Have you taken a company to Court after Ombudsman rules in your favour and the company fails to pay

whalemoney

Rant aside, can I at least refer to the OS Judgment in my POC?  Or would it be considered a 'without prejudice' agreement that neither party can rely upon?

DullGreyGuy

whalemoney said:
I've asked OS to contact VM on my behalf to request VM disclose their legal correspondence address so that I can get the ball rolling and issue a Small Claim.  I've basically said "can you copy and paste the following paragraph" (requesting VM's address) but OS refuses to do this because they can't get involved in anything pertaining to legal disputes.  

You haven't said which service from VM you are complaining about, and I dont know off hand if they use different legal entities for different service contracts or not but a quick google shows most the companies being registered to their new head office and Legal would typically sit in the head office so:

500 Brook Drive, Reading, RG2 6UU

whalemoney

can I refer to the OS Judgment in my POC?  Or would it be considered a 'without prejudice' agreement that neither party can rely upon?

GDB2222

Apart from evidence that you have tried mediation, I don’t think that the OS ruling is particularly relevant to court proceedings. If you are after a fairly modest amount from VM they probably won’t dispute it in court, as that would cost them more than paying up. So it’s probably irrelevant what you put in the POC and how you phrase your witness statement. 

I suspect that VM are just disorganised, rather than intentionally not complying with the OS ruling.

Some companies really have poor customer service, and it’s good to know that VM is one to avoid. 

PHK

born_again said:

regulators such as Ofcom
Are covered in the link.
Which is who OP will have been through.

No, OfCom doesn't investigate individual cases. The OP used an Alternative Dispute Resolution service called Ombudsman Services. 

DullGreyGuy

whalemoney said:

can I refer to the OS Judgment in my POC?  Or would it be considered a 'without prejudice' agreement that neither party can rely upon?

You can refer to it, though it's a decision not a judgement. The court however will make up its own mind and review the underlying issue based on the evidence provided. You are basically going back to square 1 and having to restate the whole problem 

Had it been the FOS rather than Comms OS then its totally different, you dont issue a claim but complete a N322A form and the court will give you a court order to the same effect as the FOS decision

whalemoney

DullGreyGuy said:

whalemoney said:

can I refer to the OS Judgment in my POC?  Or would it be considered a 'without prejudice' agreement that neither party can rely upon?

You can refer to it, though it's a decision not a judgement. The court however will make up its own mind and review the underlying issue based on the evidence provided. You are basically going back to square 1 and having to restate the whole problem 

Had it been the FOS rather than Comms OS then its totally different, you dont issue a claim but complete a N322A form and the court will give you a court order to the same effect as the FOS decision

Thanks, that's interesting to know.

Funnily I also have a FOS matter with Virgin Money so if they're as incompetent at honouring the FOS as Virgin Media are with the Comms OS, then at least I can get a Court Order for that.

DullGreyGuy

whalemoney said:

DullGreyGuy said:

whalemoney said:

can I refer to the OS Judgment in my POC?  Or would it be considered a 'without prejudice' agreement that neither party can rely upon?

You can refer to it, though it's a decision not a judgement. The court however will make up its own mind and review the underlying issue based on the evidence provided. You are basically going back to square 1 and having to restate the whole problem 

Had it been the FOS rather than Comms OS then its totally different, you dont issue a claim but complete a N322A form and the court will give you a court order to the same effect as the FOS decision

Thanks, that's interesting to know.

Funnily I also have a FOS matter with Virgin Money so if they're as incompetent at honouring the FOS as Virgin Media are with the Comms OS, then at least I can get a Court Order for that.

For the FOS process, the first decision will be made by an adjudicator/investigator and both parties will be asked if they accept the decision. Either party can say no, or if the FS company doesn't respond its assumed to be a no, or if the FS company accepts but then doesn't take the action its reversed and becomes a no. 

If a "no" happens for any reason it then goes to an ombudsman (not THE ombudsman) to review the adjudicator's decision, gather any further evidence or comments and provide their own decision. For this only you will be asked if you accept it or not, the FS company doesn't get a choice. If you accept it it becomes binding under the FSMA 2000, if you dont accept it you've run out of process. 

If its accepted and the FS company doesn't action it then you can fill in N322A, pay £44 and get your court order.

If you dont accept it well you are then left with filling in a court N1 claim form and going through the full court process at the end of which the court will give an order which may or may not be in your favour. 


Comms OS doesn't have the same legal standing as the FOS, there are some consequences for the Comms company if they dont follow the edict but it's under basic contract law and not to your benefit. Ultimately if they are ignored you fill in the N1 claim form with the courts and go through the whole court process. 

whalemoney

DullGreyGuy said:

whalemoney said:

DullGreyGuy said:

whalemoney said:

can I refer to the OS Judgment in my POC?  Or would it be considered a 'without prejudice' agreement that neither party can rely upon?

You can refer to it, though it's a decision not a judgement. The court however will make up its own mind and review the underlying issue based on the evidence provided. You are basically going back to square 1 and having to restate the whole problem 

Had it been the FOS rather than Comms OS then its totally different, you dont issue a claim but complete a N322A form and the court will give you a court order to the same effect as the FOS decision

Thanks, that's interesting to know.

Funnily I also have a FOS matter with Virgin Money so if they're as incompetent at honouring the FOS as Virgin Media are with the Comms OS, then at least I can get a Court Order for that.

For the FOS process, the first decision will be made by an adjudicator/investigator and both parties will be asked if they accept the decision. Either party can say no, or if the FS company doesn't respond its assumed to be a no, or if the FS company accepts but then doesn't take the action its reversed and becomes a no. 

If a "no" happens for any reason it then goes to an ombudsman (not THE ombudsman) to review the adjudicator's decision, gather any further evidence or comments and provide their own decision. For this only you will be asked if you accept it or not, the FS company doesn't get a choice. If you accept it it becomes binding under the FSMA 2000, if you dont accept it you've run out of process. 

If its accepted and the FS company doesn't action it then you can fill in N322A, pay £44 and get your court order.

If you dont accept it well you are then left with filling in a court N1 claim form and going through the full court process at the end of which the court will give an order which may or may not be in your favour. 


Comms OS doesn't have the same legal standing as the FOS, there are some consequences for the Comms company if they dont follow the edict but it's under basic contract law and not to your benefit. Ultimately if they are ignored you fill in the N1 claim form with the courts and go through the whole court process. 

Thank you.  Very informative.

Another day has passed and Virgin Media haven't coughed up.  They sent an email about 3 weeks ago saying a replacement cheque had been sent and would be with me "within 14 days".  Those 14 days have passed and remarkably, thats now three cheques they've supposedly posted that have vanished into thin air. On each ocassion I've requested a scan of the cheque and/or the cover letter/remittance form that would have been attached to it containing my address and each time they've simply ignored that request. 

They are deliberately not posting the cheque, this is not a mistake in their system.  They are a prejudiced, discriminatory company staffed by liars.  And when I say liars that's not a mid-rant exaggeration, their emails constantly state that they have "tried to call me" but I allegedly haven't answered.  Just a blatant lie to cover their backs. My phone is switched on 24 hours and I've not had a single missed call.  Again, I've asked them to confirm the number they've called me from so I can verify it with my network provider.  Alas, complete ignorance from them.  Absolutely shameful company employing really odd tactics to troll their own customers.  The amount of things they've simply made up during this dispute is truly baffling - as it can all be disproved when I put them to proof.

DullGreyGuy

whalemoney said:

DullGreyGuy said:

whalemoney said:

DullGreyGuy said:

whalemoney said:

can I refer to the OS Judgment in my POC?  Or would it be considered a 'without prejudice' agreement that neither party can rely upon?

You can refer to it, though it's a decision not a judgement. The court however will make up its own mind and review the underlying issue based on the evidence provided. You are basically going back to square 1 and having to restate the whole problem 

Had it been the FOS rather than Comms OS then its totally different, you dont issue a claim but complete a N322A form and the court will give you a court order to the same effect as the FOS decision

Thanks, that's interesting to know.

Funnily I also have a FOS matter with Virgin Money so if they're as incompetent at honouring the FOS as Virgin Media are with the Comms OS, then at least I can get a Court Order for that.

For the FOS process, the first decision will be made by an adjudicator/investigator and both parties will be asked if they accept the decision. Either party can say no, or if the FS company doesn't respond its assumed to be a no, or if the FS company accepts but then doesn't take the action its reversed and becomes a no. 

If a "no" happens for any reason it then goes to an ombudsman (not THE ombudsman) to review the adjudicator's decision, gather any further evidence or comments and provide their own decision. For this only you will be asked if you accept it or not, the FS company doesn't get a choice. If you accept it it becomes binding under the FSMA 2000, if you dont accept it you've run out of process. 

If its accepted and the FS company doesn't action it then you can fill in N322A, pay £44 and get your court order.

If you dont accept it well you are then left with filling in a court N1 claim form and going through the full court process at the end of which the court will give an order which may or may not be in your favour. 


Comms OS doesn't have the same legal standing as the FOS, there are some consequences for the Comms company if they dont follow the edict but it's under basic contract law and not to your benefit. Ultimately if they are ignored you fill in the N1 claim form with the courts and go through the whole court process. 

On each ocassion I've requested a scan of the cheque and/or the cover letter/remittance form that would have been attached to it containing my address and each time they've simply ignored that request.  

Depending on how their systems are setup it may not be possible using standard operating procedures and it may not be considered appropriate to deviate from procedures. 

My customer facing days are many years behind me but back then 99% of the time you would go into the complaints system, PF6 to raise a payment to the complainer, choose the party, type the amount, you then type in the body of the letter and PF24 to finish it. If its within your self authorisation level it goes off to the printers which print god knows how many letters a day (60m customers each getting various statements, renewals, marketing etc) and the systems know to print these letters onto the paper stock that has a perforated pre-printed cheque at the bottom of the page. If it's above my authority it goes to my manager who reviews and authorises. No human hand touches it until a postman puts it in your letterbox. 

In principle you could dictate a letter and get the typing pool to put it on headed paper for you but if you needed to do that because the letter was too long to fit above the cheque you'd send it separately and just in the automated cheque just reference the letter under separate cover. 

Did someone in the office have a company cheque book? No idea. If they did, could they use it for this purpose so that the funds were drawn from the correct budget etc? Probably not. We were a regional office and didnt have anyone in Finance or Treasury. Could someone have phoned someone else and got a cheque cut and sent over to us? Probably but that could have taken an age to do and so you'd just do a system generated cheque. I did once get a BACS payment done but the customer was overseas and therefore logical that cashing a cheque in GBP could be difficult so was willing to workout a process as it wasnt them just being a pain.