ATOS - (audio) recording... Well, just recording.

[thisisnatek]

Hello!

 

I have ATOS assessment tomorrow. From their leaflet I have learnt that if I want the assessment to be AUDIO recorded I must contact ATOS in advance. Well do I or is it in my rights to just record the meeting?

[rebel11]

Hi thisisnatek

 

You should have requested the assessment to be Recorded as soon as you received the letter from them. If you tell them up-front that you want to Record the assessment they won't allow you too. You could call them now and tell them you want the assessment Recorded, explain that you just found out that you could have it Recorded. See what they say.

[Bazooka Boo]

ALWAYS ALWAYS record the ATOS interrogation, if you're unable to then you MUST take someone else with you to sit in on the interrogation.

If you can record it covertly then do so as well.

 

Do NOT trust these people one little bit, their job is to find the slightest bit of evidence to kick you off benefits for good, and believe me the appeals process is deliberately designed to frustrate and be as lethargic as possible, so if you can avoid ever having to go through their ridiculous lethargic appeals process you will be doing yourself a very big favour.

 

Assume you are being watched as soon as you leave your home, and everything in the waiting room IS being recorded, everything is a test from the minute you walk out the front door.

Edited May 1, 2014 by honeybee13

[missy2006]

I have my ATOS Medical coming up shortly i phoned them up asking for the medical to be audio recorded but the woman stated that if i wanted to have it recorded i would have to travel as far as Berwick and as i live near Durham its not possible. How can they get away with this its not fair that they can lie and say whatever they want to the DWP regarding the medical and people don't have any proof of their lies.

[honeybee13]

Hello Missy.

 

When did you ask for the assessment to be recorded please?

 

HB

[missy2006]

Today

[honeybee13]

Oh right. I can see that might be a bit short notice for Atos because they don't have very many recorders and have to organise where they will be. I can't remember what the rules are but hopefully the guys will be along later with advice for you.

 

HB

[missy2006]

they are terrible in durham its pointless even going but if you dont your money gets stopped.

[Bazooka Boo]

they are terrible in durham its pointless even going but if you dont your money gets stopped.

 

It gets stopped either way....

[avalon60]

When I went for my assessment, audio recorded, after the assessment, the nurse went to give me a copy, but guess what, when I got home the disc was blank.

[matt v atos]

Did you open it as a file!

[avalon60]

Well all that was on the cd was an xml file, no recording whatsoever. I first tried on my computer then on my music cd player, nothing, no audio at all.

[matt v atos]

Well all that was on the cd was an xml file, no recording whatsoever. I first tried on my computer then on my music cd player, nothing, no audio at all.

 

I dont think it works like a DVD You have to open the file far as i know.

[avalon60]

If it was an actual audio recording, then there would be a file probably a .wav or.flac or even .mp3 of a particular size.

The said xml opened up in my webpages building program, and was only very small in size, about 3 lines if I remember right

[matt v atos]

I think you open it with somthing like Excel office.

Or try Open office its free.

[avalon60]

It would NOT open as an audio recording and that is I wanted but did not get.

[**Margaret**]

:Atos Audio Recording:?::

 

If/when they manage to find a working audio recorder and compatible audio compact discs, which can be a bit technical for Atos. This particular technology failure has already been discussed at:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?414530-Re-appointments-and-recording

 

Margaret.

 

 

 

 

[Stoic]

Never ever rely on Atos to record your "assessment".I took an upstanding member of the community(as opposed to a dodgy one like me )AND as soon as their creep had ushered us into the interrogation room,I said,"I will be recording this interview". "I had better go and see whether that is permitted",they replied."It is",I said.Off they trotted,or in this case lumbered,and returned saying,"Yes that`s ok but you can`t use it for your case".Oh really, I thought.

Just in case the hideous individual refused,I had my witness with a phone ready to click it off whilst the thirty quid 2nd-hand digital recorder sat in my top pocket switched on.

I am halfway through transcribing said recording and along with guidelines from.... street democracy.wordpress.com/using-atos-complaints-procedure.....sorry I was forced to remove actual link ,as have yet to accrue the required ten postings necessary! Had a post removed the other day too!

I am turning some of the -ve stress which is compounding my chronic health problems,into +ve action.

I tape all phone calls and with ones where the other side start with recorded codswallop about doing so for training purposes blah,blah,blah,if I have any hassle from the other side I tell them that I am recording.Their response tends to be "that`s illegal,you are supposed to notify me",to which I reply that the conversation was headed up with a recorded message saying the conversation was being recorded! Very often "illegal" then becomes "common decency"....something the can`t aspire to.

Recording phone conversations has been an immense help to me.Also back in the day before digital,I carried a 35mm camera with film, and over the years had four incompetent drivers run in to me.Trainee quack,19F,head-on,in spite of me moving as far off the single-track road to avoid her as a stone wall permitted.Her posh mum phoned me saying that it was a 50-50 and she would get her London lawyers on the case to consolidate that "fact".When I responded that I had taken photos of the collision aftermath,she said that it would be her luck not to have a film in the camera,which was an attempt to suss whether I had.Don`t worry,the photos are on their way to my insurer and I have had copies taken,I replied.That was enough to win what otherwise would have been a 50-50 decsion or worse probably.Those types tend to twist things in their favour,making you the villain.Had that with a dog owner after their dog bit me.

Then there was the RAF chap who shot out of a car park into the side of my car as I was driving along a town street minding my own business.He immediately apologised,saying he was half asleep having just returned from Belize.A recording would have been good there!

Then a woman exiting a supermarket car park drove straight into the side of me as I was passing.Her view was obscured by a large German Shepherd dog in her front passenger seat!I collared a witness and took photos,by which time the GSD was now sat in the driving seat.The woman had the cheek to try and change the state of events but street witness and another who I later found saw the RTC from their house,together with the all-important photos,won me compensation.....which the then DHSS promptly took from me in lieu of benefit`s paid whilst I was incapacitated through injury! I still think to this day that move was illegal on their part.

My big smash previous to the three mentioned,I didn`t walk away from but was able to give police info which they could corroborate,leading to a win for me.When you are seriously injured and close to death(thanks surgeons )you can`t use a camera!

Do not trust anyone,always be one step ahead,or else someone richer or higher up the food chain will have their word taken as gospel and you will lose out,you will be labelled a liar!Turn the tables on them by being prepared.Expose them for what they are.Honesty can win out.Liars have poor memories and struggle to replicate their untruths.

[avalon60]

Your last sentence says it all.

 

My dad always told me that to be a liar you have to have a good memory.

 

I caught someone at DWP telling me porkies, and then I proved what I said she back tracked.

[squirrelly Whirley]

The best advice I've picked up on this site, (among many other excellent pieces of advice), is to discretely record conversations with the DWP or ATOS, whether face-to-face or on a telephone.

 

Technically, you're required to seek permission before recording, but so long as you don't use the physical recording for anything other than personal use, you're ok legally. That recording can (and certainly should) be turned into a written transcript, which you can use freely in a court room, if it gets that far.

 

Also, when you reveal that you possess a recording of someone deliberately lying, that other party will likely change their tune, sharpish.

 

While I appreciate the difficulty of managing and storing multiple recordings on micro-tape, recording digitally and saving in an mp3 format (for example) creates a relatively small file on a hard disk, which can be collected in a library of similar files. It also provides high quality proof, if needed, when your honesty and credibility are questioned.

 

Just as an example:

I label files stored in the following brief fashion:

[ date & time ] [ who was involved ] [ what it related to]

 

eg: 20140727 @1326 - DWP CC Spk2 Steven, Blackpool CC re Non-payment of JSA

Which tells me: I spoke to Steven at the DWP call centre in Blackpool about Non-payment of JSA on the 27th of July 2014 at 1:26pm

 

I hope this is of some use to someone out there

[Bazooka Boo]

There is no legal requirement to tell anyone you are recording your telephone calls, I record all of mine with the Rolls Royce of devices Truecall.

 

Agreed when you tell them that you have a recording of the call, if there is some dispute later on, then they will nearly always change their tune yes..