Great 'Who Pays Compensation If You Ask?' Hunt

[MSE Martin]

While filming Make Me Rich, one customer had had a gas bill mess up. As part of the programme when going through her bills, I asked her to call them to sort it, and while doing so said 'ask for compensation for the time and trouble it's caused, as it's their fault'.

Much to her surprise they offered £20, not much but a welcome boost. So which other standard companies, whether utility or not, have offered you compensation if you've asked for it when something's gone wrong and how much?

Click reply to let everyone know your successes (or not)

[bulchy]

I've been having problems trying to sort out my electricity bill with NPower, and eventually got to speak to a manager, who said I should be entitled to compensation for the inconvenience, I didnt even have to ask, however, the department he told me to contact, when I spoke to the supervisor said I would only be entitled to £20, not the £80 to £90 the manager had quoted. I'm still waiting for written confirmation on this, but will keep you informed.
Sue

[chugalug]

Not had any problems with my own accounts but I do deal with my mothers. Southern Electric happily paid me the £20 I requested for taking the time and trouble to sort out their mistakes.

[payless]

Just got £50 from Powergen as a goodwill payment for my in-laws for Powergen not collecting the right DD for last 2 yrs ( was not really expecting that much, but she said what are you looking for, so I asked and she said OK !- that said they aren't the cheapest , so likely paid over £50 more in that time anyway.

Usually fine Orange add a small credit on if you have a billing error
Talktalk have been fair in past also

BT Mobile & 02 at compliant stage

That said would rather they get it right in first place

[eposmike]

British Gas paid me £20 when the incorrectly moved my gas and electricity to them instead of my next door neigbour. They said they didn't usually do it but I acted indignant and a cheque arrived about two weeks later. I am happily back with my much, much cheaper fixed price Scottish Power until the end of the year.

[mrkester]

a few months back, i was due to have Telewest engineers come and install broadband downstairs at my house (it was upstairs). I had to wait in from 8AM - 630PM and they were supposed to be coming @ 1130AM approx.They eventually came about 630PM I complained, explained my side of the story, and refused to pay the £75 charge they had asked for. It had already been added onto my latest statement, but the nice lady said that on the next statement, there would be a refund. there was

[MrsP72]

Not a utilities company but here goes:
I found my OH a new credit card with HSBC to transfer the balance for 0% no transfer fee. Due to some poor information we were given by one of their operatives, we ended up paying interest on the other card, something we hadn't done before.
I drafted a letter for him, raising attention to the 'training need', but didn't expect anything, as we were stoozing. To my surprise, their customer services agreed to reimburse us the interest, c£80! Excellent customer services.

[stuzhunter]

I was offered Telewest Off-Peak caller when I joined Telewest. With off-peak caller I am supposed to pay only 6p for any evening local & national calls during the week. Telewest failed to activate the off-peak caller on my account for 2 months. I complained & asked for compensation. I've been offered £20 compensation. I actually spent less than £1 on evening calls during that time.

Do not ever hesitate to complain but complain wisely.

[basmiles]

As a 'professional' complainer I bring in around £600 a month from complaints. I travel a lot for work so a great deal of these relate to airlines and hotels. I've just had a refund of £650 from Hilton for a poor stay with many errors, £250 from a US hotel for an error in the rate a couple of weeks ago, £270 for a security alert in another US hotel a few weeks before that. On airlines I've had a free upgrade to first with BA due to their catering dispute, a free trip on Concorde - bought with 100,000 BA miles I was given due to a previous problem. I've scored over £500 from my bank in the last year for mistakes, my Amex Platinum annual fee (£275) has been waived. Most of my clothes are bought by insurance or airline compensation for delayed luggage - always look for complicated and tight airline connections. I'm currently in dispute with a credit card company and a mobile phone company. I would expect at least £100 in compensation from each.

Of course I also play the free balance transfer game investing the money in an ISA and high paying deposit accounts and use a cashback credit card. I'm also a seriel collector of Tesco extra points - I now have enough for my £1,500 watch from Goldsmiths (£375 of Tesco vouchers).

I've kept a record for most of this year and have received around £5,000 in cash or cash equivalent benefits from complaints and careful use of offers.

basmiles

[stuzhunter]

I bought a laptop from Dell & I specifically asked for a fax modem. Dell charged me the full price but failed to install the modem. I complained actively & Dell offered me £50 compensation. I refused the £50 compensation & asked for £75 instead. Dell has now agreed to compensate me for £75. The price of the modem is about £31!

Do not ever hesitate to complain but complain wisely.

[stuzhunter]

Originally Posted by basmiles

As a 'professional' complainer I bring in around £600 a month from complaints. I travel a lot for work so a great deal of these relate to airlines and hotels. I've just had a refund of £650 from Hilton for a poor stay with many errors, £250 from a US hotel for an error in the rate a couple of weeks ago, £270 for a security alert in another US hotel a few weeks before that. On airlines I've had a free upgrade to first with BA due to their catering dispute, a free trip on Concorde - bought with 100,000 BA miles I was given due to a previous problem. I've scored over £500 from my bank in the last year for mistakes, my Amex Platinum annual fee (£275) has been waived. Most of my clothes are bought by insurance or airline compensation for delayed luggage - always look for complicated and tight airline connections. I'm currently in dispute with a credit card company and a mobile phone company. I would expect at least £100 in compensation from each.

Of course I also play the free balance transfer game investing the money in an ISA and high paying deposit accounts and use a cashback credit card. I'm also a seriel collector of Tesco extra points - I now have enough for my £1,500 watch from Goldsmiths (£375 of Tesco vouchers).

I've kept a record for most of this year and have received around £5,000 in cash or cash equivalent benefits from complaints and careful use of offers.

basmiles

pretty impressive basmiles. I am hoping to reach this 'professional' status soon.

[gingercordial]

Halifax gave me £20 as a goodwill payment after they started taking direct debits from my bank account for someone else's credit card, and then failed to get it sorted for ages whilst giving me the wrong information on how to sort it anyway. I did have to ask a couple of times as "they don't do goodwill payments" according to their front-line call centre staff; the payment in the end was supposed to cover the over 2 hours (timed) I'd spent on hold to them trying to sort it out.

[HuntH1]

When I was charged incorrectly by BT Broadband for 4 months (after cancelling and switching to much cheaper supplier) I complained and requested compensation for my time, effort and loss of bank interest.

I got nothing.

[Frugal Sharky]

Received £125 compensation from John Lewis (online) after receiving not 1, not 2 but 3 damaged wardrobes from their nursery range. Eventually sent all nursery furniture back for a full refund.

Also got £45 back from American Express (Platinum credit card) after they failed to take my first monthly direct debit payment resulting in a late payment charge (also refunded) despite the fact that I had already told them the direct debit agreement had not been established with my bank!

As a nation I don't think we complain enough - we seem to be so used to bad service nowadays that we've come to expect it and treat it as the norm. As a result, I always try to make a point of recognising good service when I receive it.

[vicale1]

Hello All First time on here so being polite.
I recentlly got ntl package,about a month ago.After the first month they tried to take out 1/5 months billing without informing me at any stage that this is what they were going to do.As a result my billing account went overdrawn incurring charges.NTL said they couldn't refund the charges but would deduct the amount from my next bill,which was really great ,though i never received their first bill.I complained about all this and eventually received the bank charges knocked off my bill and also got the free family pack offer extended to 3months.
IT REALLY IS WORTH COMPLAINING ABOUT POOR SERVICE

[wheelnuta]

Twice recently I complained to BT about interupted service on my Broadband and both times I was given two weeks creditwhich works out at about £22.

[s0198362]

I recently recieved cold calls from O2. The first time around I politeley asked them to remove me from their marketing list and was assured this would be done. 3 days later I was again cold called by O2, saying that they had seen I spent a lot on my monthly payments (I don't see how, as I am with a different operator and also it was untrue). I asked to speak to the manager I was quite rightly !!!!ed off. Was told that it was impossible to transfer me (odd for a telecomunications company) and then got hung up as the guy at the call centre refused to give me details of who he was for a complaint etc. etc.

Anyway, I wrote off to O2 complaining, and got a £10 voucher. Not much, but paid for an incar charger which I needed for my phone.

[melanie frontage]

Powergen gave me £80 for not collecting my directs debits for several months

[stuzhunter]

Originally Posted by Frugal Sharky

Received £125 compensation from John Lewis (online) after receiving not 1, not 2 but 3 damaged wardrobes from their nursery range. Eventually sent all nursery furniture back for a full refund.

Also got £45 back from American Express (Platinum credit card) after they failed to take my first monthly direct debit payment resulting in a late payment charge (also refunded) despite the fact that I had already told them the direct debit agreement had not been established with my bank!

As a nation I don't think we complain enough - we seem to be so used to bad service nowadays that we've come to expect it and treat it as the norm. As a result, I always try to make a point of recognising good service when I receive it.

I'll back you up on that one. Say no to bad services & mis-treatment to customers but yes to compensation!

[Gingertom]

Three goes at cancelling a Standing Order, in person, at the bank branch, to no avail.
Overdrawn becaus they continued to pay it.
Letters etc
Charges for letters and visits etc etc.
Eventually all resolved with a letter of apology.
.
Replied to letter.
.
Thank you etc etc.....Phone calls to Branch £......
Letters to Branch £......
Visits to Branch £......
TOTAL £42 50
Reply from Bank :- Have deposited £50 in your account as a goodwill gesture.
.
RESULT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!