Should I reply to the Debt Management company

[Tony Davis]

Well, the company wrote to us on Saturday saying that it was their fault, it shouldn't have occurred and they are sorry. They said the £7.91 debt was because we had been given a discount on our final bill of £157.60 of 10% and that hadn't been reflected on the bill. I pointed out that 10% of £157.60 wasn't £7.91, and that I wanted a written apology, and, again in writing, a letter stating that our bill had a nil balance and we would not be harrassed again, and, given all the phone calls and stress, I wanted a goodwill offer from them to reflect all the aggro we had been through.

 

Not heard back yet

[Clearwater]

If you can be bothered, rather than deal with customer services, try looking up their directors and writing to them directly stating your unhappiness. May shortcut the complaints procedure. Companies House is helpful:

 

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk

 

You can usually work out their ownership too. Complaining higher up the chain can be effective. If they’re in any way regulated, a complaint to that regulator may also help.

 

David

[Tony Davis]

Thanks David, I am going to see what the response is, and then, should I not be recompensed appropriately, I shall compose something suitable, both to the company and the relevant ombudsman.

[royaloak]

If you can be bothered, rather than deal with customer services, try looking up their directors and writing to them directly stating your unhappiness. May shortcut the complaints procedure.

Do people genuinely believe that writing directly to the Directors or Chief Executives actually means they will see the letter?

[Clearwater]

Do people genuinely believe that writing directly to the Directors or Chief Executives actually means they will see the letter?

It depends. Very large companies have secretariats to deal with letters to the Chairman, particularly if consumer related. I suspect a good Chairman or director will be asking for a sample of letters to verify what they are being told accords with reality. How it works will depend on the instructions the team is given - eg I want to see all letters on issue X. Thereafter, as letters to the Chairman's office get filtered down, they tend to land on more senior desks than they would have if the letter is just being dealt with by "complaints@blogsplc.com"

 

From occasions where I have complained, there have been occasions where the letter / email has quite clearly been read by the appropriate Director. On one occasion, I had worked out the email address of the MD and forwarded the correspondence chain to him. The reply didn't come directly back from him however the person who dealt with it had been foolish enough not to delete his comments. Another time we contacted a Director via another of their activities. 24h later we got a late night call to my wife's office number from their US head office. To their surprise, she was at her desk (she was a City lawyer at the time). Suffice to say we got a result on both occasions.

 

There is an art in writing a good letter of complaint and how you target it into an organisation to get the result you desire. However, I'm firmly of the view that if you don't make a complaint and you don't raise it with the Directors, you can guarantee the outcome...

 

David

[hayfield]

Do people genuinely believe that writing directly to the Directors or Chief Executives actually means they will see the letter?

 

 

At one time yes, or rather their secretary or other director/senior manager. However these days it goes in most cases back into the complaints section, but generally jumps several levels of seniority, also tends to get resolved quicker. Not as effective as it used to be and to be quite honest you can get a similar result when dealing with the call centre insisting that a supervisor speaks with you

 

Another good angle especially when calls are recorded, get the persons name or details. Then ask them to confirm they are refusing the course of action you are requesting, it is surprising how many times the handlers attitude changes when you ask them to confirm they are unwilling to do something  

[kevinlms]

Well, the company wrote to us on Saturday saying that it was their fault, it shouldn't have occurred and they are sorry. They said the £7.91 debt was because we had been given a discount on our final bill of £157.60 of 10% and that hadn't been reflected on the bill. I pointed out that 10% of £157.60 wasn't £7.91, and that I wanted a written apology, and, again in writing, a letter stating that our bill had a nil balance and we would not be harrassed again, and, given all the phone calls and stress, I wanted a goodwill offer from them to reflect all the aggro we had been through.

 

Not heard back yet

Love the bit about the 10% discount. Proves that they do have a serious issue with their billing system!

 

What a saga.

[newbryford]

Do people genuinely believe that writing directly to the Directors or Chief Executives actually means they will see the letter?

 

I've found the best approach is to post on their social media. They do not like having aggrieved customers in the public domain.

It certainly worked with the one that comes before second utility company (same as the OPs I believe).

After 4 months of letters, emails and phone calls about an erroneous transfer of supply to another provider because some low-life had used my address details for an on-line scam, it was resolved less than 7 days after posting my grief on Twitter (my one and only tweet). And I ended up with a £50 goodwill gesture.

 

 

Cheers,

Mick

[Dagworth]

I've found the best approach is to post on their social media. They do not like having aggrieved customers in the public domain.

It certainly worked with the one that comes before second utility company (same as the OPs I believe).

After 4 months of letters, emails and phone calls about an erroneous transfer of supply to another provider because some low-life had used my address details for an on-line scam, it was resolved less than 7 days after posting my grief on Twitter (my one and only tweet). And I ended up with a £50 goodwill gesture.

 

 

Cheers,

Mick

A friend only got a successful resolution to an issue with Just Eat after posting about it on their Twitter account. The story made the national news a month or so back. Prior to going to social media they offered her a tenner for the "inconvenience" of having received sexual text messages from a delivery driver who only had her number because he had delivered her take-away food.

 

Andi

[hayfield]

Love the bit about the 10% discount. Proves that they do have a serious issue with their billing system!

 

What a saga.

 

 

It shows that someone quite junior (and perhaps overworked) has dealt with the problem and makes a total mockery of the issue needing to be escalating needing another 5 days to be dealt with by a senior adviser.

 

Who was it saying it was wrong expecting the matter to be dealt with instantly (48 hours was their first dead line) and we all should be patient for these 5 days to enable them to investigate this matter fully and deal with it

 

The fact is they have missed both deadlines by weeks, clearly failed to get to the bottom of the matter, failed to see the seriousness of their actions (could have affected the OP's credit worthiness) and certainly not resolved a thing

 

As I said at the start, the only way we will get the energy companies acting correctly is to hit them where it hurts, in both the directors and senior managements pay packets and the companies bottom line. Perhaps a charge of £10 per day for the first week, until a meaningful reply has been sent, £50 per day for the second week then doubling the fine every week

[Torper]

Who was it saying it was wrong expecting the matter to be dealt with instantly (48 hours was their first dead line) and we all should be patient for these 5 days to enable them to investigate this matter fully and deal with it

 

Me, among others.  And I stick by it.  It is absurd to suggest that a complaint of this nature should be dealt with instantaneously - in the real world that just doesn't happen and there's no point going completely OTT about it. Sadly, companies cannot rely on the honesty of all consumers and they must be given proper time to investigate a complaint to see if it is justified.  The energy ombudsman, who deals with complaints against energy companies, takes the view that eight weeks is an appropriate time for a complaint to be investigated and resolved and while people may not like that, that is what has been decided.  In the present instance, the OP has received an apology and confirmation that the company had made a mistake within four weeks, and it is clear that the company also called off the debt collector shortly after the complaint was made.

 

Everyone makes mistakes, even big companies, and everyone should be given a chance to correct these mistakes.  As far as I can see, the company in this instance has investigated, has come to the conclusion that it had made a mistake, has called off the debt collector, and has written saying sorry and confirming that the mistake was theirs.  The OP's credit rating does not seem to have been affected.  I would hope that the company will now make a goodwill payment to the OP although of course they are under no obligation to do so.  If anyone believes that more drastic penalties should be applied to companies that make mistakes, then that's a matter to take up with their MPs.  But such measures would have to apply to all companies, and perhaps also to customers who make unjustified complaints.

 

Incidentally, I agree with Mick's suggestion that the quickest way to resolve genuine complaints such as this is probably to post the details on social media assuming, of cousrse, that it is a media that will come to the company's attention.

 

DT

Edited February 19, 2018 by Torper

[hayfield]

Torper

 

I do agree with you to a point, the true test of a company is not that it does not make mistakes, but how quickly it reacts to them especially when it relates to an earlier mistake which they have already paid out compensation for.  The OP should have been transferred to a senior operator immediately

 

We live in the information era, it was a simple request/complaint. I have paid my bill early as requested by you, less the discount you offered, now you have set the debt management company on me, with all the financial implications this brings !!

 

They asked for 24 hours and failed to respond, then asked for another 5 days and missed it by weeks. When they finally responded got it totally wrong. The fact is the first error happened many months ago which they clearly failed to resolve fully. Its about time those responsible paid fully for it. The OP is at danger loosing their credit worthiness all down to the company and staff not doing their jobs properly

 

If you say you will get back in 5 days you should do so, even if it is asking for an extension, those responsible should be sanctioned if not sacked, That will focus the minds of other employees in doing their job correctly. The reason we get this type of bad service is that too many customers accept it as the norm

[Torper]

Yes, but a major problem is that we live in a society where the concept of value is measured primarily in price and little else.  Every now and again I get a mesage on my computer telling me that I could get cheaper electricity elsewhere (this is not a spam, I've asked for the information).  When I check it out, I also look at surveys and often find that the company offering the new cheap price comes out poorly on customer service.  Personally, I pay a bit more for my electricity but the company I use comes out reasonably highly on customer service.  It's a case of the old adage again - "You get what you pay for".  So if you go for the cheapest, which is what most people seem to want to do, don't be surprised if it has cut corners elsewhere, for example in customer service, and that it won't deal with your complaint as quickly as a company that hasn't cut that corner.  That does not always apply - some smaller companies, for example, seem to try harder which is why consumers are to a considerable extent turning away from the "Big Six", but even some of these small companies have now begun to struggle now they've become bigger.

 

And by the way, companies that fall down on customer service, especially billing, don't get away with it - have a look at some of the whopping fines that regulator has disshed out in the last couple of years to companies such as NPower (£26 million in 2015), Scottish Power (£18 million in 2016), and Britsh Gas (£9.5 million in 2017).

 

DT

[hayfield]

Yes, but a major problem is that we live in a society where the concept of value is measured primarily in price and little else.  Every now and again I get a mesage on my computer telling me that I could get cheaper electricity elsewhere (this is not a spam, I've asked for the information).  When I check it out, I also look at surveys and often find that the company offering the new cheap price comes out poorly on customer service.  Personally, I pay a bit more for my electricity but the company I use comes out reasonably highly on customer service.  It's a case of the old adage again - "You get what you pay for".  So if you go for the cheapest, which is what most people seem to want to do, don't be surprised if it has cut corners elsewhere, for example in customer service, and that it won't deal with your complaint as quickly as a company that hasn't cut that corner.  That does not always apply - some smaller companies, for example, seem to try harder which is why consumers are to a considerable extent turning away from the "Big Six", but even some of these small companies have now begun to struggle now they've become bigger.

 

And by the way, companies that fall down on customer service, especially billing, don't get away with it - have a look at some of the whopping fines that regulator has disshed out in the last couple of years to companies such as NPower (£26 million in 2015), Scottish Power (£18 million in 2016), and Britsh Gas (£9.5 million in 2017).

 

DT

 

 

Torper

 

Again agree with some of what you said, but this is no defence in the way this company has treated their customer, this company has not taken its responsibilities to their customers well enough with their lack lustre attitude

 

Fines can be added back into the customers bills with no one noticing as they are a tiny fraction of operating costs, hitting their bottom line whilst controlling their prices would make them do something

[duncan]

Another reason "instant" response will not work is that junior staff will not have authority to do many things, especially the results which many in today's instant world want.  To expect this would probably result in these lowly paid staff being sacked, for giving more than they were allowed to, or giving it too often. 

 

The directors etc could then rightly say they had dismissed the junior employee who did not "properly" deal with the customer's complaint, thereby showing that they were proactive & on the customer's side.  As has been mentioned before, Britain seems to be on a USA style downward spiral of cost cutting to reach the lowest possible cost, at the expense of people & quality. 

 

If you pay the lowest possible wage, put these staff under too much pressure, pay huge bonuses to senior staff, then the junior staff will probably have little pride in their work or loyalty to their employer.

[hayfield]

Duncan

 

Clearly the first call handler is not a problem solver but a handler, what's wrong with passing the call to the correct person, easy and simple to do. But what everyone is missing is that the problem has to be solved at some time, secondly the longer it goes on the more it costs the company. Far cheaper to handle the problem once

 

We have computers to assist us and the route is simple

 

1 Did we make the offer   YES

2 Did the customer pay in full  YES

3 Sort it out quickly and accurately 

 

Hardly rocket science and takes seconds in the right hands

 

I work for a company who has no problems with staff making mistakes, providing we learn from them. If someone continues to either make the same or related mistakes then its a case of training. If mistakes of the same nature continue either change rolls or start a dispute process. It takes a lot for the company to say good by to staff but sometimes that is the best solution. This is both with management or staff. It sometimes happens that someone is unsuited to a promotion, not an issue they just revert to a similar position as they had before retaining the higher salary. We are treated fairly but expected to earn our salary. From top to bottom

Edited February 19, 2018 by hayfield

[Torper]

Again agree with some of what you said, but this is no defence in the way this company has treated their customer,

 

It's not a defence, it's a reason.  If you want the cheapest price, don't expect a top class service.

 

DT

[royaloak]

A friend only got a successful resolution to an issue with Just Eat after posting about it on their Twitter account. The story made the national news a month or so back. Prior to going to social media they offered her a tenner for the "inconvenience" of having received sexual text messages from a delivery driver who only had her number because he had delivered her take-away food.

 

Andi

That is despicable and disgusting, something like that should have been dealt with immediately.

[PhilJ W]

I've found the best approach is to post on their social media. They do not like having aggrieved customers in the public domain.

It certainly worked with the one that comes before second utility company (same as the OPs I believe).

After 4 months of letters, emails and phone calls about an erroneous transfer of supply to another provider because some low-life had used my address details for an on-line scam, it was resolved less than 7 days after posting my grief on Twitter (my one and only tweet). And I ended up with a £50 goodwill gesture.

 

 

Cheers,

Mick

I was in exactly the same situation, with the same company. What really riled me was the attitude of the person I was dealing with when I asked them to sort out, they just couldn't be bothered and left me to sort it out. In retrospect I could have assumed that they had resolved the issue and that I was continuing with my usual supplier and got my gas and electric for free. I had plenty of proof that the low life who tried to transfer the supply had never lived at my address so any court orders etc. would be in their name. It is apparent that this particular energy company never bothered to check before transfering accounts with things such as electorial registers. I had received correspondance addressed to the person from the company which I sent back marked 'Not known at this address' which as it turned out was company policy to ignore.

[PhilJ W]

That is despicable and disgusting, something like that should have been dealt with immediately.

It is and it was, the person concerned was sacked and prosecuted for sexual harrassment*. And the adverse publicity didn't do the company that employed him much good either. *And IIRC also charged under the data protection act for misuse of data, the victims mobile phone number.

[petethemole]

I occasionally receive business letters addressed to strange names. I tend to open them and then return them as 'not known, opened in error' or similar. These included a series of debt collectors' letters addressed to a (presumed) former resident when it was a student house pre 2005. I added that date to the note on the envelope and would hear no more until the debt was sold on again. Eventually they stopped.

[kevinlms]

Duncan

 

Clearly the first call handler is not a problem solver but a handler, what's wrong with passing the call to the correct person, easy and simple to do. But what everyone is missing is that the problem has to be solved at some time, secondly the longer it goes on the more it costs the company. Far cheaper to handle the problem once

 

We have computers to assist us and the route is simple

 

1 Did we make the offer   YES

2 Did the customer pay in full  YES

3 Sort it out quickly and accurately 

 

Hardly rocket science and takes seconds in the right hands

 

I work for a company who has no problems with staff making mistakes, providing we learn from them. If someone continues to either make the same or related mistakes then its a case of training. If mistakes of the same nature continue either change rolls or start a dispute process. It takes a lot for the company to say good by to staff but sometimes that is the best solution. This is both with management or staff. It sometimes happens that someone is unsuited to a promotion, not an issue they just revert to a similar position as they had before retaining the higher salary. We are treated fairly but expected to earn our salary. From top to bottom

Your idea would work fine, it it was one customer (the OP). But I suspect with the ongoing failure to address this issue promptly, leads me to the conclusion that this companies billing system, is totally stuffed, hence all the missed deadlines. They could have 100's of customers who have been incorrectly billed - some of whom, don't even know yet.

 

Almost certainly, they have many customers in a similar situation and don't know what is going wrong.

 

This action is probably going to cost them a lot of money (sending debt collectors out, then cancelling them, can't be cheap as they will still expect to be paid) is a sign that this company has major issues.

[kevinlms]

I occasionally receive business letters addressed to strange names. I tend to open them and then return them as 'not known, opened in error' or similar. These included a series of debt collectors' letters addressed to a (presumed) former resident when it was a student house pre 2005. I added that date to the note on the envelope and would hear no more until the debt was sold on again. Eventually they stopped.

I received several such letters at my old address (actually they weren't my address, but a non-existent one that sounded like mine). The first couple, were obviously speeding fines, then vehicle registration renewal, then failure to attend court! Despite returning as 'not known this address', they still kept coming. Then they stopped, presumably the police caught up with him, by other means.

[hayfield]

Your idea would work fine, it it was one customer (the OP). But I suspect with the ongoing failure to address this issue promptly, leads me to the conclusion that this companies billing system, is totally stuffed, hence all the missed deadlines. They could have 100's of customers who have been incorrectly billed - some of whom, don't even know yet.

 

Almost certainly, they have many customers in a similar situation and don't know what is going wrong.

 

This action is probably going to cost them a lot of money (sending debt collectors out, then cancelling them, can't be cheap as they will still expect to be paid) is a sign that this company has major issues.

 

Kevin

 

This is the problem that this new management style of supposed cost cutting which actually ends up costing companies more money than it saves, something which is dreamed up by a person fresh out of university who has loads of bright ideas most of which do not work. Those who learn on the job are in most cases far more employable and able, companies are coming round to the opinion they are better off going back to the old apprentice type system, where learning and work run side by side.

 

Back in the old days before computers made everything so simple, you would phone the company, who then would put you through a trained operative, who would check the records there and then, identify the problem and resolve it there and then 

 

Now in time of information technology work just gets passed on from pillar to post with no one either taking responsibility or doing something accurately.

 

Now who ever was the bright spark who thought up the system where they sell off unpaid debts without proper procedure's to prevent totally innocent people and needlessly and wrongly claiming they are bad debtors, need to be hauled up in front of the information commissioners along with the company for the misuse of private date. It is scandalous passing on incorrect credit information to a third party, and I guess this is not the first time, nor will it be the last time

 

Why is it so many side with the poor old energy companies, or make excuses for them

[kevinlms]

Kevin

 

 

Why is it so many side with the poor old energy companies, or make excuses for them

I'm not siding with them.

 

 

Here's an example of a monumental stuff up in the UK.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-43110910