EDF - Customer Service/Systems are absolutely useless...

AbbieCadabra

i know there have been various posts about their useless service but i just need to vent! :mad:

i've had a fairly simple query outstanding since 12.09.11, without fail, every single reply i have received has had either wrong info, missing info or just not answered the actual question asked.

i contacted them via twitter as a few people seemed to have had success that way, which has ended up with 1 person now dealing with the query.

again, i've had incorrect figures & wrong information in her replies. but she does apologise & has now cleared up most of the queries that i've raised.

however, it's taken over a month & i still haven't had the statements of account that i was promised (the accounts were only opened in July this year so not exactly loads of transactions or charges) & she's failed to reply to my last email of 9 days ago. i'd been told by her that they'd re-start my regular direct debit again at the beginning of November but when i'd check my bank account, they'd taken the regular dd amount PLUS an amount that had just been billed! no notification of this received at all.

i've just rang them to chase up a reply - the person i've been dealing with isn't in & they don't have any access to her emails!! how stupid is that? so if an employee doesn't turn up for work for whatever reason, their queries just sit there never to be dealt with ever again...

i've asked for my query to escalated to a manager who i will then have to forward the chain of emails i've already sent to this other person, bizarre way of running a customer service department.

rant over!

utility_csa

AbbieCadabra wrote: »

i know there have been various posts about their useless service but i just need to vent! :mad:

i've had a fairly simple query outstanding since 12.09.11, without fail, every single reply i have received has had either wrong info, missing info or just not answered the actual question asked.

i contacted them via twitter as a few people seemed to have had success that way, which has ended up with 1 person now dealing with the query.

again, i've had incorrect figures & wrong information in her replies. but she does apologise & has now cleared up most of the queries that i've raised.

however, it's taken over a month & i still haven't had the statements of account that i was promised (the accounts were only opened in July this year so not exactly loads of transactions or charges) & she's failed to reply to my last email of 9 days ago. i'd been told by her that they'd re-start my regular direct debit again at the beginning of November but when i'd check my bank account, they'd taken the regular dd amount PLUS an amount that had just been billed! no notification of this received at all.

i've just rang them to chase up a reply - the person i've been dealing with isn't in & they don't have any access to her emails!! how stupid is that? so if an employee doesn't turn up for work for whatever reason, their queries just sit there never to be dealt with ever again...

i've asked for my query to escalated to a manager who i will then have to forward the chain of emails i've already sent to this other person, bizarre way of running a customer service department.

rant over!

Not having access to her emails is data protection.

Would your work colleagues have access to yours?.

backfoot

AbbieCadabra wrote: »

i'd been told by her that they'd re-start my regular direct debit again at the beginning of November but when i'd check my bank account, they'd taken the regular dd amount PLUS an amount that had just been billed! no notification of this received at all.

It took me 3 complaints to get my gas DD set up and an updated DD set. Then they did exactly the same thing as in your case. Took the outstanding debit balance.

Two complaints more and still no response. I can feel another £20 heading our goodwill way.

'Bouffons'

ThinkBig_2

Hi AbbieCadabra,

The delaying process that these energy companies use is deliberate, in the hope that you give up and end up paying the higher amount. But I would urge you to take your complaint up with the energy ombudsman. You have the right to do that after 8 weeks from when you first told the energy company about your issue.

Just let EDF know that you have had enough and will take up your issue with the energy ombudsman.

It won't cost anything other than having to spend time filling in the online form at the energy ombudsman website.

AbbieCadabra

utility_csa wrote: »

Not having access to her emails is data protection.

Would your work colleagues have access to yours?.

pardon?

we're talking emails from customers - so if she goes off sick or something, her outstanding emails will just sit there?

i've worked in a customer services dept, individually addressed emails would actually go into a bulk account, get scanned on to the customers account then be assigned to the person that the email had been addressed to. if that person was off for any reason, the team manager could easily see outstanding work that wouldn't get answered for whatever reason & it would get re-assigned to someone else to action.

working in that way means anyone can pick up the query, check the history & deal with. working the EDF way, only 1 person even has access to the history so the customer is stumped if that person isn't dealing with it effectively. simple really...

i'd have no issues at all with any colleagues having access to my WORK emails, they are WORK emails afterall, not MY plans for the next big internet scam.

AbbieCadabra

backfoot wrote: »

It took me 3 complaints to get my gas DD set up and an updated DD set. Then they did exactly the same thing as in your case. Took the outstanding debit balance.

Two complaints more and still no response. I can feel another £20 heading our goodwill way.

'Bouffons'

at what point did you get an offer of compensation? I've spent so much needless time on this really simple query, it's ridiculous!

ThinkBig wrote: »

Hi AbbieCadabra,

The delaying process that these energy companies use is deliberate, in the hope that you give up and end up paying the higher amount. But I would urge you to take your complaint up with the energy ombudsman. You have the right to do that after 8 weeks from when you first told the energy company about your issue.

Just let EDF know that you have had enough and will take up your issue with the energy ombudsman.

It won't cost anything other than having to spend time filling in the online form at the energy ombudsman website.

thanks for the info , i'm loathe to spend any more time on this than i already have done to be honest. it started off a really simple query (honest!) that's just spiralled into a complete farce due to their incompetence. but, i'll see what happens from the email i sent last night & this supposed Manager callback that's been requested...

backfoot

AbbieCadabra wrote: »

at what point did you get an offer of compensation? I've spent so much needless time on this really simple query, it's ridiculous!

After the third complaint. I asked for it as I always do when issues remain unresolved.

As they continue to mismanage it, some more will be requested.

It's one of the attractions of incompetence.:rotfl:

ThinkBig_2

i'm loathe to spend any more time on this than i already have done to be honest

This is exactly what these energy companies rely upon - they know eventually people will give up as things take a long time. So in the end they win and they then continue to cause pain and suffering to other customers.
The only way these companies will change is if the number of complaints the energy ombudsman has to handle shoots up. So please don't give up - take your complaint up with the energy ombudsman.

Have a read of this link:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/jessicainvestigates/8890846/My-energy-penalty-was-extortion.html

It's simply appalling how pensioners get treated by these money grabbing organisations. I am in the process of raising a 2nd complaint to the energy ombudsman after ScottishPower failed to follow their on procedures and started sending me inaccurate bills and falsely claiming cancellation charges.
I am not expecting anything from the energy ombudsman but the fact that I have made another formal complaint about ScottishPower means more hassle for ScottishPower and another bad note for them on the ombudsmans sheet.

backfoot

Think Big,

Please have a look at the following thread. It is relevant to the systematic failures of Scottish Power regarding Termination Fees.

A report was made to Consumer Focus regarding this and any evidence you may have would be of interest to them.


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3509087

utility_csa

AbbieCadabra wrote: »

pardon?

we're talking emails from customers - so if she goes off sick or something, her outstanding emails will just sit there?

i've worked in a customer services dept, individually addressed emails would actually go into a bulk account, get scanned on to the customers account then be assigned to the person that the email had been addressed to. if that person was off for any reason, the team manager could easily see outstanding work that wouldn't get answered for whatever reason & it would get re-assigned to someone else to action.

working in that way means anyone can pick up the query, check the history & deal with. working the EDF way, only 1 person even has access to the history so the customer is stumped if that person isn't dealing with it effectively. simple really...

i'd have no issues at all with any colleagues having access to my WORK emails, they are WORK emails afterall, not MY plans for the next big internet scam.

Our emails all sent into a centralised .box address and answered from their.

jay1977

Just to note I work within the industry and although they may not have access to your emails I would hope that the person dealing would have noted on your file the issues raised and the cause of action they are taking. This way if they are off someone can chase this and resolve. The problem I am finding that some of the other companies are offering very good deals but once they have your business thats where the service stops. I urge people to not only look at the deals but price and service combined. If you are saving a few pounds but have continual bad experiances is it worth it. Just a thought.