I am trying to reach my car insurer, Direct Line, by telephone. Using the number in my documentation and those listed on-line I keep getting the message "We cannot take your call due to a telephony fault." All the numbers connect to the same message which says "if you have a claim press one, otherwise just hold" then after a few seconds the telephony fault voice message is played.

These are all 0845 numbers and cost money as soon as they are connected. This has been happening over a period of several weeks. Do they get a share of the 0845 call charges? If they do, it is in their interest to accept the call and then report a fault, rather than let the call fail to connect.

If they do make a gain I will be asking for a refund of my failed calls?

Anyone else come across this?

Regards,

aliasflorence

Yes you're right, they do get a share of the 0845 call charges. This has been investigated in a recent Which (Consumer Association) report at The worst offenders - How to avoid expensive phone call charges - Your money - Which? Advice

So if you put in a complaint, you should ask for a refund for the failed calls.

However, many insurance companies use free 0800 numbers instead of 0845 ones.

** Hall of Shame – organisations that have expensive customer lines

0871: Admiral Insurance, Bell Insurance, Diamond Insurance, Elephant Insurance, Nikon, Tiscali

0870: Apple (tech support)^, Carphone Warehouse/Talk Talk, DVLA, Gladiator Insurance, Lexmark, Philips^, Sony, Zanussi-Electrolux

0844: AOL, Orange, Panasonic^, Sky (free for Sky Talk customers from July), TV Licensing

0845: Barclays, British Gas, Consumer Direct, Direct Line, Eon, Green Flag, Halifax, LloydsTSB, Miele, Npower, Philips^, Scottish and Southern Energy^, Scottish Power, TV Licensing, Virgin Media

 

Roll of Honour – organisations that have cheaper customer lines

0800: Apple (helpline)^, BT, Canon, Churchill^, Dyson, Norwich Union Direct, RAC, Scottish and Southern Energy

03: Passport Office (from August)

01/02: Panasonic^, Philips^, Toshiba

(taken from Which? magazine - Press - About Which?)

i wouldnt hold you breath on getting anything back,unless you can give dates & times you tried & they confirm that they did have phone problems (they do sometimes have switchboard probs). What info do you need r.e you car insurance

Try one of these 0117 984 9922 or 0113 292 7339

More listed on SAYNOTO0870.COM - Non-Geographical Alternative Telephone Numbers when you search on Direct Line.

I never call any non-geographic number without checking here first. The operator/agent remains unaware of which number you used to call into the PABX.

A word of warning from a former insider (l'il ol' me!)

DL has several offices around the country. If you get through to a call centre that is NOT handling your claim, they will simply send a message on to the region that is dealing with it. Expect to wait at least 5 days if you are lucky. Write in (recorded) with a well reasoned explanation (make it a complaint).

Believe me, DL operations in this respect is like little kids arguing over who gets to play with the toys (or not). Many a time have I seen minor situations explode into FSA complaints due to internal departments arguing over who is supposed to deal with something and passing the ball instead of actually sorting issues out.

How the hell they managed to get into The Times top 50 call centres is beyond me.

A word of warning from a former insider (l'il ol' me!)

 

Believe me, DL operations in this respect is like little kids arguing over who gets to play with the toys (or not). Many a time have I seen minor situations explode into FSA complaints due to internal departments arguing over who is supposed to deal with something and passing the ball instead of actually sorting issues out.

 

How the hell they managed to get into The Times top 50 call centres is beyond me.

things have changed,its departments now argue who wont deal with and why should they etc:) I see it everyday,sit back & laugh

Oh - I saw that when I worked there. See it hasn't got any better then.

To me it's absolutely pathetic. I got sick of being prasied by customers for sorting problems out (not sick of that!) when previously it was just passed fom pillar to post, and then get a bollocking from managers for acting outside my key indicators or something.

The company is more concerned about hitting targets than they are about anything else.

Oh - I saw that when I worked there. See it hasn't got any better then.

 

To me it's absolutely pathetic. I got sick of being prasied by customers for sorting problems out (not sick of that!) when previously it was just passed fom pillar to post, and then get a bollocking from managers for acting outside my key indicators or something.

 

The company is more concerned about hitting targets than they are about anything else.

Nail on the head:),its unfair on call centre guys and admin guys,they impose these unworkable time restraints on calls & paperwork, max 3 mins on a call (then they ask you why you were on a call so long) paper work is a joke each letter is different,but again they managed to put a max time to deal.

I spoke to a guy at Direct Line Leeds office called Suky yesterday.

Unhelpful and hopeless.

Don't phone in! Write in. I know what you said on the other thread about writing in but pleae read my response.

When I was at DL Leeds was the worst office (along with Croydon). In fact I am sure the FSA closed the office down for some time. I do not think I have ever come across more apathetic or incompetent staff.

Three years later and they are still using the 'telephony fault' dodge. They kept wanting more and more info to support my no claims bonus (15 years ) and eventually threatened to cancel the policy. I managed to get through by phone and agreed with the advisor what would suit them He confirmed if I advised that in writing and heard no more from them then it was ok. I wrote immediately and as heard nothing assumed all was well. Two weeks later I received notification that they had cancelled the policy two days before I had received their notification!! So for two days I've been driving around with no policy. It's unbelievable that they can do this sort of stunt putting people at risk. They have no idea what customer care is and as I'm now writing to the FSA we'll see if something comes of it, although I'm not holding my breath

They only want a letter/renewal from your last Insurers stating the years no claims discount you are entitled to.

I did see some info from a poster who worked for DL, that the staff were thoroughly fed up, as some of the work has been off shored to India and the company is due to be sold off next year.

Make a complaint to Direct Line customer relations. You should have had 7 days minimum notice of cancellation, to avoid you driving around uninsured. Also they should have explained in the standard letters what the problem was with the no claims discount proof, so you do something about it.

How the hell they managed to get into The Times top 50 call centres is beyond me.

companies pay a FEE to be in the times top 50.....

then from an independent poll company 3000 random employees receive an email askin a questionaire....

based on these results, will depend on where the company finshes in the top 50..