240 wCall centres’ cries for help a day
» Post Office staff reveal shocking toll of Horizon victims » Customer service workers told scandal due to a ‘user error’
POST Office staff received 240 calls a day about the flawed Horizon system, it is claimed.
One customer service worker who dealt with branch managers, many of them in tears, said bosses told them the scandal was down to “user error”.
Hundreds of postmasters and postmistresses were wrongly prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after being falsely accused of stealing money – unaware the IT problem was widespread across the country.
Two ex-call centre workers agreed to speak to the Mirror anonymously.
One told us she quickly realised the computer system was dodgy after working for the Post Office customer service office through an agency.
The ex-supermarket worker, then 20, was given two weeks’ training and said she felt helpless. “The system was buggy. I used to dread the balancing calls, they were awful,” she said. “The system would crash across the country from time to time.”
The woman, based in Barnsley, South Yorks, said branch bosses were effectively abandoned by the Post Office.
She added: “We all knew this Horizon system was crap and they were the older generation trying to deal with it.”
On one occasion Fujitsu’s Horizon system showed £1million was missing from one post office – despite it handling nowhere near that amount.
She said: “When the £1million missing came in there was disbelief on their end and almost laughing about it because they knew how ridiculous it was.
“I also remember ones where you’d get shouted at and it is obviously pure desperation and they understand that they’ve done nothing wrong.”
A second person, who worked at the call centre at the same time, said they were receiving around 240 calls a day.
He said: “I really felt for them, some of them would cry on the phone.”
The ex-worker confirmed his colleagues could not see victims’ computer screens. But ITV drama Mr
The system was buggy. I used to dread the balancing calls. They were awful FORMER CUSTOMER SERVICE WORKER ON HORIZON SCANDAL
Bates vs The Post Office revealed Fujitsu staff could.
He said: “The balancing calls were hourly. Probably 240 a day.
“There was no way of remotely looking for it [the missing money].
“I felt a bit useless because you are trying to help people on a system you have no idea how to use.
“Now they’ve admitted there are flaws in the system. Surely, [the convictions] should be thrown out.
“They haven’t found all the flaws in the system, there’s a lot more there that hasn’t been discovered yet.”
The Government has pledged to bring in a law to “swiftly exonerate and compensate victims” of the scandal.
There were over 900 convictions, with only 93 overturned so far. Some people tragically took their own lives.