Co op keep delaying my complaint

Nine_Lives

Briefly - was owed £100 as a joining incentive, but they didn't pay. The phone lines were a waste of time with people not having a clue & being put on hold which would've probably ended up costing £100 in phone bills anyway. A complaint went in.

4 weeks down the line receive a letter saying we can't say any more on the case. We'll contact within 4 weeks.

Get a letter today saying the same.

Pretty bloody irritating. How difficult is it to investigate anyhow? Account was opened, account criteria were met & continue to be met, £100 wasn't paid. It's pretty easy i would say - pay up the £100.

Should we just keep sitting tight getting these 'updates' every 4 weeks or take it further?

YorkshireBoy

K_P83 wrote: »

The phone lines were a waste of time with people not having a clue & being put on hold which would've probably ended up costing £100 in phone bills anyway. A complaint went in.

I made my complaint (with the 'direct' £200 offer) via an 0800 number, and used the same number for updates.

Should we just keep sitting tight getting these 'updates' every 4 weeks or take it further?

After two 4 week updates you're at the FOS referral stage.

You then offload the complaint to the FOS...and do something else (less stressful) with your time until settlement.

JuicyJesus

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

You then offload the complaint to the FOS...and do something else (less stressful) with your time until settlement.

Bear in mind the queue for FOS complaints is remarkably long - in the region of three to six months before an adjudicator even gets assigned to look at it, and from there a few more months until they issue a view letter. So it may be worth waiting for the Co-op's reply first.

YorkshireBoy

JuicyJesus wrote: »

Bear in mind the queue for FOS complaints is remarkably long - in the region of three to six months before an adjudicator even gets assigned to look at it...

That's *if* an adjudicator has to be assigned the case.

Fewer than 1 in 6 complaints necessitate adjudicator involvement, meaning (obviously!) more than 5 in 6 complaints are able to be dealt with by FOS frontline staff sending a largely generic 'we're on to you' letter.

With such a low 'claim' value it's highly likely, if not certain (and rightly so), that only far more serious issues are passed up the FOS foodchain.

Of course the longer it drags on the higher the (additional) award for distress and inconvenience is likely to be. So. for the OP, that means less stress and a better outcome. Win/win?

realaledrinker

They have 8 weeks to respond per FOS guidelines, however write to:

Barry Tootell
Chief Executive
The Co-operative Banking Group
Miller Street
Manchester
M60 0AL

Will get a response.

As you mention £100 rather than £200 I assume you used the Stoke City opening offer, in which case this is a case of c0ck up rather than conspiracy. A polite, forceful letter of complaint to the CEO will sort this. I had the same scenario & got £30 extra for their error.