If you are offered compensation and it's not enough, don't accept it - or how a call just got me an extra £40.
By Boingboing
@boiboing (13147)
Northampton, England
November 2, 2015 8:13am CST
I am a complainer - but I am a very polite, very calm and well prepared complainer. I'm normally very calm but when others are incompetent and then try to blame me, I don't let them get away with it.
Back in July I moved two of my banking direct debits from my old bank to a new one. This bank - it's Santander if anybody cares - gives cashback on your bills and pays interest on your balance. My old bank does neither and I was keen to move my cash around a bit to reduce banking risk. I called my fuel supplier for my home and for the flat where I stay when I'm working. I have two accounts with this company - again, if anyone is interested, it's NPower - and I asked them to move the direct debits for both to the new account. The first payments should have gone in August.
I got two letters - one for each account - accusing me of not paying my bill and threatening me with being moved to a less favourable tariff with an underlying threat that the non-payment would mess up my credit rating. I spoke to the bank who confirmed they'd received nothing, then I rang NPower. They admitted it was their fault and tried to set up the debits again. Come September it was clear they had failed a second time. Eventually after half a dozen phone calls, they finally got it right at the end of October.
They wrote in response to my complaint offering £40. Since I'd lost £25 in missing interest and cashbacks from Santander, I wasn't satisfied with that. I rang and reminded them that I had not one but two accounts, that I was out of pocket because of their errors and said I thought they could do better. After checking that my credit rating hadn't been impacted and that my direct debit bonus was still in place, I told them I'd shut up and go away for a further £40.
Reader, I got it!
Learning points/advice:
1. Stay calm
2. Keep records
3. Know what you're complaining about and stick to the facts
4. Tell them what you want
5. Stay polite and always tell the person on the phone that you know it's not THEIR fault and you really appreciate their help.
It was a horrible business, a really annoying and inconvenient thing to live through but I now have £40 credit off each account and I feel pleased with myself for sticking up for myself. And when my tariffs run out, I may well be straight out the door and off to another provider.
12 people like this
10 responses
@Fleura (35022)
• United Kingdom
2 Nov 15
Well done! As you say, you need to keep records of everything (not so easy if you communicate with the company over the telephone or via their web page) and make sure you have all the facts. Do you keep records of your telephone calls and if so how?
3 people like this
@celticeagle (189833)
• Boise, Idaho
2 Nov 15
I am so glad you were able to get this taken care of and to your satisfaction. I had a similar thing happen but it corrected sooner. You really have to stay on them. I think that with age and experience we learn that this is what works. Youngsters aren't so patient.
2 people like this
@boiboing (13147)
• Northampton, England
2 Nov 15
My bank locked me out of my account earlier in the year. I had it sorted in about an hour but I asked for it to be logged as a complaint and I got £50 credited to my account a few weeks later. That's why I thought £40 was a bit mean this time.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61463)
• United States
2 Nov 15
Well that was an excellent result and it is often a good thing to be persistent and of course to have your facts ready at hand.
1 person likes this
@Drosophila (16568)
• Ireland
2 Nov 15
I'm a bad complainer, especially when they try to blame it on me. But I usually do get away with twice as much as they offer, once they realise I'm not just going to go away. In fact, I'm going to call up every single day. Most people just relent to my determination. :)
I often try a mixture of pure aggravation and empathy. Aggravation at the broken process of the company 'n' it's failure points, and empathy at the person who has to take my call. It's a great combo, because it objectifies my complaint and ensures the rep dealing with my call isn't too hacked off. In fact, I even have reps agreeing with me the process itself was at fault, once that's been achieved, compensation is way easier to negotiate.
1 person likes this
@jstory07 (148734)
• Roseburg, Oregon
2 Nov 15
You should have gotten that money because of the run around the company gave you.
@boiboing (13147)
• Northampton, England
2 Nov 15
Absolutely. I showed them that they had already cost me £25 in lost interest and cashback so that meant all that trouble was for £15. I also pointed out that I have not one but two accounts so surely both should have been compensated.
