how can people who speak the same language continue to not understand?
as i've mentioned before, i'm partially sighted and it's getting worse. as a result, i find it impossible to make out my new pin number when i'm sent it. several times, i've had to phone the bank and explain this to them. i make it very clear that i cannot see the number and sending me another would be pointless.
what do they do, every time? yep, they send me another pin number. i've had to go into the main branch 4 times so far, only to be told that without my pin number, i can't change anything and they can't tell me my pin number as they're not allowed to know what it is. i know they have security issues, after all, it's a bank. nevertheless, surely someone in there should be able to help me with this frustrating situation
( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 12:23, 40 replies)

Related to themanwithaplan's story down there V V RE phone insurance
I had T-Mobile phone cover and lost my phone, or was stolen or whatever, I no longer had it. Checked the insurance small print and saw this
"Theft from a public place, public conveyance, any property or premises or a motor vehicle is not covered unless the is evidence of a break in"
Correct me If I'm wrong but does that not cover their arses for ANY place the public could be? And me being a member of the public means I then couldnt go anywhere I am allowed if I have my phone? And you are only covered on a public train if someone has broken into/onto the train? I had to check to see if it had been changed now but no, it is still there: www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobile-phones/phone-insurance/cost/ (down the bottom, open the .PDF) so word of warning to anyone with fonesafe/T-mobile insurance. You arent covered for theft anywhere unless you are burgled in your own car.
(robneymcplum spiced up his life on, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 12:07, 10 replies)

SOCIAL MEDIA
always said like its written in caps.

watching the marketing agency i work for sell SOCIAL MEDIA as a 'proposition' to bluechip clients whos marketing sections are using the latest android phones but havnt worked out how to turn them on.

effectivly just following twitter accounts

thought leadership my arse. great insight yah?
(magictorch, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 11:56, 6 replies)

I had a telephone interview to go and work for a large mobile telephone company named after a colour
I probably didn't help my case when - trying to conduct the interview through all manner of static, pops, crackles and with their voices fading in and out - I said "I'm really sorry about this, my phone gets really bad reception, I need to change providers." They then asked me who I was with...
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 11:51, 3 replies)

A large British Telecommunications company and criminal activity
A few years back, before I realised what broadband actually was and I didn't need wide fibre optic cables, I assumed I could only get dial up at my house.
My only option for internet goodness was a large British Telecommunications company, so i called them and requested they add dial up to my account.

The did, and without any aggravation. great!

After a few telephone bills of about £40, I recieved a bill in the region of £400.
I called the billing dept and queried the bill, they said it was right and that I was calling premium numbers for internet... you all know the story, I'm sure

I asked why this wasn't flagged as unusual given that my bills were usually a tenth of this and they responded, saying it didn't seem unusual to them. I don't remember what I said to that, but i'm sure it would've contained 'c', 'unt' and probably 's'

I assured them that I was, in no uncertain terms, not going to pay the bill and that if they wanted the money they should try really hard and bend their semi erect man sausages back between their legs and stuff it up their own diseased rectums.

I had hoped that was enough to put an end to the matter, but no, they decided to write to me, threatening court action unless I paid the bill.

I wrote back advising them that I was clearly a victim of a crime and that the large British Telecommunication company were well aware of this happening and had been for some time, and that demanding money in relation to this was profiting from criminal enterprise, which I was pretty sure was also illegal.

They never bothered me about it after that.


I heard later they were telling the press/watchdog/whoever that any profits they made from these bills was going to be given to charity


If you read all the way to the end, I apologise; writing's never been my forte
( real i'm not happy 'til you're not happy, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 11:47, 12 replies)

I think the main subjects of the week's ire will be banks.
Santander, my particular fuckwitted chumps. Managed to lose my ISA account. Lose it, as in not existing, never had existed, and it was an ex-parrot. After about a month, "managed" to find it, and was offered a few quid comps for the hassle, phone calls, emails etc. How the fuck you can lose an entire a/c, in a digital age, is beyond me.
I think these fuckers are amongst the worst in customer satisfaction surveys.
(Bear Pookie The Frankly Challenged. Halloween is coming to town., Fri 24 Feb 2012, 11:47, 1 reply)

A telling omission
One day, perhaps dazed by warm sunshine and pretty girls in short summer dresses, I felt the urge to contact a certain international technology company and tell them how much I liked and respected their products. No, this is not sarcasm.

After several hours of trying, I was forced to give up. It seems that there was no capability for receiving positive messages - only complaints of one form or another.
(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 11:28, 5 replies)

Data protection act
This is another Virgin Media story.

Some time ago a new neighbour moved in and decided to sign up to Virgin Media. She, however, was a bit dim and couldn't remember the number of the house she'd moved into. As a result, instead of telling them she lived at 38, where she lived, she told them she lived at number 30, my house and so I got her first bill.

Thinking something was up and fearing I would be lumbered with paying for her or that her services and mine would be muddled somehow, I called Virgin Media and explained the situation. They reassured me that there were two accounts and she would be paying hers and I would be paying mine and the address for the services was her house and not mine.

The address for her bills would have to remain as my house, however, because of the data protection act.

Yes, that's right. I was getting her bills, could open them and see who she was calling every month - hardly private - but I couldn't stop them sending me her bills. She had to do that.

Over the course of the next ten months, I rang every time her bill arrived. They told me they couldn't do anything or else they lied and said I needed to write to them. I took the bills to her house but she was never in. I wrote on the envelope to say she needed to call them but she never did.

Then one miraculous month, I got hold of someone with some common sense, a man who was able to look at the records, work out what was going on, realise that they were following the letter of the law but not the spirit and ... change the 0 to an 8.

That was all it took. Poor bloke was probably sacked for doing that but I hope he's gone on to better things.
(BearWithLittleBrain, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 11:23, 2 replies)

Marketing, schmarketing
I worked for the same engineering company for 12 years, writing software. In theory, the marketing department were supposed to identify needs by talking to the customers, then feed them through to us techies to develop.

In practice, they seemed mainly to have large lunches and compare dicks. In the entire 12 years, I had precisely 5 words of "input" from them. The only time I ever bothered to forward a question to them, about which of two approaches I should use for a customer-facing interface, the reply didn't come back for several months -- in fact it arrived on the day *after* the product had been released.

When I finally left, I took great satisfaction in relating all this to the MD. I doubt anything changed, though.
(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 11:23, Reply)

There
are just not enough hours in the day.
(dchurch bah, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 11:10, 8 replies)

uncancelable broadband
I once ordered ADSL broadband off BT, but I said I didn't want a phone account with it. They said this was possible, and a week later I was using it.

One year later I was moving out of the flat and rang them up to cancel. Each time I'd get through to the broadband department, they'd tell my account code was special and one they didn't deal with and put me through to the phone accounts dept. Accounts would tell me that it was a broadband account and put me back through to broadband. Eventually (2-3 hours) I would be put through to a number that would ring out and eventually cut-off.

After going through this merry-go round process several times, trying to keep my cool, I asked for and got the direct number of this special department that dealt with my account number. Unfortunately, no one would ever answer the phone there. No matter how many times I rang, or what time of day, it would ring for several minutes before cutting out.

This went on for a few months, I tried to escalate it, but BT lacked a functioning complaints department. My saviour in the end was a guy from their technical faults phone department, of all things. After repeating all my issues, he admitted what I suspected, that the department that deals with my account code no longer exists. "BT is going through a lot of changes", he said. In five minutes he was able to cut off my account and cancel the line. He was unable to compensate days of my life spent on hold or talking to clueless dolts. BT has deeply flawed processes and incompetent people working in customer service, and I hate them.
( cumquat may will not be commenting further on the allegations, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 10:51, 1 reply)

A right bunch of bankers
I chose my bank nearly 19 years ago as I didn't want to co-operate (can you see what I did there) with banks who invest money in bad things. So, drawn in by the promise that any money I had would be spent on rainbow coloured unicorns and kittens, I made my choice.

Oh God. I'm sure all banks screw up, but this one has done some doozies on me over the years. But here's the worst.

I used to have a joint account with my partner, and when we split up, I kept the account, and she kept a credit card account with the bank but took her current account elsewhere. For around 2 years the bank would happily send my statements to her, her credit card statements to me, which had it not been an amicable split could have been fairly awkward.

However it was an amicable split, in that we decided that was best for our daughter's sake. So, we used to go on family holidays together once a year. 5 years after the break-up, we were on one such holiday when my ex had her credit card stolen. So, she reports it to the bank.

Next day, when I tried to use my credit card with the bank - which had always only been mine, never had a second card holder...well, you can guess.

So, we're in Spain, thankfully we have one working card left between us.

Get back to the UK, and basically the bank just shrug their shoulders, can't explain why this has happened, offer £30 compensation or something equally daft.

Still I got my revenge. Have run up £10K on the cards and thanks to lack of work, can't pay them back. I imagine they'll send the boys round to her place not mine...
(TheImmortalJenkins, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 10:46, 17 replies)

The corporate equivalent of chopping off your head to save weight.....
Have a pea....

When I was working for a large IT company many moons ago I receieved an email informing me that the annual technical excellence conference due in a month or so hadn't had enough nominations, and needed more. This was followed later the same day by another email stating that the staff at the company in question were it's best asset and they wished to do all they could to retain talent.

These were made laughable following less than 10 days behind a round of involuntary redundancies, in which one of the most technically gifted people I have ever worked with, who had single handedly saved the project I was on more than once, had been given his marching orders. This was despite severe opposition from anyone immediately connected to him, including his line manager at the time.

Company in question has continued to de-skill it's workforce at a frightening pace in the name of cost savings, whilst at the same time wondering why projects are slipping and customer satisfaction is dropping......
(repooc, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 10:42, Reply)

Happened to be in Burger King one day.
I'm not proud, I was hungry. (We love ya Bill!)

They had some kind of promotional thing on. No idea what it was about, but all the counter staff had shirts on bearing the slogan "TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL" on the back.

Never before has the value of education been so clearly articulated.

I went back the following day with a camera, and unsurprisingly all evidence of this profoundly ill-judged exercise in publicity had been purged from the store.

EDIT - external verification of this, by someone who was a bit sharper with their camera. thebenshowblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/burger-king-workers-too-cool-for-school.html
( barryheadwound Mul-ti-pass? Multipass!, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 10:33, Reply)

Phone insurance
Not sure how relevant this is but what the hell.

Water damage, even “dropping your phone into your pint” is covered (as the insurance gentleman very specifically pointed out to me when I took out my £12.99 a month cover), but it seems washing machine damage is not. I’m still baffled as to how dropping your phone into a pint glass full of beer is any less careless than allowing it to find itself into a 40 spin. Admittedly my own fault for not checking my insurance paperwork before making the phone call, actual stupidity.
(TheManWithThePlan cussed your mum on, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 10:28, Reply)

Employee of the month…

A while ago, I'm sure you’d be quite staggered to find that I had a billing issue with a certain media monstrosity whose hymen is still completely intact. I won’t go too much into the problem as that is not why I’m posting. No, this is all about the complaint call.

This was not the first time I had called them regarding my being-royally-fucked-about-ness. As so often seem to be the case, I had previously endured being dragged through the soul destroying ‘first line’...i.e. being promised the absolute earth just to get you off the phone, whilst refusing to confirm anything in writing because it’s 'not company policy’. What does appear to be 'company policy' however, is: 'Don't even bother to note down the customer complaint, as you are far too busy nudging your bumchum in the next seat, pointing to your earpiece, belming, and making the universal hand gesture for ‘wanker’...

And lo, after another month had passed and I came to the gruesome realisation that I had once again been spoon-fed a pigs trough of reconstitued bollocks, it was time to call again. Now, usually before I call in these situation, I like to have a quick run through in my head of possible scenarios, so I can get my shit together in accordance with my meagre expectations of how these kind of calls usually go. If you’ll indulge me, this is what I expected:

I dial the number.

Recorded message: “Thank you for calling Mega-bastards who-have-yet-to-have-one-slid-up-‘em Media. For sales press ‘1’, to give us more of your cash that we frankly don’t deserve, press 2..." and so on. Ten minutes drip by, even the voice on the recorded message is bored by this point, but then you eventually stumble across: ‘For billing enquiries or complaints, press 7362534i4594733'. I press the number.

Recorded message: “We’re sorry, but there is a queue, Your call means fuck all is important to us, please hold the line". Several years pass by, my clothes are now tattered rags and I have a long straggly beard like Robinson Crusoe before finally, A ‘human being’ decides to answer:

'Human Being':“You're through to a drone from Money-grabbing mong-monkeys whose cherry has not yet been popped Media. Please give me your name, account number, the name of your great great grandfather’s Labra-doodle, and 17 independently scrutinised samples of your DNA". I comply.

Me: *Complain, complain, whinge, bleat, moan, bitch, plead, beg, gibber, wibble, etc.*

Call Centre Cretin: "Of course sir, Please allow me to promise you the earth".

Me: "Oh no you fucking don’t dearie…NOT THIS TIME!"

CCC: "Oh bollocks, fair enough."

Hopefully, we would then proceed to lump ourselves kicking and screaming to some sort of compromise. I know, Naive aren’t I?

So with this ‘rehearsal' in mind, I dial the number and it transpires exactly as I envisioned, right up to the point where I finally get put through to the Call Centre Cretin, and I brace myself for a deluge of corporate branding and fake, ‘faux American’, sugar-flavoured snot scmaltz...

Fuck-a-doodle-do, I was so wrong...and in no way prepared for what happened next.

CCC: "HIYAAAAAA!!!!" *exudes outrageous happiness*

Me (somewhat taken aback) : "Hello, I’m calling about my bill".

CCC: You whaaaat?

Me (now quite flabbergasted): Erm….this is ‘billing enquires’, isn't it?

CCC: Naaaah!

Me (Now wondering which parallel dimension I have been mercilessly thrust into: "EXCUSE ME??"



Brief pause…



CCC: "Oh......hang on…..I mean, yeah it is! Hahahahhahaaaaa!, I forgot!….you see, I used to work with Dave!..."

ME (struck completely dumb): "Mmmmf!"

She then chuntered on for about 5 minutes, completely oblivious to my seething, explaining how she had previously worked in a different department with the (apparent 'legend') that was ‘Dave…you know…BIG DAVE!’ before she was transferred (what a surprise). As I rummaged around the house looking for a gun so I could end it all, this talented exponent of utter fuckwittery then divulged that she had actually been transferred TWO FUCKING MONTHS BEFORE, yet she still could not remember where she was or what she was doing.

I just hope she was hungover or something, because I don’t want to live in a world where anyone could be quite so window-licking, downright thick with just the one head.

Then again, by now she probably fucking runs the place.
(Mr Twisty Cheeky The worst kept secret in B3ta..., Fri 24 Feb 2012, 10:16, 10 replies)

Did you know that Whitney Houston's debut LP, called simply Whitney Houston had 4 number one singles on it?
It's hard to choose a favorite among so many great tracks, but "The Greatest Love of All" is one of the best, most powerful songs ever written about self-preservation, dignity. Its universal message crosses all boundaries and instills one with the hope that it's not too late to better ourselves. Since it's impossible in this world we live in to empathise with others, we can always empathise with ourselves. It's an important message, crucial really. And it's beautifully stated on the album.
(Eukanuba, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 10:15, 4 replies)

Dear nPower
Under normal circumstances, I would be more than happy to fill in the form you sent me and return it by the 24^th of February. However, since the letter in which you make this request is dated the 22^nd, and the envelope is postmarked as the 23^rd, and since the letter didn't arrive until the 24^th, I will struggle to accommodate your request on this occasion.

I'd've liked to have told you this over the phone, and maybe to have provided you with the required information that way as well - you've not provided a URL or email address by which I can provide it, so the phone is the only realistic option other than driving to your address in Swindon. But the line is permanently engaged. I am curious to know whether there is more than one person working in the relevant office.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 10:11, Reply)

7 Habits, or How to make a fortune from marketing common sense....
16 years ago (Jeez, was it THAT Long ago?!?) when I had been 2 and a bit years at the company, I was put on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People course.
Our company had decided It was good thing for all its employees, and to be fair it was quite informative and quite fun. Plus we got to go offsite for a day once every 2 weeks for the course (6 days in all) with all food provided.
As the course went on, it dawned on me that what Covey had written about was basic Common Sense. He had found a way to take Common Sense, explain it in a methodical way, package it, market it, and make a killing thereby. Go Steve!

Then I thought 'why does the company feel the need to teach Common Sense to people that should know it already? Don't they hire 'sensible' people?'
The answer - I found over the years - is an emphatic 'NO', especially in the upper echelons.

Being a tech, I deal with realities. Its my job to know what can be done with what you have, and exactly how much blood you can get from a stone. Cold hard facts are my daily bread.

Most middle and upper management have their feet firmly planted in the air. Sadly, I have met few that haven't.
The average manager has a shelf life of 2 years approx - unless they totally screw the pooch - and very few last beyond 3.
Their only interest is themselves - the company is a vehicle for their career, and exists solely for what it can do to make them look good.
They talk in a patronising language that obfuscates what they are really saying, and just makes them come across as a complete twat.
They make big decisions in the company name because it will boost their reputation, and after they have gone and the realities of the decision have come home to roost, they are far away and oblivious to the fallout they have left for others to clean up.

My conclusion is that 7 Habits was designed for these clowns, as a way for the company to remind them that they have to make sensible, realistic decisions for the company's benefit, not just for theirs.
And because some people can't see beyond themselves, Stephen Covey made a fortune.

Six Sigma?
Arse!
(Sebulba continues to fight evil with evil....., Fri 24 Feb 2012, 9:53, 1 reply)

Internet
Settle down, this is a long one, but it's drastically shortened from reality...

My mum had dialup with a company named after a fruit. Painfully slow, everyone else was on broadband, so I convinced her to get upgraded. BB modem turns up (the days before routers), we plug in... it doesn't work. She's got a month of dialup left, so we get online to troubleshoot. Nothing works. Many calls to tech support follow. Everything gets unplugged. The computer gets moved to the bedroom so the modem can be plugged into the "right" telephone socket. A new modem is sent. And another. Nothing works. WEEKS have passed, and the dialup is about to be cut off. ISP blame BT. BT are adamant nothing's wrong, and blame ISP. Eventually, in despair, we give up, she gets a refund, and goes back to dialup. For another YEAR. Eventually I can stand it no longer and tell her to get broadband, but to get it from BT so that nobody can pass the buck on the line fault and if there is a problem, they'll have to sort it.

So a BT BB modem turns up, and guess what? It doesn't work. And many tech support calls follow, and the computer is moved, and a new modem is sent out... and eventually they say "It might be a fault on the line." The line we knew was faulty a year ago. And one (possibly the only one) competent guy with a geordie accent promises us it'll get looked at. He phones us back the next day.

The line was faulty. Not actually *broken*, oh no, they didn't have to MEND anything. There was a dip switch set wrong at the exchange. Somebody moved the switch, and now everything's fine. They just couldn't be bothered checking last year. AAAAAGH.
(SonofRojBlake, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 9:39, 2 replies)

I left Vodafone
because when I finally managed to get through to an actual human being after having spent ten minutes fighting through their automated telephone service, and was told I had come through to the wrong department for my query, I was told that I'd have to ring another number, as this global mobile communications company was unable to put me through.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 9:12, 3 replies)

Until recently I worked for a multinational manufacturing company
Following on from all the password wankery detailed in many posts below, I have a doozy!
As I worked from home* I was issued with a laptop so I could access information, check pricing etc etc. Said laptop was connected to the corporate mainframe via VPN and there were three levels of security I had to go through to actually use the data I needed. Each level had to have an eight character password, different from the others with at least one capital letter, one number and one 'special' character (%$£"* etc).
The further wankery was that each one had to be changed every two months and couldn't be one you'd used before nor could it be a 'recognisable word' as defined by the (German) IT department. That equates to eighteen eight-character passwords per year.
I lost count of the times my colleages and I were booted off the system for getting it wrong. That is until I found out the passwords for management access - which WEREN'T changed and each level was the same!
The Uber - secure password used by management and directors?

Password123$

IT geeks have no imagination.

*Sat around in my pants eating biscuits and wanking like a demented chimp.
(Captain Placid 24/7 ball gags, brownie mix and clown porn, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 9:10, 5 replies)

Password stupidity.
I'm sure I'm not alone here, but about 5 years ago I decided to start using a password that had 8 characters, one of which is a number. This seemed to satisfy most fussy password requirements, and is to my mind a sensible requirement. It's a pretty random word, and I use the number '1' instead of the letter 'I' in it, so it's easy for me to remember, but absolutely unguessable for anyone else.

I use the same one for pretty much everything.

Apart from a couple;

- Visa verification. It seems at some point I used this password, but then forgot I'd changed it. I had to reset my password, but I got the message 'You can't reuse one you've used before'. So I had to use another one. Which I forget every time, so I have never actually put the correct password in, I have to change it every time. The no repeat rule ensures I now just put random crap in, knowing I'll have forgotten it by the next time.

- London Borough of Richmond upon thames. They have decided the password must also have a capital letter.

- Barclays. Theirs is 5 numbers (I think). I have no idea what mine is, so when I call I just have to do the security questions, which in fact have been the same 3 questions for at least 10 years. DOB, mothers maiden name, and details of a direct debit.

When they ask if I want them to send me a new password (passnumber?), I just tell them not to bother, I won't remember it.

Thing is, these rules are only workable if I write the thing down and carry it with me. How brilliantly secure. Well done people.
(username failed moderation, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 8:52, 9 replies)

M.A.F.F.
Does not exist anymore (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food ). I got a phone call from them concerning some cattle we once had, part of the conversation included me saying "Yes that's right, Sussex, we have some Sussex cattle, good cattle aren't they?" The reply from the Ministry man at the other end of the line went something like "I have no idea mate, I know absolutely nothing about farming!"
(Mackeson_drinker, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 7:06, 5 replies)

I once worked in the research and development department of Britain's leading defence company
The team I'd joined had been developing a semi autonomous, all terrain, vehicle which was the same size as a robot from that hit television series, Robot Wars. They were all very pleased with this, however I did not feel it was my place (as I was 18 at the time) to point out that what they had "invented" at great expense, they wanted to sell them to the UK Border Force for £33,000 to checking the underside of trucks as they came into the country, was essentially a remote control car with a camera on it that fed back live images to the operator.
Now I remember you could buy an r/c monster truck with a camera on it that fed back live pictures to the operator (small child) back in about the year 2000 from Toys R Us for £30.
I can't believe they actually built a couple of prototypes of this thing. Pissing money up the wall there I think
(wehttamman via B3ta for microwave, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 5:53, 1 reply)

Corporate Language fucking pisses me off.


This pseudo-jovial, blue-sky, elevated language that subsides on equal input from consuming statistical relevance, alongside cheery enterprise, social acceptance (assuming relevant disparities are acknowledged) and mitigating assurance coordination. Which can be equally assured to side-saddled sub-sales based on hypothetical customer to fuck ratios, assuming all merited target responses are active and applicable to all designated factors.

Cunts.
(mr-lizard Hell's teeth man!, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 3:10, 2 replies)

I once phoned a call centre and they got some shit wrong.
Imagine it.
( Amorous Badger NAKED BEA ARTHUR PHOTOS 4U, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 1:44, 4 replies)

Microsoft internet connection troubleshooter
"For more help, go to the website at XXXXXXXXX"
( MatJ LOOK, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 1:09, 5 replies)

Missing Money For A Dam
At college, friend with a common name once received a phone call from a government agency. They told him that he had taken several million dollars in order to build a dam, and since the dam wasn't built, they wanted their money back. My friend assured the agency people that it must be mistaken identity: he wasn't that person, but a lowly student instead, and wished them luck in finding their money.
(Perv With A Dog had his eyes pecked out by scrub jays on, Fri 24 Feb 2012, 1:04, Reply)

Npower....... Mathmatical geniuses...
I started renting a house with a Friend and we Set up our electric/gas with Npower. They gave us a card with which we could pay a monthly amount at various paypoints to cover our bills. We weren't sure how much money we would need to cover the bills so had a guess they would come to around £200 a quarter so agreed to pay £60 a month. After a very cold winter the bill we got was high and we were about £20 short on our card so they put our monthly payments up to £90. (a bit steep i thought) anyway when the next bill arrived we were about £100 in credit, so i rang and asked if we could lower the monthly payments back to £60. they agreed. We got a letter a few days later saying they had done this. So the next bill arrives and we are about £140 in credit. We however got a letter demanding £90 immediately as we hadn't been paying enough on our card. I wrote back to tell them we were in credit and sent a photocopy of the letter agreeing to change the payments back from £90 to £60. We got more final demands and this went on back and forth until they threatened to take us to court. Another quarter had passed in the meantime and we were now about £180 in credit and they were now stating we owed them £180... I really really wanted them to take me to court by this point. But they sent an advisor round to help me deal with my "unpaid bills and debt". When i explained to the advisor and showed them all the correspondance and proved we were £180 in credit he basically did a facepalm and got them to refund us the money. Needless to say we changed supplier after that.
tl:dr Npower are twats.
( gardenclaw mac fuckes your gradeds balls!, Thu 23 Feb 2012, 23:59, 2 replies)