customer service.
What they don't seem to realise, is that it would be a lot simpler and cheaper just to fix the error in the first place and give a genuine apology (not the printed in large letters 'We are sorry you have had to complain...' at the top of every email - then do nothing about it.) and it would also keep the customer happy and gain them a good reputation.
I feel sorry for those that are vulnerable and get ripped off (particularly the elderly if they are non-computer people) but hopefully by others complaining the company's will sort out their systems and it will improve for everyone.

 

[onemoretime]

We complained to an energy company who tried to charge us an extra 500 quid for something we didn't have... They wiped that out saying they calculated in error... Now every so often they send us checks for small amounts (eg £1.72) telling us they got their calculations wrong again... We haven't used that energy company in 7 years so God knows what they r calculating wrong...

Had to laugh at this, I wonder how many others are getting cheques from a company they are not with. When the company goes bankrupt they will wonder why!!!

 

[Annagain]

Had to laugh at this, I wonder how many others are getting cheques from a company they are not with. When the company goes bankrupt they will wonder why!!!

Energy companies seem to be the worst. I didn't complain as I was completely oblivious to my situation but I had someone knock on my door telling me they needed to look at my meter as it was due for renewal. It was supposedly very old and an outdated model. I had lived in the house for about 3 years at this point. The man came in took a few details and then left. 2 weeks later I had a letter saying the meter had actually been replaced but they didn't know and as a result I had been overcharged by £1600 over the 3 years. That was a lovely surprise!

It was my first home so I had no bills to compare mine to. I thought my bills seemed high but put it down to an old inefficient boiler.

 

[wkiwi]

Energy companies seem to be the worst. I didn't complain as I was completely oblivious to my situation but I had someone knock on my door telling me they needed to look at my meter as it was due for renewal. It was supposedly very old and an outdated model. I had lived in the house for about 3 years at this point. The man came in took a few details and then left. 2 weeks later I had a letter saying the meter had actually been replaced but they didn't know and as a result I had been overcharged by £1600 over the 3 years. That was a lovely surprise!

It was my first home so I had no bills to compare mine to. I thought my bills seemed high but put it down to an old inefficient boiler.

Wow, you should have charged them interest on the money too -LOL. At least they were honest.

 

[misskk88]

Slightly different to service and products, but my friend had an absolutely horrendous experience with her old employer (a care agency), and asked for my advice on how to deal with the situation that arose after she handed in her notice. There were various reasons for her leaving, but I found the worst bit was an email that was meant between two directors about her, that was accidentally sent to her. Their attitude was horrid! Before handing her notice in, she had sought plenty of advice from Citizens Advice too, so some of the issues were longstanding.

I know a bit about employment law and offered to help produce a factual letter of complaint. We spent hours going over dates and details. I won't go into too much detail about what the complaints were (there were several hefty ones) but it was a very lengthy letter.

Without much hassling, she received a letter pretty sharpish that her grievances would be investigated immediately. The company reimbursed her for money that they wanted to deduct, and legally couldn't (hours worked, owed holiday, not in her contract or any signatures that she would have to repay training etc).

The good news was that the company also aimed to change some of its procedures and policies to better protect staff and that could have left them with claims against them if a more serious scenario had unfolded, but what was laughable was that the Director denied that the email about her had been sent... I saw it with my own eyes, clearly she had conveniently deleted all traces!

On another note a friend has had an on going battle with insurance company and vets for nearly a year, both blaming the other for part of an unpaid bill (the rest of which had already been paid and were all part of the same claim). The vets even had the nerve to send her a solicitors letter about a measly amount (less than £100), even though vets were meant to be dealing direct with insurance company. She had various email threads chasing forms, asking where things were, asking vets to submit the necessary notes, both sides stating that the unpaid bill would be covered by the insurance and vets would claim directly from insurance etc. So once she forwarded them on again and mentioned the Solicitors letter to the insurance company and potentially involving her own... Hey presto it is all sorted!

 

[Annagain]

Wow, you should have charged them interest on the money too -LOL. At least they were honest.

It included a "good will gesture" of £200, more than the interest I think!