How do I get an answer from provider

pewe

I posted a while back about a problem I was having with the Prudential.
I am no further forward with the problem which I have outlined below - sorry for the lengthy post but it does summarise what my problem is and how the lack of consistency and understanding of their support staff has left me totally frustrated.

On 24th March I called Prudential asking for information about 2 old M&G Pensions (as they are now responsible for those).

I was told they had no record of the policy numbers and to write to their tracing dept who would get back to me in 2-3 weeks. So I wrote.

2 weeks later, having had no reply I called for an update to be told that I could not talk to the tracing dept, and that they did not confirm receipt of letters of enquiry and it could take 6-8 weeks for them to supply any information.
I asked if they could at least check that my enquiry had been received - to be told they had no way of doing that.
I challenged the lack of confirmation of receipt of an enquiry and the lack of checking receipt of my letter with their customer services who confirmed that this was the case - confirming that they don't acknowledge receipt and that there is no enquiry receipt tracking facility.

I called again last week having heard nothing after several weeks, and this time was told by the customer services girl that I had previously been given wrong information. She took some details and then confirmed that my letter had been logged on 10th April (although I had sent it on 23rd March) and that within 5 days I should have been sent a letter confirming receipt including information regarding their process and how long it may take.
She went on to say that as I had not been sent the confirmation that she would ensure that by the end of the following week (ie by Friday 16h May) I would receive a letter confirming my enquiry was being dealt with and giving me an update.

Well guess what - it is now 19th May and no sign of a letter.
So I called to speak to the girl by name - to be told they have over 200 people in the customer services call centre and no one knew the names of the others so there was not way to put me through to her.
The agent also said that he did not know how she had been able to confirm receipt of my initial enquiry and although he had managed to trace a note of my conversation with her, there was no mention of any letters being promised.
He went on to say that there was no way he knew of (other than by writing) to communicate with the tracing dept to check receipt, let alone progress, of my enquiry.

At this point I asked to speak to a supervisor to get to the bottom of this issue, to be told there was no one available but that he would get someone to call me before 5.00pm tomorrow.

Sorry for the lengthy detail, but this just illustrates why I am now extremely frustrated and at a loss as to where to go from here.
I have no confidence in them ringing me back, but will give them the opportunity to do so, but can anyone suggest any way that I can kick them into action in resolving this.

Here's hoping

xylophone

http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/finding-a-lost-pension
Might help?

http://www.prudential.co.uk/customers/lost-your-policy Is it worth registering to use their secure e-mail?

pewe

xylophone wrote: »

http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/finding-a-lost-pension
Might help?

I think this is only for company schemes.

xylophone wrote: »

http://www.prudential.co.uk/customers/lost-your-policy Is it worth registering to use their secure e-mail?

This is only for their pensions. For older plans with companies they have taken over the enquiry has to be in writing through their tracing service - and that's the problem - their tracing dept and its systems are absolute c**p - as is their communication.

I had a call back from them since I posted. Not from a supervisor or other person of responsibility as requested, but from another CS agent who had been "asked to call you to confirm" information given by the last agent I spoke to.
When I told him I was expecting a call back from someone in "authority" he rather reluctantly said he'd pass that on and I would hear back from his supervisor as soon as he had briefed her on my situation.

That was over an hour and a half ago - and still no call. but they way they communicate maybe she is still trying to interpret what he told her - if he told her anything.
So the frustration continues.

xylophone

I think this is only for company schemes.

No. See link

"Asking us for help

If the Pension Tracing Service was unable to find your scheme or provider, or your pension was not a workplace pension, please write to us. We are experienced in finding lost pensions."

They might be able to help you raise a complaint if this becomes necessary? You could give them a ring?

Regarding the secure e-mail, is it worth trying to register, on the basis that it would appear from this http://www.pru.co.uk/contact_us/prumail/ that it can be used to ask questions/ give feedback/ etc?

pewe

xylophone wrote: »

No. See link

"Asking us for help

If the Pension Tracing Service was unable to find your scheme or provider, or your pension was not a workplace pension, please write to us. We are experienced in finding lost pensions."

They might be able to help you raise a complaint if this becomes necessary? You could give them a ring?

I will bear this in mind and if no satisfaction from the Pru in the next few days will call them.

xylophone wrote: »

Regarding the secure e-mail, is it worth trying to register, on the basis that it would appear from this http://www.pru.co.uk/contact_us/prumail/ that it can be used to ask questions/ give feedback/ etc?

I have registered with them now, and noticed one of the options was to 'Make a complaint'.
I will use this facility if I have not heard back from them by tomorrow - (as at 17:53 today I've not had the call back I was promised).

Thanks for your assistance in pointing this out to me - the pru agent had told me today that they only send 'sensitive' information by post to the registered address of the policy older. The daft i***t would not listen as I tried to tell him that the registered address on the M&G policies were an old address and that is how they lost track of me in the first place. (Albeit some would say I could be called an i***t for not keeping the address up to date with M&G in the first place.:o)

Thanks again.

pewe

At last!!

I spoke to a customer services agent on Tuesday and was 'fobbed' off again with information that conflicted with previous information yet again.
This time I demanded speaking to a proper 'complaints' department or person of authority or else I was going to take advice on what further action was open to me to complain through professional bodies such as the ombudsman.

That worked this time and I had a call back from someone who said he was a senior CS manager - he asked me to outline my problem and the experiences with previous calls.
I outlined the history at the end of which he confirmed that although I had written on 23rd March for some reason they only logged the enquiry on 10th April (some 18 days later???) BUT as a result I should have had all the information I needed within 10 days (28th April).
He went on to confirm that NO ACTION had yet been taken regarding my enquiry but promised I would have everything by recorded delivery to arrive no later than Yesterday.
You guessed - post arrived yesterday - no letter. So I called yet again and managed to get a message to the person who made the promise (he wouldn't take my call personally) and had a call back to say it had gone that afternoon by recorded delivery - it arrived today at last!!

The information was somewhat disappointing though.
But that is subject of a different topic!!

The CS 'Manager' I spoke to on Tuesday said he was so appalled at my experience and how I had been given so much incorrect information along the way that he was going to raise an official complaint on my behalf.
He said he would do this after having investigated the recordings of the calls I had made over the last 8 weeks and that I would be contacted by their 'complaints' department in due course.

I'm not holding my breath

pewe

Update:

Yesterday I received a letter from Prudential saying - 'enclosed is a cheque for £125 in settlement of your complaint as notified in our previous correspondence.' :huh::huh:

A second letter arrived today which was the letter mentioned in the covering letter received with the cheque yesterday . It was a detailed explanation confirming the inaccuracies and misinformation supplied to me over the last 8 weeks, an apology, details of what internal action is being taken as a result and confirmation that they were sending me a cheque for £125 by way of compensation and to cover my unnecessary telephone costs.

So that's the end of the experience.
I am (unexpectedly) compensated and hopefully, as they mentioned in their letter, their call centre staff will be 'retrained' to help towards offering more positive support to similar enquiries from customers in the future.