Be Wiser - BE WARNED!

Sirlaughalot

Quentin wrote: »

Are you sure those letters were responses to the "complaint?

They do sound to be separate debt chasing correspondence.

Hi Quentin,

In order not to get bogged down in detail i basically got that browned off with making phone calls to what seemed `everyman and his dog` in which i could be waiting for literally held hours on end to get to the rep i knew was familiar with my case. Many calls were cut off mid stream(all at local rate cost i might add) i decided i would only speak to one of their debt reps as it seemed that these were the only Bewiser staff you could get hold off without being left on hold forever and a day.
The complaint was forwarded by email andrecorded delivery to this individual.

Thanks

SL

Quentin

Was sending complaints to their debt chasing department in line with the complaint process set out in the policy?

If not you may need to start again in order to involve the FOS.

Sirlaughalot

Quentin wrote: »

Was sending complaints to their debt chasing department in line with the complaint process set out in the policy?

If not you may need to start again in order to involve the FOS.

The rep i spoke to was fully aware of my unhappiness with Bewiser`s customer service/systems and was aware i was making the complaint through him and encouraged my to make the complaint process through him before i contacted the FOS.

Thanks

SL

Sirlaughalot

Hi Quentin,

You seem to be all about when it comes to the FOS do they publish their adjudications to the public if so where do you get the info from?
In my first post i made the comment about this being the worst customer service i have ever experienced thinking that my case was a one -off but the more i dig for info the worst it gets.

Someone(many thanks) on the thread has pointed me to the review center these reviews are even worse than my experiences and i have only viewed the first 3 pages of their thread so far.

Written on: 19/02/2013
“TERRIBLE SERVICE AND ATTITUDE”

I had 28 missed calls in the space of 6 hours from this company i requested 3 times for my details to be removed and had some little trumped up boy on the other end of the phone giving terrible attitude. I dont even own the vehicle they want to insure and i told them that although it was already on the original quotation. DO NOT DEAL with this mickey mouse insurer.


Written on: 13/02/2013
“very unpleasant company”

First they take a deposit from you and insure you,then tell you you owe more money, then they cancel your policy and keep your deposit. This company has the right name, so what you want to do is be-wiser and DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY FOR YOUR INSURANCE. ABSOLUTELY DISPICABLE. I would NEVER recommend this company to friend or foe.



Written on: 08/02/2013
“car insurance”

This has to be the worst insurance company out there in all of 40 years of my driving. Have tried to contact them 3 times to sort out my policy the phone just rings and rings and rings then when you get through your told all operators are busy they will call you back. But they dont then when you go to work you come home they have left a message you phone regarding message phone just rings then they say someone will call you back. would not use again once my policy runs out. Quick enough to...



With these reviews/complaints taking a very similar path to my own complaint i would ask another question. Do the FOS have any regulatory power can they close a company down if it`s proved to be in the best interests of the consumer?


Thanks


SL

Quentin

The Consumer Action Group were concerned their poor systems may be breaching FSA rules:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?262732-Stitched-Up-Like-A-Kipper-Be-Wiser-Insurance-NOW-RESOLVED-BY-COMPANY

The FSA who don't look into individual complaints, but do look at the complaints handled by the fos. Be wiser by not having a robust system are actually in breach of FSA rules. The breaches are many......

Quentin

Sirlaughalot wrote: »

when it comes to the FOS do they publish their adjudications to the public if so where do you get the info from?.....

They do publish data on how many complaints they have dealt with from each business (once they get a sizeable number in).

You can get that from their website, though each case's details isn't reported individually.

Quentin

Sirlaughalot wrote: »

The rep i spoke to was fully aware of my unhappiness with Bewiser`s customer service/systems and was aware i was making the complaint through him and encouraged my to make the complaint process through him before i contacted the FOS. .....

The FOS procedure does require you to exhaust the company's complaints procedure (or allow them 8 weeks to reply, whichever comes sooner)

If you jump the gun, then the FOS won't help, but will make you start again.

If you have it in writing from them that you can take your complaint to the FOS, then carry on, but if the debt department rep just advised you on the phone to go to the FOS he may have not been the right person to deal with any official "complaint".

PDC

Saints2011 wrote: »

It's not just you .. http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews238910.html

The best reviews are clearly from staff continually mentioning there names ... Joke of a company .

Certainly an interesting 'mixture' of reviews there

Sirlaughalot

PDC wrote: »

Certainly an interesting 'mixture' of reviews there

Yes there certainly is but i think consumers are getting a fair reflection of what is happening here. With a consumer rating of 2.6 i think that just about says it all!

There are more horror stories on the skoda owners forum here.

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/228818-be-wiser-car-insurance-beware/

If i have one regret it`s that i never googled a review of BeWiser after they came out top of the comparethemarket search based a price. But price is only part of the product/service. Customer service as i have found is as vital as value for money.

From my own experience i would advise a google/MSE search for reviews of any service which comes out top of a comparison site results table. In my case i would have definitely chosen a different insurer.

Thanks

SL

artgil

wish i would google be wiser before not only i bought our policy but also renew it...
I have a policy since feb 2012(aviva) first problem occurred when i had a breakdown in sept 2012. My policy was with a full breakdown cover by RAC. My wheel fall off of the vehicle in the middle of nowhere!! Luckily nobody got hurt as was driving very slow. When i rang a be-wiser i was told that they will send RAC asap. after an hour RAC man came n informed my that there is nothing hew can do as my vehicle it too long n without even looking at it drove of. (???!!!) I rang be-wiser again for some explanation and i was told that actually i don't have breakdown cover as my vehicle is too long and somebody should have inform me when i was buying my policy- unfortunately they didn't ;/ although they have send one more RAC man to see what can be done. After an hour finally man came and put the wheel back one so I was able to get to garage and fix it. Unfortunately i had to pay over £300. Would avoid that cost if i would have breakdown cover as i thought.

Now lets start with my second issue.
When it came to renewal unfortunately i did accept it.... And that was my big mistake again!!! Mainly because i was short of cash and i didnt have to pay no premium. Yea i know stupid excuse but thats how it goes.

Before i agree to renew my policy i did tell them that i want to change bank account details to set a direct debit. No problem they said. Because first and second time money was coming of my wifes account they rang her to confirm new details for the direct debit. that was wednesday and she was informed that first payment will be taken around monday tuesday. how surprised we where when we discovered on thursday that not only DD has been set up from the new account but also from the old one!!! More than that they have already took the payment from the old account( the one that not supposed to be used)!!!!! I rang them straight gave my details and when i said that I'm expecting refund asap they hang up on me!!! Every time i call them is the same story. as soon as i mention refund -because they are using my wife bank account details without her permission and thats FRAUD- they hang up on me. Finally after 9 or 10 calls somebody speak to me and lady said that yes DD has been canceled now and refund will be immediately. but it never happened. My wife started to ring them also and demand her money back and as soon as she ask for refund they hang up!!!! I send an email to dawn.g@bewiser.co.uk which i have found in here. After 4 days somebody rang me regards to the complain and reassure that money will be refunded immediately... But it havent. It took another week to refund the money. They took first payment on the 21/02/2012 and refunded on the 5th of MArch!!!
But thats not all. To make it even funnier the man who rang me last said that unfortunately they see a claim against me from JUNE 2012!!!!! and that they r going to increase premium of £250 until i make a representation. So i asked him how come im not aware of it. And why they didn't tell me when they were giving me quotation week earlier??? No answer.

Going back to refund. Yes my wife got the money on the 5th of march £204 just to find out that at the some time they have set one more DD and took £240 out of her account ( Im still talking about account that should be disregarded. As they still have a DD on her second account.) Not it seems like we are paying one insurance twice as much because we are being charged from two accounts at a time!!!
I would have cancel DD long time back but im afraid that they will cancel my insurance without informing me.

Can anyone please help us. As we dont know that to do. We cannot drive without insurance. and whenever we call BeWiser they simply hang up as soon as they hear about refund!!!!

I dont even want to mention how much additional cost for all the phone calls we have.
Please can somebody help.

Will highly appreciate.