Off Topic Worst experience with companies

[Evil Jimmy Krankie]

I hate doing this (nicking thread ideas from OTR) but this one was quite an interesting read. Here’s the link.

https://www.readytogo.net/smb/threads/your-worst-experience-with-a-company.1642523/

As for me, I think I’ve got off quite lightly to be fair.
A house rental firm in Northampton 30 years ago claimed that when we moved out our house was infested with fleas. It wasn’t but as we had a cat they thought they could get away with it. They actually did as we just paid up.
Then if anyone remembers NTL. They set up a separate account in our name and address that we weren’t even aware of. First thing we knew about it was getting a bailiff's letter saying we owed them a load of money. I called them up told them we didn’t owe a penny and to go back to NTL and sort it out with them. This lasted for over a year, during which time we’d sold the house and emigrated. For all I know they could still be chasing the money now.
Anyone got any other bad experiences?

 

[Becs]

I had a Sky package with TV, broadband and landline. The contract expired and it got too expensive so I asked them to cancel the TV but I wanted to keep the phone and broadband.

About a week before the end date for the TV, everything was cut off. After trying to get the phone and broadband back, I was told the phone number had been released back to BT and they couldn't get it back again. It's the number I'd had since 1996 and due to the poor mobile signal here, it was the main contact number I'd given to important places like the doctors, hospital, school etc.

It took over a week to get reconnected with another company which was frustrating as I need internet access at home for my job. Then I had to contact everyone and tell them my new number.

Sky couldn't have cared less about the inconvenience they caused.

 

[Brainy Dose]

Car park management company. I'm on my way to the match,so I'll detail the saga when I've got a spare 24 hours or so! You have been warned! I'll give you a bit of notice,so you can stick me on ignore beforehand!

 

[marcusblackcat]

Bristol street motors Durham. To outline, my dad recently retired from there after 50 years of service from apprentice to senior tech. (This is a long one but worth a read if you’re considering using them)

Had my car booked in for repair /investigation work due to a wobble on the steering. Was all driveable so no rush. Needed a courtesy car. Day before, phone call saying “no courtesy car, can you bring it and we’ll take you home” “no, I drive for work”, no problem, rebooked for 3 weeks later.

Day before, same call. No problem I thought, rebooked for 4 weeks later.

happened twice e more, so I’d had it booked in for over 4 months and I said when they rang me on the 5th time as I picked the phone up “let me guess, no courtesy car. I wonder if it’d be the same if this was brand new nd I’d spent £30k instead of it being a used vehicle I bought from you”, followed with “you will find me a courtesy car today, or I will simply go to court as this has been a problem for months and you are doing nothing to help me”

They found me a courtesy car.

BUT they took my car in and said “can’t road test it as one of the tyres is borderline”(still legal and I knew that, but knew it needed replacing soon). But there is no wobble on the steering on the yard.

There was another issue which they fixed, but I picked it up, drove 30 feet, massive wobble on the steering! Needless to say i was unhappy. Service team gone home, so sales manager said he would get them to ring me the next day.

When I got it home, I popped the spare on to take the wheel to have a new tyre and found that one of the wheel nuts on the drivers side was not even hand tight. Took it off without the wheel brace. Got the spare on and wobble had gone

they rang the next day, absolutely snotty arrogant prick. “We couldn’t road test it”, “you didn’t need to, it happened at 5 mph in the yard”, “but you said when reporting it was 30mph” “yeah it gets worse then, but it happens from pulling away, not my fault your call centre doesn’t listen”

I then told him about putting the spare on and said “well we haven’t got the time to do that”, I responded with, “well maybe you should make time after such appalling customer service”, he replied “well you are barred from this dealership now”

I wrote to the manager who backed his staff, asked him to listen to the recording (even asked him to publicise it on Facebook) but he said that outbound calls were not recorded!

he then, when I got in contact to have a service and mot done at the Newcastle branch, told them not to allow my custom! My wife called and said it was her car and she works as a special needs teacher, without the car she cannot do this. Spoke directly to the manager of the Newcastle branch and explained exactly what I said above, he raised it with head office and we booked the car in.

 

[rowley]

Bristol street motors Durham. To outline, my dad recently retired from there after 50 years of service from apprentice to senior tech. (This is a long one but worth a read if you’re considering using them)

Had my car booked in for repair /investigation work due to a wobble on the steering. Was all driveable so no rush. Needed a courtesy car. Day before, phone call saying “no courtesy car, can you bring it and we’ll take you home” “no, I drive for work”, no problem, rebooked for 3 weeks later.

Day before, same call. No problem I thought, rebooked for 4 weeks later.

happened twice e more, so I’d had it booked in for over 4 months and I said when they rang me on the 5th time as I picked the phone up “let me guess, no courtesy car. I wonder if it’d be the same if this was brand new nd I’d spent £30k instead of it being a used vehicle I bought from you”, followed with “you will find me a courtesy car today, or I will simply go to court as this has been a problem for months and you are doing nothing to help me”

They found me a courtesy car.

BUT they took my car in and said “can’t road test it as one of the tyres is borderline”(still legal and I knew that, but knew it needed replacing soon). But there is no wobble on the steering on the yard.

There was another issue which they fixed, but I picked it up, drove 30 feet, massive wobble on the steering! Needless to say i was unhappy. Service team gone home, so sales manager said he would get them to ring me the next day.

When I got it home, I popped the spare on to take the wheel to have a new tyre and found that one of the wheel nuts on the drivers side was not even hand tight. Took it off without the wheel brace. Got the spare on and wobble had gone

they rang the next day, absolutely snotty arrogant prick. “We couldn’t road test it”, “you didn’t need to, it happened at 5 mph in the yard”, “but you said when reporting it was 30mph” “yeah it gets worse then, but it happens from pulling away, not my fault your call centre doesn’t listen”

I then told him about putting the spare on and said “well we haven’t got the time to do that”, I responded with, “well maybe you should make time after such appalling customer service”, he replied “well you are barred from this dealership now”

I wrote to the manager who backed his staff, asked him to listen to the recording (even asked him to publicise it on Facebook) but he said that outbound calls were not recorded!

he then, when I got in contact to have a service and mot done at the Newcastle branch, told them not to allow my custom! My wife called and said it was her car and she works as a special needs teacher, without the car she cannot do this. Spoke directly to the manager of the Newcastle branch and explained exactly what I said above, he raised it with head office and we booked the car in.

One to avoid at all costs. I have heard bad stories before about that group actually.

 

[C Montgomery Burns]

I had a Sky package with TV, broadband and landline. The contract expired and it got too expensive so I asked them to cancel the TV but I wanted to keep the phone and broadband.

About a week before the end date for the TV, everything was cut off. After trying to get the phone and broadband back, I was told the phone number had been released back to BT and they couldn't get it back again. It's the number I'd had since 1996 and due to the poor mobile signal here, it was the main contact number I'd given to important places like the doctors, hospital, school etc.

It took over a week to get reconnected with another company which was frustrating as I need internet access at home for my job. Then I had to contact everyone and tell them my new number.

Sky couldn't have cared less about the inconvenience they caused.

Similar thing happened to me and my family when my parents moved, but the other way round. Sky were fine, phone and broadband weren't included, just TV, but BT were useless.

My parents had to move due to my dad's health (stroke) and the old house not being suitable after having lived there for over 40 years, so moved into a bungalow not far away. Sky were no problem, BT assured my mam that the number would be kept the same (same as you, important for doctors, carers, hospital etc.) and it would be a smooth switch. Not the case. We only found out after my mam moved in that the phone number had changed, which caused problems straight away. Having to notify the doctors, hospital, care companies, carers, family members, bank etc. was a nightmare, but also it caused problems with Sky, who were going to contact us to confirm a date to get Sky fitted into the new place while my dad was in respite as we got the new house ready for him. It meant jumping through a few hoops to get it sorted, which we could only do after he'd come home. BTs attitude was "well there's nothing we can do now because it's a different exchange you're attached to and it was always going to change" despite being assured nothing would change when we contacted them initially. It was the gift that kept on giving, as unfortunately some things got missed so some people that tried to contact my mam weren't able to. This most noticeably happened when my great aunt died a year later and her son tried to contact us to let us know. He only had the old phone number, as the new one hadn't been passed on to him properly. We found out about a day afterwards because another cousin came to my mam's to let us know (she had the right number, but due to confusion thought it was the wrong number).

It wasn't the first time BT had ballsed up, once they randomly changed the home number without a request from us and another time disconnected the landline for not paying the bill due to "clerical error" on another account!

 

[Reggie the Cheddar]

Had a feeling I'd see a few posts about Sky when I saw the title.

When last moved house I rang sky's home move team and asked what I needed to do. I was told quite clearly that I didn't need to do anything and just ring up when I was in my new house and the y would handle the rest.......I didn't take the equipment, box etc, because I was told not to do anything but ring up. Tried to change me over £300 for new equipment. Went on for ages until I requested to have the original home move call be listened to. After that they sent new equipment and I got a voucher or something. What a **** on though.

 

[Daz]

First house I bought in North Shields. Went for a mortgage with the Woolwich, it was the best rate we could get (right in the middle of the 2008 recession) and I banked with Barclays who own them therefore got a better rate.

Anyway went out on the Friday in Newcastle for a few beers and a meal to celebrate. Cash point refused to give me anything and swallowed my card.

Called Barclays and they put me through to the fraud department. An unknown large payment had come out so they had frozen my account. It was the first bloody mortgage payment!

So Barclays, who own the mortgage company I use, caused the first payment to bounce and I was without a bank card for the best part of a week. They sent me a ****ty bottle of wine as an apology