I'll be contacting Ombudsman soon, am I doing it in correct way?

rtcw · 7 April 2014 at 11:56AM

I had issues with company. It started about a month ago and they still haven't fixed it since then. I have gone through their complaints procedures but they haven't attempted to contact me back or send me complaints reference number. I find it almost impossible to contact them even for small issue.

So, I sent them a letter requesting a deadlock + 14 days to resolve this issue or I go to ombudsman, and they replied pretty quickly stating they need more details but no mention of ombudsman or fixing the issue. I sent them letter with details + warning them that 14 day deadline still goes on.

Now they haven't sent me anything so far and deadline is coming up fast. I don't think they will reply anyway.

The ombudsman I'm planning to contact is the communications one. I took a look at their website, apparently it seems that they can only get involved if it has been 8 weeks since the issue has occurred or the company has said it can do no more to help. Either of those isn't true but since I used the letter template from the second link after googling 'Deadlock letter template', could it be implied as them not wanting to help to fix the issue?

Also, can anyone tell me what exactly happens once I contact the ombudsman? Will they request evidence? Will they help me? How much of compensation should I expect? (This case is quite serious as they are breaking one particular law)

macman · 7 April 2014 at 12:37PM

You either need to wait 8 weeks from the date of your formal complaint letter, or have received a deadlock letter. So they still have 4 weeks left.

rtcw · 7 April 2014 at 2:01PM

macman wrote: »

You either need to wait 8 weeks from the date of your formal complaint letter, or have received a deadlock letter. So they still have 4 weeks left.

Ah, I thought I could give them a reasonable deadline to fix this problem. I followed instructions by googling 'how to complain to ombudsman' and clicking the second link in the results.

However, there's one problem with this one. I don't have the date of when I sent them a formal complaint because I did it through their website, I received no acknowledgement from them as well as them stating they don't have any complaints from me on their record.

Quentin · 7 April 2014 at 4:04PM

You need to start again.

Send them a letter and get a proof of posting. The 8 week clock will start again.

macman · 7 April 2014 at 4:19PM

Quentin is quite correct. Messaging them through a wesbsite is not a formal complaint and leaves no audit trail.
And remember to keep a copy this time.
8 weeks is considered a reasonable time to resolve the issue between the 2 parties. The Ombudsman has limited resources, and the idea is that the majority of disputes should be resolved without their involvement.

cing0 · 7 April 2014 at 4:55PM

Unfortunately, the ombudsman will believe the company if you’ve not got a screen dump or receipt for the complaint using the web form. Some providers like Sky acknowledge all enquires made within account management by email.
Giving deadlines to the company is of no use when using ADR. Only when your owned money and need to use a court do they have any leverage.
See this http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=62290109&postcount=9 posting for info on how long the process takes since OS do both energy & telecoms complaints.
Note that none of the ADR firms have anything to do with regulations so you will need to tell Ofcom if its a law or licensing issue.
My recommendation to you would be to use CISAS instead of OS if your provider is member company.

rtcw · 7 April 2014 at 6:54PM

That's disappointing, I thought I did it correctly

Anyway, when I had sent them a letter requesting a deadlock, I included a paper stating what has happened and explaining why I was dissatisfied. Does it count as a complaint? I have delivery receipt for that letter.

I also remember sending them a different complaint through store, and they said it was being investigated. Now it's been 3 weeks, I haven't heard anything from them, not even a reference number.

cing0 · 7 April 2014 at 7:26PM

To successfully progress onto the ombudsman stage (ADR), you need to have confirmed received correspondence sent to the company that has the word COMPLAINT somewhere in it.

rtcw wrote: »

Anyway, when I had sent them a letter requesting a deadlock, I included a paper stating what has happened and explaining why I was dissatisfied. Does it count as a complaint? I have delivery receipt for that letter.

rtcw · 7 April 2014 at 8:39PM

cing0 wrote: »

To successfully progress onto the ombudsman stage (ADR), you need to have confirmed received correspondence sent to the company that has the word COMPLAINT somewhere in it.

In response to one of your earlier posts, I cannot go to CISAS since the company I'm having issues with isn't member of CISAS.

My letter definitely contained the word 'complaint' or 'complain'.

Now I checked my letterbox, there's nothing from the company. I'm quite annoyed by now so I went to the shop today, they said they have no record of my complaints on their system.

It's pretty much almost impossible to contact them as I've tried almost every way to contact them, and every single of them never worked, including going to the shop in the person. They've only replied to my letter once and the second response from them was supposed to arrive long time ago and it seems likely they are not responding any more.