Name and shame bad customer service

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Rebecca Atkinson
Tue, 19/05/2009 - 10:28

The Moneywise Customer Service Awards, Britain’s largest dedicated survey of customer service in the financial sector, set out to find those financial firms most trusted by you.

But what about those firms you don't trust or would advise friends and family to steer clear of?

Share your experiences of bad customer service in our hall of shame.

 

‹ How to become a financial advisor Is Britain too expensive? ›
Guest (not verified):

Debenhams, Birmingham Bull Ring Store- someof the staff there are extremely rude, very unhelpful and patronising. I don't think I will be going there in a hurry. I have told my friends at work, and they said the same thing.

Shame on them.

Tue, 19/05/2009 - 13:05
Guest (not verified):

NPOWER definitely has the worst customer services ever!!! They make an awful lot of mistakes (both under and overcharging) and then it takes ages to resolve them.
Once they even admitted it on the phone that I have been overcharged, but said that there is nothing they could do about it - only because I couldn't give them a proper meter reading data from a certain day that was three month before that phone call! Just how outrageous is that?! Since when are we supposed to take a meter reading every evening and keep the record for a year "just in case"? ;o)

Tue, 19/05/2009 - 13:12
RC (not verified):

Egg - Perhaps one of the worse culprits in UK banking today. Attempted to transfer eight thousand Pounds from my Barclays account to my Egg bank account in February 2009. As a fully compliant member of the Faster Payments Service, I chose to use this initiative to send the funds via this method. I had used the details as posted on the help page of the Egg website. I was reassured and guaranteed that the funds would hit the Egg account within three hours, especially as Barclays is fully Faster Payments compliant too. I called Egg later on Friday for confirmation that the funds had hit the account. A lady had advised me that there were no funds from Barclays in my account or in the holding account where external funds come in to. She asked me to confirm where I had sent the funds to and she said that those details were correct. I popped into Barclays and they advised me that the funds have left the account on in the early afternoon. I gave more time for the transfer to be processed and waited overnight. On Saturday my Egg account was still uncredited although my Barclays account had released the funds having checked Barclays online and at branch.

I called Egg again on Monday to check if the funds had appeared over the weekend and they advised that they hadn’t confirmed by another lady. I went back to Barclays to make sure that the funds hadn’t bounced back and there was no evidence from them to denote this.

Having spoken to another Egg employee on the telephone on the followin Tuesday morning, she confirmed that the bank instructions that I have used were incorrect. She did not believe me that I had got these instructions from the Egg website until she saw the evidence for herself. She admitted full liability on the telephone that I was given false instructions and Egg would do a trace on the funds from Barclays. I asked her that I wanted written assurances that once the funds have been found that I would have my interest backdated to Friday and that I will seek compensation for the considerable time spent from Friday having to chase up two banks to do a simple wire transfer. She was unable to fulfil this request, even by e-mail.

I am absolutely astounded that Egg, as a bank with no branches, would be so careless to put false instructions online especially when all your clients need to rely on online information. I do understand that their parent bank, Citi, have their own issues in the current climate, but this is a very basic and careless mistake that should have never occurred and I don't think that anyone would tolerate. I was hoping to take advantage of Egg's good rates that they offered to clients, but it would appear that I have serious difficulty trusting them with it if they are clearly unable to provide clear and correct instructions online.

As it stands I still do not know where my money is and both you and Barclays have claimed that the funds are not in the bank. Someone somewhere is sitting on it earning interest. As a result, I have now have suffered a financial loss which I expect to be covered in full, as well as compensated for the "wasted time" spent on the telephone and with Barclays which is more than three hours in all.

They then lied to me saying maximum compensation was £50 for such a complaint (even though FOD stipulates it's discretionary at £10/hr. Have only managed to get £15 for the loss of interest and £50 after pushing them to the max. Have referred the case to the Ombudsman to seek compensation for the 13 hours wasted chasing them up.

Now they have changed their interest rates and cash withdrawals without notfying me and I have been hit with charges. They told me they emailed me. The case continues....

Tue, 19/05/2009 - 13:32
David Connolly (not verified):

Poor customer service from Dell

I ordered my new PC on the 5th of May and was told that delivery would be on or before the 15th of May. I proceeded with the booking on this basis. After I customised the machine on the dell website and I reviewed the components I was told “your system was ready to be built”.

I proceeded to book the machine on my credit card. On the 13th of May I checked the status of my order online and it told May that the order would now be delivered on or before the 15 June – a full 6 weeks after I had ordered the machine! I rang the Dell help line on the 13th and again on the 15th. I found the staff to be unhelpful in that I had to repeat several times to speak to the manager & they were unable to answer any of my questions satisfactorily as to why the machine has been delayed or indeed give me a more accurate delivery date. Furthermore I was told that I cannot cancel my machine until it has arrived? This is utter nonsense.

Up until now I have been a happy and loyal Dell user. This machine would have been my 3rd machine from Dell but I will return it when I receive it and will NEVER buy from Dell again and will advise everyone I know not to buy Dell. I bought this machine in good faith that it would be ready by the 15th. The statement that “Your system is ready to be built” was a lie and indicates that Dells system is flawed and are usable to tell what parts they have in stock. I purchased this machine for freelance work and because I have not received it I have already lost on several profitable commissions costing me over a thousand pound in losses.

Yours Sincerely, a very angry and frustrated ex-Dell customer

David Connolly

Tue, 19/05/2009 - 14:40
Max A:

Hi David - I also had a problem with Dell a few years ago that was so shockingly poor and stressful for me that I wll never use them again even thought I like their laptops. It sounds like they haven't change

I ordered a new laptop online but when I called up to check the status of my order I found out Dell had put me down for two laptops not one. I had terrible problems trying to explain the problem to the call centre staff (outsourced in India i think) but managed to cancel the order.

Then I discovered both orders had been cancelled but i had been charged for both! About three hours of phone conservations later I managed to reinstate original order.

Then, got an email from Dell giving me the date for delivery - I couldn't do it as had to work. Called up - no joy for aghes. Each time I rang had to speak to different person and explain the whole thing again .Never allowed to speak to superviser. Eventually was promised my preferred delivery date. Received email saying this wasn't possible -but they could deliver the next day instead.

While this was okay for me I realised they had the wrong delivery address - called up to explain/complain. Told it was too late. I ended up cnacelling order, attemtping to make complaint (never heard back) and having a day off work as it was so stressful.

Never again - be warned, Dell's call centre is outsourced and so it provides very poor customer service. Not tthe call centre people's fault - why should they care?  

Tue, 19/05/2009 - 15:34
Guest (not verified):

Setanta - Following my online cancellation of my subscription and the associated direct debit they continue to chase for payment - 2 phone calls and 4 letters - and threaten to 'black mark' me with credit reference agencies. In response to these have explained position to 2 different members of their staff and have sent 3 e-mails but I have the distinct impression the right hand does not know what the left is doing. I was even told it was not possible to cancel online despite having an appropriate on-screen acknowledgement - for which fortunately I had saved a copy.

Tue, 19/05/2009 - 16:39
T Davis (not verified):

A&L - DO NOT TOUCH THEM. I have never encountered such incompetence from anyone like I did A&L with an ISA transfer, it was totally farcical and went on for weeks. They didn't send my log on details, they sent back forms asking me to sign them (they had signatures on them!!!) they wrote letters that had random sentences in them like they had been cut and pasted from something else. I received letters from different people in the same department telling me they had my transfer form, and saying they hadn't. They bent the truth to explain away their total inefficiency. Needless to say I moved the whole lot out to First Direct, whom I bank with and cannot fault. If you want real people at the end of a telephone line who answer within seconds,go for it.

Tue, 19/05/2009 - 17:00
Sambob07 (not verified):

Bensons For Beds - Poor customer service

At the beginning of December, I ordered a double bed, x2 bedside tables and a chest of drawers for approx £1000 from a Bensons store.
A few weeks later I decided to order the wardrobe to match and ordered it online.

The order arrived as agreed. When I went to put the wardrobe together there were no grooves in 2 of the pieces of wood for the back of the wardrobe to slide down and a couple of drill holes missing.

I called customer services who advised that range was no discontinued, they had no stock and I could return the wardrobed or receive £15 refund.

I advised I did not want to return the wardrobe as it was part of a set and £15 refund did not even cover the delivery charge.

I asked to speak to a manager and was told they can not offer anymore discount that the customer service rep.

I said I would think about the offer and come back to them.

I then phoned the Bensons shop, the manager there was extremely helpful, there was a display wardrobe left but it had already been sold. He then called a few local Bensons stores who also had no stock.

I have sent an email to Bensons, they replied asking me to call customer service who would be able to help! I replied to the email advising I had already spoken to them and they could not help me and had no response.

I got in touch with Trading standards who advised to write a letter, asking for a reply within 14 days as the item I had purchased was faulty.

I have had no reply.

I have now written another letter asking for a response within 14 days or I have no other option than to take legal action.

Guess what?? No response!

Tue, 19/05/2009 - 17:40
Stuart Y (not verified):

As a seafarer I used SEATAX Ltd of Doncaster, a company specialising in seafarers tax affairs to complete my tax return. They advised me that under the seafarer's earnings deduction rules I was due a 100% tax rebate for the year 2005/6 which I duly claimed and received. Two years later, HM Revenue advised me that I had been wrongly advised by SEATAX and I had to pay back my tax plus interest at 7% plus a 10% penalty.
If I owe the tax fair enough but as a result of the wrong advice from SEATAX I am out of pocket for interest, penalty and SEATAX's fees. A total of £1552.29.
SEATAX insist that they are right and the Revenue are wrong and are appealing. Meanwhile I can whistle for my money. Any subsequent letter to SEATAX goes unanswered.
I advised my union NAUTILUS UK. They also are uninterested. I asked if they had a financial arrangement with SEATAX . They didn't reply. Draw your own conclusions.

Tue, 19/05/2009 - 19:36
Mr D Tyrer (not verified):

P&O Cruises will not admit they are at fault to any complaint. My wife and I have been on many cruises with P&O, incuding a full World cruise on board Aurora. From time to time I have written to P&O after returning home,because I could not get any responce while on board pointing out various problems we had while on board,but all you receive back is a denial that there was any problems. The most recent WHITEWASH by P&O was on the World cruise there was a outbreak of HEPATITIS E on board while we were on the other side of the world. Passengers were taken of the ship to hospitals in Australia, Hong Kong and various other ports.My complaint to P&O was that passengers should have been informed of this outbreak at the time.But P&O kept quiet about it. We were only informed after we returned home by the Health Protection Agency,and asked to complete a questionnaire and submit a blood sample to them. There finding were that the outbreak on board was due to shellfish eaten on board Aurora .P&O will not admit to being aware of the Hepatitis E outbreak before we returned to Southampton. WHAT A WHITEWASH. NO MORE P&O CRUISES FOR US.

Wed, 20/05/2009 - 08:55
Guest (not verified):

Virgin Media - I have broadband service from them. Since January this year they have changed the amount they have taken out of my bank account through direct debit AND the change is only one way - UP.

This month (May 2009) the amount they have already taken out is twice what they did in January 2009.

Umpteen telephone calls, emails and letters later, I have received the most detached/disconcerting email in response to my letter pointing me to certain clauses in their terms & conditions.

Seems they have no regard for the regulator either. I wrote this final letter of complaint following advice from Ofcom and CISAS (an arbitration service).

I can't see where the terms says that they can vary the charges on a whim.

Don't touch them unless you want to be treated with contempt and have bags of spare dosh. Thanks to the association with Richard Branson, most people like me still seem to have a perception that Virgin is friend of us common people; will always do right by us. You will have rude awakening!

Wed, 20/05/2009 - 09:52
Guest (not verified):

Homebase - I bought a single roll of wallpaper for a feature wall from their Rotherham branch but on hanging I found it impossible to get matching patterns at the joins.
The next time I visited the store I told their customer 'service' representative about the problem and requested a refund. They refused that request and said that if I took a piece of the paper back to the store they would send it back to the manufacturer and I would, at best, be given a replacement roll.
I wasn't happy about the situation but nevertheless I took pieces of the paper back to the store and was told they would get in touch when they heard back from the manufacturer. Two weeks later I visited the store and enquired about the progress of my complaint but was told that the person dealing with the problem wasn't at work that day but they would leave a message for that person to ring me the following day - that call never came.
After hearing nothing for a further 4 weeks I e-mailed their online customer services who contacted the store on my behalf and after further failed promised phone calls by the store I was eventually advised that no one at the store knew anything about the wallpaper problem and the pieces I had took back to the store couldn't be traced.
At that point I was asked 'what I wanted them to do about it' and I repeated my original request for a refund to which they agreed. Why couldn't they have offered that over six weeks earlier ?

Wed, 20/05/2009 - 22:52
Bobtale (not verified):

My son and I had a nightmare experience with Dell three years ago. I don't have time to describe the whole saga but the problems described by the two earlier posts re Dell all featured. We resolved never to go near them again and the experience was so so stressful that to this day we still warn people to have nothing to do with the company. It is the only way to respond to appalling treatment, not only to deny the company further business but more importantly to prevent others from enduring the stress of dealing with them.

Thu, 21/05/2009 - 12:00
Guest (not verified):

BT....Bloody Terrible.

Having argued for three weeks over being charged 122.50 for the installation of my telephone line, I decided that I would do without. Until the very next day I read about the free installation that was being offered, never mentioned at all by BT in the 3 weeks previously.

I ordered through sales, who told me I WOULD NOT need an engineer to visit the premises, so an appiontment was not arranged, and I waited.

After a week or so I rang BT to find out what was happening with my order.
I was told that an engineer had been, but couldn't get into the premises to complete the work needed.

I was amazed.

I explained my position to my 'international call centre friend' and an appointment was arranged for the following week.

I sat and waited for 5 hours, but to no avail, so I contacted 'my friend' again. Which took me 40 mins to get through.

Again I was amazed when I was told 'due to an application error, an engineer was never appointed'.

I couldn't believe that they had not even been bothered to contact me to let me know this.

After arranging a new appointment, 'my friend' told me that they would monitor this order and himself AND his Supervisor would ring me the very next day.

That was a Thursday and I didn't hear anything until the following Thursday, when an engineer, calling between 1pm and 6pm rang me at 10:45 am to enter the premises, also adding that if he couldn't get access, I would have to arrange a new appointment, as he was on 'earlies' and 'finishing in a bit'.

After a lot of arguing, the engineer hung around until 1pm. And I must say did a very nice job.

It's just a shame his supervisors, management, International call centre friend, his supervisor and the companies they all work for (BT has now split into 30,000 different divisions, I think) couldn't do such a sterling job.

My complaints letter is being drafted up as I write this.

It's good to be Blitish.

Fri, 22/05/2009 - 15:28
Janine Byrne (not verified):

Riverstreams.co.uk

I purchased an mp4 player from this company. After much delay and many emails going back and forth I finally received the product but a component (software CD) was missing from the box. Thus, the company was clearly in breach of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) as the item was not as described.

As such, the company were in breach of contract and obliged to arrange for collection of the item at their own cost in addition to making a full refund.

They advised me that I had to return the item and despite my forwarding to them proof of return postage costs the company - whilst making a refund of the purchase price - have not refunded the cost of returning the item even though they are by law obliged to do so.

It angers me that companies can blatantly get away with not honouring their obligations. After having made the purchase I read other comments about the company online and they ALL appear to be negative.

Thus my advice would be not to be duped by the low prices offered by RIVERSTREAMS.CO.UK - steer WELL CLEAR.

Fri, 22/05/2009 - 16:29
Guest:

Halifax over & over. All they ever do is lie to me, be rude, and upset me! In brief:

1) Signed up to a mortgage with them. Bought the house £25k less than market value as we knew the previous owners. Borrowed my 3% & solicitor's fees from parents, after being told I could get a 'further advance' on the mortgage after 3 months due to the house being worth more. 3 months later, was told we couldn't. Angry parents...

2) Had a student account with them. Obviously maxed my £2k overdraft during Uni. After I graduated I didn't get a job immediately. My overdraft was up for annual review, because I didn't have a job they deemed it to be suitable to take the overdraft away and demand £2k on the spot. Obviously I couldn't pay that so I had to seek advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau who handled the complaint for me. I've now arranged to pay off the overdraft by a certain amount each month - though on my credit record they state the account is being handled by a Debt Management Company!

3) The classic bank charges argument. Charged me £258 in total for going overdrawn on my overdraft by £6.

4) Tried to use one of my 4 payment holidays that according to my online banking is an 'entitlement' ... though when calling I was told I was no longer entitled as they deemed my house not to be worth what it was when they valued it at the beginning of the 5 year fixed term. If I wanted a holiday I would have to pay £200 for it to be revalued.

5) I'm currently going through a complaint whereby a member of Halifax told me I couldn't pay my monthly mortgage payment via Credit Card for this month as I've just started a new job & my first salary won't be received for over 6 weeks. It came to the time to pay via CC, and they then turned around & said I couldn't! 3 weeks later the situation isn't sorted and I'm having to jump through hoops to get 1 of my 4 entitled mortgage holidays as above.

I hate them with a passion. As soon as my mortgage term ends I'll be going elsewhere even if it costs me more money!

Fri, 22/05/2009 - 16:40
Guest (not verified):

HITACHI UK - I bought a Hitachi TV from COMET (who have been v helpful) but this digital TV could not see all the digital channels but my digi box can. I phoned Hitachi and they told me that they cannot guarantee that the tuner in the TV would be able to see all the digital channels. I asked him why not but he kept reintering the above sentence.
I then emailed Hitachi and they said that the retailer had imported the TV and it had not come through Hitachi UK therefore they could not give me any advice nor would they have any parts of assessories for this product. I asked them if they were Hitachi and when they replied yes, I said well my TV says Hitachi on the front therefore it must be your product. They didn't response. COMET on the otherhand were as helpful as I think a store could be but I will never buy a Hitachi product again as Hitachi themselves obviously couldn't care less about their customers. I will buy another brand in future and suggest that Hitachi can go down the toilet by themselves...

Fri, 22/05/2009 - 16:57
YamaBlonde (not verified):

Where do I begin??? So many to choose from, it's sad and pathetic!
TalkTalk has been the worst! From assuring us we could take our old phone number with us to a flat in the same block, only a few doors away (turns out we couldn't take the number), to not telling me I would be without service for several days, to not returning calls, Managers not calling us back when we were told -- repeatedly! - that someone would definitely call us back within so many hours, to trying to charge me even more for Broadband, telling me that my new place was more difficult! (Only a few doors down,and they wanted to increase the charge by 50%??? If anything, that move brought us several yards CLOSER to the switching station, so it certainly would not be more difficult for them!)
Then finally, after weeks and about 20 hours of my time, numerous calls to them, complaining to Ofcom and any other governmental agency that would listen, they agreed to let me go and waive the £70 cancellation fee. Then they sent me a bill for it anyway! So I called them several MORE times with names, dates and times, as well as details, and they said they would correct the records to show we own them nothing, HAHAHA not a chance!
They then sent a debt collector after us! I gave the details yet again to the collection agency who promised nothing would be put on our credit rating, and they would sort it with TalkTalk.
You guessed it! It has been nearly 6 months since THEN -- the collection agency said TalkTalk is known for not following through and God only knows when and IF we would ever hear anything back from TalkTalk (Carphone Warehouse). Apparently, TalkTalk sends these warnings and threats, hoping people will pay.
How pathetic is that?

And A&L? SHEESH! We moved about 1 month after applying for new bank accounts, having told them we might be moving when we filled out the paperwork. I called, faxed a copy, and posted a copy of our change of address, and they STILL sent all our information to the old address! Including our debit cards and PIN! Lucky us we hadn't put money in there yet!
Needless to say, we don't use them, never did. Scarey stuff!!! (Their excuse was that they couldn't change the address till they opened the account -- but why did they send all that sensitive stuff there anyway???)

Fri, 22/05/2009 - 17:33
GUEST (not verified):

I could list so many- because the truth is we have come to accept poor customer service- the bigger the company the worse it is- I guess because your business is a drop in their ocean- so it is a take it or leave it attitude. Abbey National are the worst - I won't bore you with all the minutae, but my mother had died and I was trying to deal with her affairs- I had been awarded probate by a High Court Judge but that didn't satisfy Abbey- it took what seemed like forever to get them to release the monies. Abbey National could be offering 20% interest now - but unless the weather forecast says that hell is about to freeze over - they are getting nothing deposited by me - I was a daughter but had the deceased been a husband and I been a wife with children who needed access to the money asap it would have been nothing short of wicked.

Fri, 22/05/2009 - 18:52
Guest (not verified):

Alliance and Leicester - Just spent several hours and a lot of money on 08 type numbers trying to sort out the mess that the Alliance & Leicester "Premier Switching Service" has made of tranferring my direct debits. After failed attempts, irate payees have been contacting me wanting to know where their money is. I thought I had covered everything by leaving enough money in both new and old accounts but I reckoned without A & L providing the wrong information to my payees. To anyone thinking about switching, you may spend more than the £100 in time and phone calls trying to put things right and if you don't notice in time - some of your payees may charge you for late or non payment.

Fri, 22/05/2009 - 19:35
Guest (not verified):

American Airlines - Awful Serivce

The worst service I've ever encountered was with American Airlines. I had to take two flights with them - from London to Miami, then on to Lima, Peru. The first flight was delayed taking off (no surprise), then because of bad weather we were diverted to Orlando. When the weather improved after 30 minutes or so we remained waiting on the runway, and when we finally made it back to Miami we were left waiting on that runway, inside the plane, for about two hours because they 'couldn't find a set of steps' for us to get off the plane.

This made me miss my connecting flight (not the weather, their incompetence), and since American Airlines had seriously overbooked all their flights, I had to wait 12 hours until a seat became available. The staff on the plane and in the American Airlines terminal were rude and worryingly uninformed. They gave me no food or drinks vouchers, no hotel room, and certainly no appology.

I've tried to reclaim the money I spent due to the delay but without any luck. I frequently fly between the UK and Lima, but I would NEVER fly with American Airlines ever again.

Fri, 22/05/2009 - 23:39
Guest (not verified):

A&L. I total disagree with you, my experience is the total opposite. I've found that A&L is properly one of the best Banks on the high street, and friends and family bank with them and had no problems.

Sat, 23/05/2009 - 07:52
Barry (not verified):

VODAFONE

Released the Blackberry Storm in Nov 2008. Users complaining of poor signal, dropped calls, battery life. Vf say software update on the way to fix it please wait. Dec 2008 users complain about lack of update and ask for alternative phone. Vf say can't exchange as you have now exceeded your 14 day period for returning phone (we did this beacuse they told us to). Software update not released till May 2009 and still does not fix the problem.

They now say our contract with them is for airtime only and they have no responsibility for hardware. Hundreds of users continue to complain on their user forum but they refuse to deal with the problem or even give an authotitive response.

£35 per month and trapped in a 24 month contract with little of no phone usage or customer service. This has to be the worst ever customer service.

Sat, 23/05/2009 - 07:59
Guest (not verified):

RYANAIR...absolutley the most dreadful, nasty non-customer friendly company ever!!! I am from customer service backgroud and while you do not expect a lot from a no-frills airline...this airline really takes the biscuit. I will never, never travel with them again as I think the company ethos is bordering on arrogance in what it feels it can get away with respect to their staff ...and to the customer.

The last occaision involved late departures by 2 hours, in the worst snowstorm this year 9 hours later arriving in Bristol, when we should have been arriving in Bournemouth...and waiting another two hours for buses to take us to Bournemouth with snowploughs on the M4...putting all our lives in danger when the flight should have been cancelled in Dublin like the proper airlines were doing! Never again! not only did they put my life at risk and the rest of the passengers and crew but also that of those like my husband who had to drive in the snow and ice to get to me and then try to bring me home...many hours later.

Never again...and I would not recommend this airline to anyone and if it is the only alternative make sure you know your rights and this airline will try to get out of its obligations to those with complaints first and foremost.

Just type in ryanair complaint in any search engine and find our for yourself...

Sat, 23/05/2009 - 08:24
Mrs Braidwood (not verified):

B&Q Castlepoint, Bournemouth Store and Head Office were not the slightest bit interested regarding a fault with their vinyl plank flooring.

It had faded quite badly over a couple of years except for a few strips in certain areas even though these areas were right next to the areas where fading had occurred and the same direct sunlight was shining on to the areas. The same code-numbered packs had been purchased.

They would not come out to view the problem. I pointed out that there was no mention of the possibility of fading on the packaging. I asked them to contact the manufacturer but they said the manufacturer was based in China and could not be contacted. How ridiculous! In any case, surely flooring should last longer than a couple of years!

I could not find the receipt but sent them photographs of my complaint and also I took it to The Furniture Ombudsman Qualitas but all they said also was that without the receipt they could do nothing.

I found B&Q totally unhelpful and not at all interested in what was quite clearly a faulty product which is still being sold in their stores with no mention re fading on the packaging.

I have lost faith in them as a retailer.

Mon, 25/05/2009 - 10:09
Guest (not verified):

P&O ARE ALWAYS THE SAME, WE BOOKED A TRIP IN RUSSIA TO SEE THE SIGHTS, THE GUIDE COULD NOT SPEAK ENGLISH ONLY TO SAY SIT UP PAY ATTENTION.
WHEN WE GOT BACK TO THE SHIP LOADS OF PEOPLE COMPLAINED AND WERE GIVEN THE EXCUSE, YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE TO COMPLAIN.

ABSOLUTE LIES, SO, WHEN I CAME HOME I EMAILED THE CUSTOMER SERVICES WITH A C.C TO THE MD, SAYING THAT THE COMPLAINT WAS REGISTERED ON BOARD AND IF I DID NOT RECEIVE A FULL REFUND WITH 7 DAYS I WOULD ISSUE PROCEEDINGS IN THE COUNTY COURT AGAINST CARNIVAL UK PLC T/A P&O CRUISES.
THAT AFTERNOON SOMEONE RANG AND SAID IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN RESOLVED ON THE SHIP. I GOT A FULL REFUND, BUT IF I HAD NOT I WOULD HAVE TAKEN THEM TO COURT, IT ONLY COSTS 45.00 AND IT CAN BE DONE ON LINE.
NO COMPANY WANTS A COUNTY COURT JUDGMENT AGAINST THEM AS IT AFFECTS THEIR CREDIT RATING IN THE COMMERCIAL WORLD.

EVERYONE SHOULD DO THIS TO ANYONE WHO THEY FEEL OWES THEM COMPENSATION.

BUT, DONT FORGET, IF YOU THREATEN IT, YOU MUST FOLLOW IT THROUGH, BUT IN 97% OF CASES YOU WILL WIN, PROVIDED YOU ARE 100% SURE OF THE FACTS.

I HAVE BEEN ON 23 CRUISES WITH P&O AND IT IS A GRAND SHAME THAT THE PEOPLE IN SOUTHAMPTON DONT GET OFF THEIR HIGH HORSES AND REALISE THAT IN THESE HARD TIMES THEY ARE NOT EXEMPT FROM LOSING THEIR JOBS BECAUSE PEOPLE STOP BOOKING WITH THEM.

CUSTOMER SERVICE IS PARAMOUNT IN ANY BUSINESS, BECAUSE WITHOUT THE CUSTOMER CASH FLOW THE PATIENT WILL DIE FAST.

Mon, 25/05/2009 - 18:13
Guest (not verified):

oh dear dear. i have been with halifax for years ad they are naughty especially the credit card department in dumferline. i had major problems whereby they charged me late payment fees through their own error, that was refunded but i realised after mnths that this late payment appeared on my credit history. one person told me this would be sorted asap, another said this was my problem and i should sort it out myself. it took months and threats to remove this. people were rude to me even though it was their fault and i have never had any late payments or gone over my overdraft. now they are offering 15.000 loan, what a joke i will not touch that loan for anything!

Tue, 26/05/2009 - 13:47
John D Wray (not verified):

Motorline Toyota. Worste garage I have ever dealt with in 43 years of motoring. They are helpful when you go to buy a car, but wo and betide if you get a problem after. I have been lied to, and told that they hope to sort out my problem before the warranty runs out in 2011. waiting 2 months now for steering column, they do not seem too bothered,and their attitude stinks.

Tue, 26/05/2009 - 14:55
tanne (not verified):

saga never insure with them they are ok, until you make a claim dont give you value of car!!!!! lost my documents dont return phone calls when you phone them takes 30mins + to get through.They have lost the plot & forget any thought & care for the over 50S

Tue, 26/05/2009 - 17:10
Guest (not verified):

Co-op Bank Credit cards - dreadful service after I was robbed. Quite properly they cancelled the card but they also cancelled the DD to pay off the balance of about £750 - then charged me for not paying on time! I paid in full over the 'phone by debit card (on Lloyds) - then Co-op Bank did collect the DD - nearly £800 inc their penalties! As a result my balance at Lloyds went below the minimum and Lloyds (quite properly) charged me!

The Co-op Bank ignored my letters (three of them) until I sent to Chairman - still nothing happened for some weeks, then they woke up (4 months after my first complanit) - they agreed that they were at fault and promised compensation - which they did not pay until after I had sent them two more chasers!

Be warned - avoid Co-op Bank - they claim to be ethical but treat customers appallingly.

Tue, 26/05/2009 - 17:12
Guest (not verified):

Argos, has to be my worst ever experience.

I returned an item to Bangor NI Flagship and was basically called a liar by the woman manager, who had no time to even look at my receipt. She told me I had to go back to the shop I bought it in because the item was bought faulty. This was untrue because I had rang to confirm that I could get a replacement in the other branch first because the store I bought it in didnt have it.

I went back to the original store, Bangor Bloomfield Centre, where a cocky male supervisor asked if it had followed the instructions correctly, this is all happening even though I had a receipt and infront of other people. I was really embarassed! The item was faulty, I had bought it 2 days earlier, had rang the store when I first tried it and it didn't work, and had the receipt! People were staring at me and I felt myself going redder and redder.He told another girl to give me a gift card, and that was the best he could do. Then reserved the kettle in the store that had sent me back to them earlier.

I hated going there again but wanted my kettle, the woman manager said " I wouldnt have given you that refund" which made me angry! Then after waiting 30 mins she sent a boy out to tell me they couldn't find the kettle and they would give me another gift card refund. Needless to say myself, family and friends have not returned to these Argos stores in Bangor Northern Ireland and won't!

Wed, 27/05/2009 - 01:48
Guest (not verified):

More Than (Royal Sun Alliance) Insurance - absolutely abysmal service all round, when renewing your policy, making changes to policy, and especially when dealing with a claim. All calls through to call centre in Mumbai I think ! where they are taught just to talk to you like parrots "we apologise for this, we apologise for that" but never actually do anything about it, and you can't understanding what they are saying half the time either. They make everything so complicated and long winded and they number of duplicate documents they send out (even when you make a minor change to a policy) is unbelievable. I rang with a simple query on my policy regarding business use and was told by customer service that I was covered, I told my employer this was the case and that I would be getting a letter to confirm but in the meantime they had assured me I was covered. When the letter wasn't received I rang to chase, to be told that the reason I hadn't received it was because they had decided that I wasn't actually covered but no-one had bothered to advise me of this ! Disgusting really - luckily I hadn't used my car for this purpose during this period, but if I had I could have potentially been using it illegally, and on the strength of them telling me that I was actually covered !!!! I have made numerous complaints which they say will be looked into, dealt with and responded to, I never get so much as a phone call from anyone

Asda Home Shopping, Wolverhampton. Horrendous. Half my shopping missing, snowed in (this was February), rang the customer service line (somewhere in Mumbai I guess, where you can't understand a word they are saying and all they do is say "we fully understand how you feel, we fully appreciate the distress this must cause you") and do nothing about. They told me the store would not do any redeliveries because of the snow and I would have to be refunded the cost of my shopping. When I received my Asda card statement, it had not been refunded. I rang the customer service helpline and went mad, they apologised as usual, and assured me that it would be refunded. As this was the only amount outstanding on my card, I didn't make a payment assuming the refund would take place (and had since started shopping online with Sainsbury's so wasn't using my Asda card for payment as Sainsbury's give free delivery anyway on orders over £100). When I received my next Asda card statement - guess what ? - the refund still hadn't occurred and Asda card had charged me a £12 late payment fee because a payment hadn't been made. GREAT SERVICE ALL ROUND ASDA - BETWEEN YOUR ONLINE SHOPPING AND YOUR CREDIT CARD, CAN ONLY SAY YOU ARE PANTS TO PUT IT POLITELY !!!

Wed, 27/05/2009 - 20:15
Barry Kettlety (not verified):

Epson - I have owned an Epson 'perfection 610' flatbed scanner for some time and I am very pleased with its quality. I recently had to buy a new computer which has Vista Home Premium as the operating system. This did not recognise my Epson scanner and I could not find a driver to download on Epson's website, so I emailed them to ask if one was going to be made available. I got an automated reply saying I would receive an answer within 48 hours. However, this was not forth coming so I emailed again, but had the same experience. I would have apreciated a simple "Sorry, no there will not be any drivers made available for our 'perfection 610' scanner" but to totally ingore customers requests is in my book both ignorant and unacceptable.

Hewlett-Packard on the other hand spent weeks in communication with via email when I had a problem with my printer. So, when I can afford to buy a new scanner, guess what make it will be.

Wed, 03/06/2009 - 07:22
Robert Allen (not verified):

I agree with you totally. I have had many disputes with EGG. Their Customer Service is appalling. What's FOD ?

Fri, 05/06/2009 - 11:53
Dave Fahey (not verified):

Talk-Talk - I cancelled an agreement with them within the "cooling-off"period . They still took 2 months subscription from my current account .I have written twice to claim the money back and made umpteen phone calls , only to be transferred from department to department , all to no avail . Their adverts make me cringe when they appear on TV.

Welcome Finance- I purchased a car from them in 2002 at the amazingly low APR of49.7%. Yes I know that it was high but I was desperate at the time and Yes Finance were the only others at the time who would touch me,and look what happened to them!
On the advise of the "salesman" I attempted to px the car halfway through the term , only to be laughed out of the showrooms of many dealers, owing to the APR.
One recommended that I write to Welcome Finance and exercise my right to terminate the agreement,meaning that they would collect the car , I would receive no money but neither would I have to pay any more instalments. I did this and sent the letter by recorded delivery to Welcome's office in Nottingham, following a phone to ascertain that I was communicating with the correct addess.
One month later I had heard nothing , so sent a second letter,again by recorded delivery, giving them 14 days notify me as to what their intentions were towards this vehicle. I clearly stated in the letter that I had kept the car taxed and insured in order that I could deliver it to their chosen destination ,that it was in my way and that unless I heard from them within the 14 days then I would dispose of the vehicle without further recourse to themselves.
Three months later they rang to say that they were arrging collection and would call me back in five minutes. They never called back.
I sold the car. Four months later one of their collections people,Graham Mather, wrote to me asking for £600. I had checked the position with my union solicitor who informed me that Welcome had forfeited any interest in the vehicle,I told Mr Mather this and left the matter at that.
Another four months went by and I received a letter from a debt collection agency called Intrim Justitia, where do they get these names from? They wanted the balance outstanding to the end of the term,approximately £4500. I rang them and explained the situation and they withdrew from the case.
Three years later I heard from another debt collection agency,HFO of Croydon. I wrote explaing the situation to them enclosing copies of my termination letters.They ignored these and insisted that I owed the money but that if I agreed to pay "two grand,Mr Fahey,then you can move on". I spoke again to my union's solicitor who said that she heard this all the time and that I did not owe the money.Eight months of harassment followed concluding with a long conversation with their solicitors, Turnbull and Rutherford, who just happened to reside in the same building, the outcome of which was that they would take me to court ,this being in December 2006. I never heard from them again but see from my Experian report that this debt has been given a "10" status-meaning that I have resisted all reasonable requests to pay the money.
I know that Welcome acted immorally by selling a non-existant "debt".
Trading Standards were worse than useless,after finally accessing them via a 'phone system that would put Fort Knox to shame,they simply told me to pay it.

Wed, 10/06/2009 - 12:19
Lloyd (not verified):

TalkTalk are the worst company for customer service - when i wanted to quite they tried to bad talk Virgin (who so far, have been brilliant) and then when that didn't work, they tried to scare me into not leaving them by telling me how it would cost to reconnect my BT line again when I had finished with Virgin - when I questionned his technique and said that it made me want to leave them more, he simply asked for my number told me that i would disconnected and then cut me off - without a good bye ...disgusting customer service.

The other company is Comets who failed to deliver my good on three seperate occasions and then blamed me for not giving them the right details - as I had moved homes and needed the goods (fridge, washing machine and cooker!) I asked them nicely to compensate my costs only for not having the goods they promised me. They offered me £25 in vouchers but when they never arrived I called again to be transferred from department to department before I was told that they could do no more and as far as they were concerned 'the issue is concluded'. I promised I would never go back and I never have - they're brilliant when everything goes the way it should but when you have a problem, they're useless!

Fri, 19/06/2009 - 20:30
RMS (not verified):

More Than (Royal Sun Alliance) Insurance - Terrible ordeal whilst dealing with a claim whereby my car was parked in my own driveway and soneone speeding hit the walls round my boundry and the bricks flew into my car and damage was so bad that my car was written off. All calls go through to call centre in India, I think ! did not solve anything. My car was denied the current government scrappage of £2000 due to NO DAULT OF MY and I had legal cover under the insurance and Morethan have NOT OFFERED ME THIS OPTION. They have tried communicating with me by text on the value of the offer to settle my claim and have processed a cheque BUT I have not agreed this amount in FINAL Settlement. Despite me ringing them they bounce me to different departments and NO ONE has written to me or want to communicate to me. I have made numerous complaints which they are not prepared to respond to. I really need to recover £2000 from 3rd party but Morethan is ignoring my concerns. I am a loser here and would NEVER NEVER recommend anyone to insure with them.

Sun, 28/06/2009 - 16:32
patrick fitzpatrick:

the two worst companys that i ever dealt with are tesco.&scottish power.they must be the only companys that qualify for liars of the year also most of their staff need management training.first tesco i had van insurance.had a powder puff incident[ dec]2007]still waiting for answers but they took my no claims away when trying to phone them at£4 a time no joy. the best of it was idid not report any incident but they said other driver did therefore they weregoing to commit to a50 50 agreement it reallystinks .i even explained that the claim was a fraud but not wanting to listen. just take your money .i have drven all over the country for just on 50 years never had a incident or any motor offences of any kind. so beware anyone who is thinking of getting motor insurance from tesco.as my opinion is that these gangsters just dont want to listen to their customers seemingly they know best i have now put my case to the ombudsman. so will wait on the out come.of this farce.

Tue, 30/06/2009 - 19:18
patrick fitzpatrick:

the two worst companys that i ever dealt with are tesco.&scottish power.they must be the only companys that qualify for liars of the year also most of their staff need management training.first tesco i had van insurance.had a powder puff incident[ dec]2007]still waiting for answers but they took my no claims away when trying to phone them at£4 a time no joy. the best of it was idid not report any incident but they said other driver did therefore they weregoing to commit to a50 50 agreement it reallystinks .i even explained that the claim was a fraud but not wanting to listen. just take your money .i have drven all over the country for just on 50 years never had a incident or any motor offences of any kind. so beware anyone who is thinking of getting motor insurance from tesco.as my opinion is that these gangsters just dont want to listen to their customers seemingly they know best i have now put my case to the ombudsman. so will wait on the out come.of this farce.

Tue, 30/06/2009 - 19:18
patrick fitzpatrick:

  SCOTTISH POWER   ZULCH.                                                                                            IN FEBRUARY  [2008] I GOT A LETTER FROM SCOTTISH POWER INFORMING ME THAT I WAS DUE A REFUND OF£238  SO AFTER TRYING TO CONTACT THEM AFTER AFEW HOURS I FINALLY MADE CONTACT. WHEN ASKED TO FORWARD REFUND ON TO ME  THEY INFORMED ME THAT I WOULD HAVE TO PROVE THAT I BOUGHT THE  ELECTRICITY.[ NOW I HAVE A PREPAYMENT METER I HAVE TO PAY FOR THE ELECTRIC BEFORE I CAN USE IT.] THIS WAS ALL EXPLAINED TO THE JOBSWORTH BUT STILL INSISTED THAT I PRODUCE RECIEPTS NOT FOR AYEAR BUT TWO YEARS ANYWAY WHAT MORE PROOF DID THEY WANT WHEN I HAVE TO BUY THE ELECTRIC  BEFORE I COULD USE ANY .SO THIS SAGA WENT ON DESPITE LETTERS EMAILS ETC. .TO THEM BUT GOT NO REPLY. SO MY NEXT MOVE WAS THE ENERGY OMBUDSMAN. BRILLIANT.  HE GOT IT SORTED IT OUT NO PROBLEM. SCOTTISH POWER WERE INFORMED TO APPOLIGISE TO ME AND PAY ALL MONIES DUE TO ME BUT THEY CAME UP WITH ANOTHER EXCUSE SEEMINGLY IF MONIES ARE NOT PAID OUT BY A CERTAIN TIME IT GOES INTO A PENDING ACCOUNT AND YOU WAIT AYEAR TO CLAIM AGAIN NEEDLESS TO SAY I WAITED AND GOT IT PLUS A BIT EXTRA. A CUSTOMER FOR FORTY YEARS. BUT NOW SCOTTISH POWER  NO MORE.WHY DONT THEY GIVE THE CUSTOMERS WHAT THEY ARE ENTITLED TO INSTEAD OF ALL THE HASSLE PEOPLE GET ROBIN HOOD AT LEAST HE HAD A MASK AND WHAT ABOUT ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT ARE GETTING ROBBED OF THEIR ENTITLEMENTS BY THIS MOB WHO STATE [WE LOOK FOR COMMON SENSE]THEY MUST STILL BE LOOKING.

Tue, 30/06/2009 - 20:07
capelvale (not verified):

Orange have to be the worst in current history.

their sales team are pushy and rude. they do the hard sell. my partner was offered a free phone to look at, and if it wasnt liked to send it back within 14 days and no charge or contract would be made. however, orange refused to take our calls, so of course, it went over the 14 day period. we sent the phone back - they sent it back to us!

we have been down the 'right way of dealing with complaints' and for the last two months, through sending letters recorded and special delivery , have heard absolutely nothing. THEY DONT CARE. Meanwhile, our business is going down the plughole, lost contact with friends, because Orange took over the number from Vodaphone and froze it! Super.. and to top it all off, they keep sending bloody bills for a phone that cant be used....

Wed, 01/07/2009 - 19:53
Guest (not verified):

Egg by far. Absolutely disgusting customer services. They speak to people in a very snotty and condescending tone. Very rude and unhelpful.

I swear everyone who works there has not a penny of debt and thinks anyone who does is scum!

Thank god I am in the process of changing to Barclaycard who not only are polite but a hell of a lot cheaper than the 27.9% I am paying with Egg!

Thu, 02/07/2009 - 11:29
Guest (not verified):

Agree with you totally. I was recently lured into switching to A&L. However, today I received a letter saying that I had not met all the requirements to get my £100 "reward". I definitely met all of their conditions. I stomped off to my branch and used their telephone to call the helpline. The person informed me that 4000 letters were sent out in error. That's alot of stamps, paper, envelopes and ink and even more irate customers. It does not give me much faith in them. That does not auger well at all for the future. Can anyone actually recommend confidently any good financial institutions to me?

Fri, 03/07/2009 - 17:57
Guest (not verified):

Yes, barclaycard is OK and have lowered their interest rates. However, their call centre is in India and while I don't have a problem with that, since they are always polite, they don't really have a clue sometimes and keep on sending me round and round in circles. Also, they have had a problem accepting payments by debit cards on-line and on their telephone automated system, resulting in me having heart attacks worrying about late payments and the resultant fees

Fri, 03/07/2009 - 18:00
Guest (not verified):

Talk Talk might have competitive prices but they were constantly phoning to sell me extra services which I did not need. One salesman was really rude to me when I said that I had a home PC but did not want an internet connection, he ridiculed me! I was also charged a fee for when I switched banks and the direct debit to Talk Talk was out of kilter for a month. After a few emails to-ing and fro-ing, where I copied and pasted back their small print terms and conditions, I switched back to BT.

Fri, 03/07/2009 - 18:06
Guest (not verified):

Hacking & Paterson Management Services

They are meant to provide a management and factoring service. All they do is charge residents for things which do not get done or are shoddily done. You know the 30 car park bollards which need fixing every quarter, the lightbulbs and cleaning services.

Now they have asked us to pay an extra £125 into the float to meet upfront costs. They also claimed that over 70% of residents have paid up so therefore they are happy with the arrangements. I paid up because I was sent a big red reminder bill and was scared of not paying. I did not think that I had a choice in the matter. After speaking to my neighbours and finding out how many have not paid, I feel very resentful that it was voluntary but this was not made clear in the invoice. I am definitely not a happy customer. It took them over 3 months, with lots of phone calls, letters and visits from me before they got someone to fix my bollard.

Factors need national regulation

Fri, 03/07/2009 - 18:13
Ruby (not verified):

First Direct isn't on the top of my list

A few years ago, I tried to open an account but they said that I wasn't eligible so I thought, ok fine... but since then they keep sending me statements for that account which I believe does not exist. Statements with an account number and £0 balance for over 3 years! It's a good thing I recycle paper!

Fri, 03/07/2009 - 18:19
Guest (not verified):

Alliance & Leicester

I took up an offer to transfer my current account over to A&L. They also offered to take care of the whole transfer for me including all my direct debits and pay etc.

It ended up taking nearly two months with numerous problems including missed rental payments etc. What took the biscuit was that they didn't give me an overdraft that they had promised to match because of some small print and basically took back the £100 they gave me for transferring my account in charges (which they charge £25 for just reviewing a payment and £25 for going overdrawn and £5 a day for the days you're overdrawn). The email "help" is completely useless and unhelpful and seems to be run by a robot - the call centre staff are rude and confrontational and try to blame you for switching an account to them! Too right - I've switched back.

My advice is don't touch A&L's offer with a barge-pole it just isn't worth it.

Sat, 04/07/2009 - 12:11
Sunny (not verified):

Never deal with any of Bransons companies they are all the same!

They do not care about customers just want to take your money and they have they have the most onerous legal jargon of any companies in the world.

If you want stress, use Virgin Media or fly Virgin Airlines they are good at supplying it!

Take it from one who knows how they operate, stay away, might be worth paying an extra buck or two for better service.

Tue, 07/07/2009 - 08:21
Guest (not verified):

Tesco Finance are very poor, I spoke to 7! different people on the phone yesterday after pressing many buttons and entering many codes all at my expense as it is an 0845 number, one person said one thing, one said another so in the end I gave up and have closed my account so beware!

Tue, 07/07/2009 - 12:59