AVIVA CAR INSURANCE - Life's Worst Experience *HELP HELP HELP

bhattilondon

I am currently an Aviva Car Insurance customer (old Norwich Union) LAST MONTH I CHANGED MY CAR INSURANCE FROM "Nissan-Micra" to "Nissan-Almera" (the later one is cheaper in price), due to this change I was charged £16.24, but the receipt which i received in post shows that in-fact it was me who was supposed to get a refund of this amount (-£16.24), now I checked my new policy documents online even they say, "As a result of this change, there is a refund premium due of £16.24 inclusive of Insurance Premium Tax at the usual rate and net of administration charges where applicable. This has been credited to your debit/credit card." I believe whoever has done this, it is much more than just an error and I am really really disappointed with the way how quick this company is for taking money off their customers, even when they are supposed to be refunded.
I lodged a formal complaint on Aviva’s website-complaint form, as a result I received two emails, first as ‘complaint received acknowledgement’ and second with an attachment explaining ‘complaint procedure’, I waited for over two weeks to hear something from them and at last I took their customer services manager’s personal email address (rebecca DOT sibley @ aviva DOT co DOT uk) from the following website forum, MONEYSAVING EXPERT dot COM'S THREAD NUMBER 25378767 and forward her all the details explaining my concern, but received no response, then having left like unheard, completely frustrated I called their customer service helpline and asked the representative two questions, first I had not received my renewal notice/quote as my policy is due to expire this week, to which she said documents have already been sent two weeks ago (i am still waiting today when only four days have left to expire my policy) and secondly when I explained above problem, she asked me to read the wording from the policy documents as she did not have them opened on her system, (can you really believe this, she had asked me security questions, dealing with my query/complaint related to my policy document, and did not have policy documents opened in front of her?), when I read the refund wording from my policy documents, she said, well this wording must be “BY MISTAKE”,
It looks to me like their call centre representative have no knowledge, their system is so cheap that they even do not have access to see our policy documents when dealing with our queries or complaints, and seems like “THEY ARE TRAINED FOR AND ALWAYS TRY TO MAKE BLIND GUESSES IN COMPANY’S FAVOUR” not customer friendly at all. I am now fed up by running here and there; somebody can please advise me what to do before I forward their complaint to external bodies.

lisyloo

What does their complain procedure say?
How long does it say you should have to wait?

Yes call center staff are generally not well trained. I think you will find this across the board unless you are prepared to pay a lot more.

Yes things occassionally get lost in the post.

I think you are getting very wound up about quite a small amount.
So how long before they should send you a response?

You do have recourse to the ombudsman once you have exhausted their complaints procedure, but I think you need to allow something like 8 weeks and not 2.

You could ask your credit card company or debit card company to refund the amount taken as it was taken in error.
Have you tried this route as well?

But don't get so worked up.
It's a small amount and will get sorted eventually if you have the paperwork in writing.

bhattilondon

Thanks for your reply, no its not the amount which i am concerned, its the feeling of being cheated, moreover i am their customer, if i have this problem they could atleast give me a call to clerify things if it was an error, but instead it was me getting frustrated of being not noticed.

BASICALLY MY MAIN CONCERN IS NOT THE MONEY, BUT HE PRINCIPLE.

their complaint procedure does say that their management should come back to me within 20 days, and then i can go to complaint to external bodies, for which they have provided address, from this example you can imagine how organize they are? today this small amount may not be a big issue but what if i have to run after them if i am really in trouble (like after an insurance claim)? when they can not put these very tiny matters right, nobody seems like botherd, its the feeling of being ignored, i feel you can imagine the feeling when you are sure that you are right and the person at wrong does not care about even after waiting over 2-3 weeks.

lisyloo wrote: »

What does their complain procedure say?
How long does it say you should have to wait?

Yes call center staff are generally not well trained. I think you will find this across the board unless you are prepared to pay a lot more.

Yes things occassionally get lost in the post.

I think you are getting very wound up about quite a small amount.
So how long before they should send you a response?

You do have recourse to the ombudsman once you have exhausted their complaints procedure, but I think you need to allow something like 8 weeks and not 2.

You could ask your credit card company or debit card company to refund the amount taken as it was taken in error.
Have you tried this route as well?

But don't get so worked up.
It's a small amount and will get sorted eventually if you have the paperwork in writing.

lisyloo

its the feeling of being cheated

I'm pretty sure this was incompetance rather than deliberate.
As you have experienced the day-to-day staff are not of a high calibre or highly paid.

today this small amount may not be a big issue but what if i have to run after them if i am really in trouble (like after an insurance claim)?

You could try to find a better insurer, but expect to pay more.

nobody seems like botherd, its the feeling of being ignored, i feel you can imagine the feeling when you are sure that you are right and the person at wrong does not care about even after waiting over 2-3 weeks.

The call center staff aren't bothered.
They are more bothered about leaving the office on time and getting their tea.
Sorry, but no-ones going to move heaven & earth for £16.

If I was right, I wouldn't be too bothered about waiting a few weeks, because I'd be confident of my posistion.

If you feeel aggreived then put it all in your correspondance, but they are never going to be able to find instant answers if investigations are required and pressure is put on them to keep premiums down by customers.

If this really is the worst thing that's happened to you in your life, then you are very blessed indeed.

dacouch

What year is the Micra and what year is the Almera

SteveC-Ni

Guys,

I know sometimes there are problems, however I have to spout off about the brilliant service I recieved this evening after a little prang I had in the car which wasn't my fault.

Everyone is quick to jump on the web and complain and tell their woes. I just wanted to add well done Aviva!!!

The call centre staff were excellent, Friendly and polite. Well done to Mark Mills, Hannh Rehana and Emma Rowbotham for handling my claim so efficiently with that "personal" and empathetic touch.

AVIVA ALL THE WAY!!!!!