Teamwork breaks arrears deadlock
WHEN a long-running dispute over the braking system in a couple’s car was settled out of court, they thought they could move on.
But new troubles began shortly after when Mark and Laraine Leath then got an arrears demand last summer regarding the finance agreement on their VW Tiguan.
Thinking Volkswagen Financial Services UK had made a simple slip – as the contract had ended with the case, they ignored it. But then another letter turned up so Mark, concerned there might be the risk of an unfair credit rating black mark, called to explain.
“I was reassured my contract had been finalised,” he told Crusader. He became less confident however when the “confirmation” he received was a handwritten note on plain paper.
All went quiet until October when a text arrived asking Mark to discuss arrears on his account.
That led to him making a formal complaint that was scheduled to be sorted out by last December. Mark was not updated about any progress as he had been promised. He called again and was told the matter had been
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WHO knew what a terrific customer service UK Power Networks (UKPN) offers? Well not Crusader until a customer told us about how they had a complete electrics blackout that local electricians could not fix as it was the main fuse and a job only for UKPN.
It is the main source distributing more than 25 per cent of the UK’s electricity, making sure the lights stay on in the south and east of England (five others provide the service in the rest of the country).
Once the emergency call had been made by our reader, who was shivering alone in the dark, the engineers came within two hours as promised.
They work around the clock, do not charge and will supply a generator if an on-the-spot fix isn’t possible. If the electricity fails and your meter is dead, this is the service you need. Vulnerable customers can register for its priority services.
● https://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/priority found in his favour and he was offered £70, which he felt was insufficient.
But then the couple had a shock when another demand arrived for £17,200, a payment due for a fortnight previously.
Again Mark called and learned, in fact, that the offer to end the complaint now stood at £300.
But when asking for Crusader’s support he explained: “We have gone through so much stress with this, we feel they could do better.”
And indeed after we contacted the finance company and explained the pressure Mark and Laraine were feeling, it looks like the end of the road is in sight.
It has now apologised with a £500 goodwill gesture, citing a system error and saying “mistakes like this are rare”.