Seeking compensation for Team KnowHow call charges

takman

SimonPhoenix wrote: »

Hi
So I'm preparing to write to Currys Team KnowHow regarding the excessive call charges to the KnowHow helpline (See OP for details).

I was just wondering if anyone knows where the best place to send my email to would be? Would it be worth using the "Resolver" website?
Any basic tips on how I should structure my complaint/request for compensation would be appreciated, too.
Thanks.

I wouldn't bother your not going to get anywhere with that complaint. The KnowHow Helpline is an 0344 number which is charged at the same rate as a local landline call.

The only reason you have such a high bill is because you rang them using a landline with no inclusive call packages. BT are the ones charging you to make these calls and they would have made you aware when you chose to go with them the cost of calls.

Even if you don't have a mobile you could have used then BT offer a call package for £9.50 a month which would have covered you for unlimited calls to this number.

SimonPhoenix

takman wrote: »

I wouldn't bother your not going to get anywhere with that complaint. The KnowHow Helpline is an 0344 number which is charged at the same rate as a local landline call.

The only reason you have such a high bill is because you rang them using a landline with no inclusive call packages. BT are the ones charging you to make these calls and they would have made you aware when you chose to go with them the cost of calls.

Even if you don't have a mobile you could have used then BT offer a call package for £9.50 a month which would have covered you for unlimited calls to this number.

The reason I don't have any extra call packages is because I don't use my landline much. Normally I only make about £10-15 worth of calls per quarter. So I have no need for the extra call package. It's not BT that provided the terrible service that required me to make so many calls. It's not BT that put me on hold for 25-30 minutes everytime I phoned up or passed me around departments thus increasing the length of the call. If I did not call them, I would not get a resolution - so I did not really have a choice.

They botched my refund for the first washing machine I purchased, compelling me to ring them several times just to prove it was their mistake and not mine so I could get my money back. It was instances like that which forced me to call them and endure the long hold times. I was forced to chase them because of their poor customer service. Not turning up for an installation, missing a delivery slot which I paid for, not calling me back when they said they would, poorly installing an appliance to name a few more instances.

What was I supposed to do? Sit there and do nothing? If Curry's customer service was good then I would not have to make those calls. That's got nothing to do with BT.

JJ_Egan

These calls are on your BT bill .
Lets see a few examples .

takman

SimonPhoenix wrote: »

The reason I don't have any extra call packages is because I don't use my landline much. Normally I only make about £10-15 worth of calls per quarter. So I have no need for the extra call package. It's not BT that provided the terrible service that required me to make so many calls. It's not BT that put me on hold for 25-30 minutes everytime I phoned up or passed me around departments thus increasing the length of the call. If I did not call them, I would not get a resolution - so I did not really have a choice.

They botched my refund for the first washing machine I purchased, compelling me to ring them several times just to prove it was their mistake and not mine so I could get my money back. It was instances like that which forced me to call them and endure the long hold times. I was forced to chase them because of their poor customer service. Not turning up for an installation, missing a delivery slot which I paid for, not calling me back when they said they would, poorly installing an appliance to name a few more instances.

What was I supposed to do? Sit there and do nothing? If Curry's customer service was good then I would not have to make those calls. That's got nothing to do with BT.

Your really missing the point!. You knew that BT were charging 13p a minute for these calls and you knew how long the calls were taking, so you knew the costs were adding up but you did nothing about it!.

I'm not saying you should have stopped ringing them but if it was me when the call cost got to around £10 i would be thinking; "these calls are starting to add up and it's going nowhere so i better look into doing something about it". Then you could have added on the £9.50 a month unlimited calls knowing that would cap the amount you had to pay.

There is no way that i would let my call costs get anywhere near £100 when there are so many different ways of reducing them. Even if you didn't want to add that via BT there are many VOIP providers that allow you to call over the internet that charge a lot less for calls.

Once i had a phone contract which gave me 300 minutes a month and i remember that for some reason i needed to make alot more calls so i topped up skype with £5 and used that as it was much cheaper than a landline. Looking at their current rates you could have saved yourself £83 by using it.

The fact that you just kept making call after call at 13p a minute seems crazy to me!.

bigisi

takman wrote: »

Your really missing the point!. You knew that BT were charging 13p a minute for these calls and you knew how long the calls were taking, so you knew the costs were adding up but you did nothing about it!.

I'm not saying you should have stopped ringing them but if it was me when the call cost got to around £10 i would be thinking; "these calls are starting to add up and it's going nowhere so i better look into doing something about it". Then you could have added on the £9.50 a month unlimited calls knowing that would cap the amount you had to pay.

There is no way that i would let my call costs get anywhere near £100 when there are so many different ways of reducing them. Even if you didn't want to add that via BT there are many VOIP providers that allow you to call over the internet that charge a lot less for calls.

Once i had a phone contract which gave me 300 minutes a month and i remember that for some reason i needed to make alot more calls so i topped up skype with £5 and used that as it was much cheaper than a landline. Looking at their current rates you could have saved yourself £83 by using it.

The fact that you just kept making call after call at 13p a minute seems crazy to me!.

In addition to this if you ever tried to take them to court to claim the call charges back the court would expect you to have taken steps to mitigate your losses. That you did none of the things suggested above shows you took no steps to do so and as such won't be looked upon favourably should it come in front of a judge.

SimonPhoenix

takman wrote: »

Your really missing the point!. You knew that BT were charging 13p a minute for these calls and you knew how long the calls were taking, so you knew the costs were adding up but you did nothing about it!.

I'm not saying you should have stopped ringing them but if it was me when the call cost got to around £10 i would be thinking; "these calls are starting to add up and it's going nowhere so i better look into doing something about it". Then you could have added on the £9.50 a month unlimited calls knowing that would cap the amount you had to pay.

There is no way that i would let my call costs get anywhere near £100 when there are so many different ways of reducing them. Even if you didn't want to add that via BT there are many VOIP providers that allow you to call over the internet that charge a lot less for calls.

Once i had a phone contract which gave me 300 minutes a month and i remember that for some reason i needed to make alot more calls so i topped up skype with £5 and used that as it was much cheaper than a landline. Looking at their current rates you could have saved yourself £83 by using it.

The fact that you just kept making call after call at 13p a minute seems crazy to me!.

I've just spoken to BT about the £9.50 unlimited call package and you're right it covers 0345 numbers. I've always just stuck with the basic line rental package as it was the cheapest and presumed adding a call package would mean I'd have to stick with the package for 12 months. BT told me today that I could have the package and drop it at any time with 30 days notice. I just wasn't aware of this. It would have saved me a lot of money had I known.
I guess there's no point in going to Currys now.

KittenChops

I would still pursue this... Presumably every time you finished a call, they told you it was resolved? How did you know that you'd need to keep phoning back? Anyway, nothing ventured nothing gained...

SimonPhoenix

KittenChops wrote: »

I would still pursue this... Presumably every time you finished a call, they told you it was resolved? How did you know that you'd need to keep phoning back? Anyway, nothing ventured nothing gained...

I have the details of call dates, times and durations and I've been told on several occassions that Currys record their calls. And they've got records of all the issues I had on my customer order file. I had to ring them back because of their multiple failings, from missed delivery times, missed installations, failure to address and correct faults, multiple failures to ring me back (when they said they would), failure to contact delivery depot, failure to refund (despite sending refund confirmation email - requiring me to go my bank to prove I hadn't received the money) etc. Just so many instances where they failed. Matters were made worse as this was around Christmas time. It was an absolutely miserable experience.

I feel utterly stupid now knowing that I could have got a call package to avoid the costs and drop the package at any time with 30 days notice. I just honestly didn't know. I've always just stuck to the cheapest basic line rental package as I am not a person who phones a lot of people; hence, why I've never had a mobile phone contract. Knowing what I know now I feel as if I have no grounds for complaining. I don't know whether it's even worth trying. It just feel as if they have gotten away with delivering a terrible service and there's nothing I can do.

SuperHan

SimonPhoenix wrote: »

I have the details of call dates, times and durations and I've been told on several occassions that Currys record their calls. I had to ring them back because of their multiple failings, from missed delivery times, missed installations, failure to address and correct faults, multiple failures to ring me back (when they said they would), failure to contact delivery depot, failure to refund (despite sending refund confirmation email - requiring me to go my bank to prove I hadn't received the money) etc. Just so many instances where they failed. Matters were made worse as this was around Christmas time. It was an absolutely miserable experience.

I feel utterly stupid now knowing that I could have got a call package to avoid the costs and drop the package at any time with 30 days notice. I just honestly didn't know. I've always just stuck to the cheapest basic line rental package as I am not a person who phones a lot of people; hence, why I've never had a mobile phone contract. Knowing what I know now I feel as if I have no grounds for complaining. I don't know whether it's even worth trying.

Although you have to mitigate your costs, doing extensive research into the cheapest way to make the calls shouldn't be necessary.


You aren't charging for you having to go and buy a phone, you're not claiming for calls where you stayed on hold and hung up when you got chance to speak to someone. I think asking for compensation for calls you've had to make are not unreasonable.


Whether you'll get anything is a different matter. If you'd use them, maybe ask for compensation in the form of a voucher (you could even sell it on). I've found companies to be much more amenable to that as a compensation request.

pmduk

Please, just remember to add this to the costs of buying from Currys when next buying an electrical item. Their poor post-sales service is one of the ways they can offer low prices.