DWP not answering phones

[Caro in dispute with DWP]

I looked at the DWP report and accounts for 2010/11 and was astonished by what I found.

 

As my username suggests I am in dispute with DWP and therefore I have had to try and phone the Carer's Allowance Unit at Palatine House many times. Because of my caring duties I usually have to phone after about 3.30 pm.

 

My experience is completely opposite to the statistics listed in the PDCS Annual Report and Accounts 2010/11 targets (I have a difficulty with URLs on this site because I'm not allowed to post them yet (

 

Telephony

Ensure that at least 93% of calls to our telephone service are answered first time. 94.2%

Ensure that less than 1% of calls to our telephone service receive the

engaged/busy tone 0.2%

 

a) I nearly always get an engaged tone for many attempts

b) if I do get through, it's often to a call centre who offer me a callback service. This callback has come once and that not at the arranged time.

 

Obviously the targets in the Report and Accounts are for the whole service, but even so....

Or is it that some parts of DCS are so good at answering calls that it skews the figures (!)

 

Anecdotal evidence welcome - I'm probably going to take my complaints against DWP to the Parliamentary Ombudsman so any weight to my cause would be very helpful.

[frank_begbie]

I looked at the DWP report and accounts for 2010/11 and was astonished by what I found.

 

As my username suggests I am in dispute with DWP and therefore I have had to try and phone the Carer's Allowance Unit at Palatine House many times. Because of my caring duties I usually have to phone after about 3.30 pm.

 

My experience is completely opposite to the statistics listed in the PDCS Annual Report and Accounts 2010/11 targets (I have a difficulty with URLs on this site because I'm not allowed to post them yet (

 

Telephony

Ensure that at least 93% of calls to our telephone service are answered first time. 94.2%

Ensure that less than 1% of calls to our telephone service receive the

engaged/busy tone 0.2%

 

a) I nearly always get an engaged tone for many attempts

b) if I do get through, it's often to a call centre who offer me a callback service. This callback has come once and that not at the arranged time.

 

Obviously the targets in the Report and Accounts are for the whole service, but even so....

Or is it that some parts of DCS are so good at answering calls that it skews the figures (!)

 

 

 

Anecdotal evidence welcome - I'm probably going to take my complaints against DWP to the Parliamentary Ombudsman so any weight to my cause would be very helpful.

 

I must have rang them about 20 times over the last 12 months and every single time it was engaged.

 

I've mostly hung on, and every time it was for about 20 minutes.

 

Also the 0845 number is there to discourage people from phoning. If it was a free service they would be swamped.

[Slatted]

And of course a lot of the time it is not exactly "engaged" but you get the pleasure of holding and listening to THAT music....at your expense....for ages....

 

I average 10 -20 mins holding each time....but of course that is not "engaged" but nor is it speaking to anyone......

 

And yes the callbacks are promised but not always received and when they are it is almost always dead on 3 hours.

 

God forbid you have to do something else that day and then miss that call though...have to start the process all over again.

[Caro in dispute with DWP]

Many thanks for sharing these experiences.

 

So it's not just me then....

 

I may well be taking DWP to the Parliamentary Ombudsman - may I share what's happened to you if I do?

[frank_begbie]

And of course a lot of the time it is not exactly "engaged" but you get the pleasure of holding and listening to THAT music....at your expense....for ages....

 

I average 10 -20 mins holding each time....but of course that is not "engaged" but nor is it speaking to anyone......

 

And yes the callbacks are promised but not always received and when they are it is almost always dead on 3 hours.

 

God forbid you have to do something else that day and then miss that call though...have to start the process all over again.

 

 

Right, so that's how they get around it? Might have known.

 

Responding to machines and listening to classical music is classed as getting through.

[Slatted]

At a personal level I am always interested in hearing others experiences and if there is anything I can do to help...

[frank_begbie]

Many thanks for sharing these experiences.

 

So it's not just me then....

 

I may well be taking DWP to the Parliamentary Ombudsman - may I share what's happened to you if I do?

 

 

Of course.

[Caro in dispute with DWP]

Thanks

[Caro in dispute with DWP]

You are all stars, many thanks.

 

It's comforting to know:

a) that I'm not going potty

b) that it's them, not me

c) that I'm not alone

[vicky87]

I looked at the DWP report and accounts for 2010/11 and was astonished by what I found.

 

As my username suggests I am in dispute with DWP and therefore I have had to try and phone the Carer's Allowance Unit at Palatine House many times. Because of my caring duties I usually have to phone after about 3.30 pm.

 

My experience is completely opposite to the statistics listed in the PDCS Annual Report and Accounts 2010/11 targets (I have a difficulty with URLs on this site because I'm not allowed to post them yet (

 

Telephony

Ensure that at least 93% of calls to our telephone service are answered first time. 94.2%

Ensure that less than 1% of calls to our telephone service receive the

engaged/busy tone 0.2%

 

a) I nearly always get an engaged tone for many attempts

b) if I do get through, it's often to a call centre who offer me a callback service. This callback has come once and that not at the arranged time.

 

Obviously the targets in the Report and Accounts are for the whole service, but even so....

Or is it that some parts of DCS are so good at answering calls that it skews the figures (!)

 

Anecdotal evidence welcome - I'm probably going to take my complaints against DWP to the Parliamentary Ombudsman so any weight to my cause would be very helpful.

Those figures are absolute bull. And thats to put it nicely.

 

I have rang the jobcentre (sometimes different departments) for various reasons (both for myself, and MIL) around 100 times over the past few years. And not once have I ever got straight through. Infact I am generally in the quene for at LEAST 15 mins, usually longer :/

[Nystagmite]

I was once told by someone at JCP not to phone on a Monday; as it's impossible to get through. I once phoned on a Tuesday afternoon and was on hold for at least 15 minutes. Glad it was a freephone (fresh ESA claim) number.