Sse shield central heating cover

[shuggler]

Hi folks can anyone give advice please,

 

 

I have cover with this company and my boiler is due a service,

first time it was arranged for a Saturday morning between 08.00 and 12.00

they called at 11.0 to say they could not attend as they had a a very high volume of emergency call out's

and they take priority over service jobs, ok fair enough.

 

Then they kept phoning to remind me my service was overdue??,

 

 

it was arranged again for today and they would be here between 08.00 and 12.00

and guess what, they called to say they had a very high volume of, blah blah blah.

 

So reading through their T&C, as i now want to cancel, as they don't seem to have enough engineers to cover the customers

they have on there books, but it say's if I cancel then I could be liable for the cost of 12 month cover just renewed in November,

but if they cant provide me with the cover they promise to give then

 

 

surely they are in breach of contract, and they should compensate me for having to take time off work etc.

 

Any advice welcome thanks.

[rebel11]

Hi shuggler

 

You buy a service contract with them, you have several appointments cancelled by them, you take time off for the appointments, no doubt they have covered themselves in their T & C's. But just because it's in their T & C's doesn't make it fair. The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 and Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 would apply. This is clearly very unfair.

 

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/scotland/consumer_s/consumer_protection_for_the_consumer_e/consumer_contracts_s/unfair_terms_in_consumer_contracts.htm

 

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/supply-of-goods-and-services-act-1982

 

Here is their complaint procedure, don't speak to them over the phone, write to them, send it Recorded Delivery.

[BankFodder]

Sorry, but I expect that their complaints procedure will be half-hearted and lukewarm.

 

There must be hundreds or even thousands of other customers who are experiencing the same problem all the time but for the company, it is simply money in the bank. You're absolutely right to be worried about cancelling because like most of these big companies, even though they are a fault, if you try to cancel on very good grounds – they will still ignore you, put you into procedure, blight your credit file, instruct debt collection agencies, and generally smash up your life.

 

Certainly, one thing you should not do is to cancel your direct debit until the matter is resolved. Although you are entitled to cancel it because they have fundamentally breached the contract, they will simply treat you as somebody who is trying to avoid your contractual obligations and they will smash you to bits. Smashing their customers to bits is something that they are good at. Giving good customer service is something that they are bad at

 

This is part of the reason why the energy companies have such a disgusting reputation – and justifiably so.

 

I see no reason why should have to put up with this. You should certainly be compensated for the wasted time last Saturday and also if you took time off work, you should be compensated for that as well.

 

I'm very sorry but the only way to make them really sit up and pay attention is to start a County Court claim. If you go down the usual complaints route, you will simply end up being fatigued and fobbed off. Customer service complaint routes are devised in a way to look good – the feelgood factor – but in fact they are the preferred route for these companies because they help to dilate your anger to waste your time, to waste your telephone money, to frustrate you, to dissipate your anger – and eventually any solution is provided, it will be a mediocre solution given as a gesture of goodwill – and we all know what that means don't we?.

 

It is up to you what you want to do about this. It will actually be quicker and take less energy to start small claim – and very much more effective and also it will pay better compensation.

 

You have to decide whether you want to go down this route or whether you are happy carrying on being trodden on, disregarded, dismissed and discarded.

 

If the County Court claim route is for you then start doing a bit of reading on this forum about how to go about it. It's very easy. Write them a letter straightaway outlining everything that has happened, list your losses – the wasted time and wasted days work and also tell them that you want the boiler serviced and that if it is not serviced then you will go elsewhere and bill them for it. Tell them that in view of their fundamental breach of contract that you are proposing to terminate the contract but that you are giving them a last opportunity to make an appointment which they will keep but also to pay the money you want.

 

Tell them that if you do not have a satisfactory response – meaning your money and the appointment – within 14 days that you will bring a legal action against them in the County Court and without any further notice.

 

They will ignore this letter because they don't care about you and they think you're just a nuisance. Once they receive the court papers, they will start to leap into action. They will issue some crappy little defence and then they will eventually cave in and pay all your money. If by some amazing chance they really decide to run with it, then they will be forced to appear at your local court with all the expense that that entails and you will win.

 

The only issue on which you might lose would be if you're claiming too much. Don't be excessive in your demands for compensation. Make sure that it is modest and can be justified to the court.

 

On the other hand, if this is not for you and you prefer the customer service route – then you have been provided a link above. Good luck. Settle in for a long frustrating experience which will do nothing for your self esteem and which will deliver no lessons to SSE so that they will continue as before ripping off all of their customers.

[shuggler]

Thanks for taking the time to reply folks, if I had more time on my hands I would love to go through the small claims route, but I will certainly give it some thought.

 

The reason I had asked for a Saturday visit is because I do travel a lot in my place of work and trying to arrange something Mon - Frid, is almost impossible, infact maybe I should just arrange for them to come and then call them to say I have been called out on an emergency and cant make it:wink: see how they like it, then if i do it enough times then maybe they will cancel the contract, problem solved.

 

Food for thought, thanks for replying guys much appreciated.