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SAYNOTO0870.COM › Main Forum › Geographical Numbers Chat › CAHOOT 0844

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CAHOOT 0844 (Read 54,925 times)

Heinz

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Essex

Re: CAHOOT 0844
Reply #15 - May 11^th, 2006 at 11:31am

Tanllan wrote on May 11^th, 2006 at 10:20am:

derrick wrote on May 10^th, 2006 at 9:20pm:

bendipa wrote on May 10^th, 2006 at 8:45pm:

On the few occasions I have had to ring Cahoot, I've always used the geographical number 02476 627190 without any problem.

Yes that is the number I ring, but as you say, they do try to con people and I thought it wise to let others know

Ah, would that be 024 7662 7190? Wink

When I say things like that I'm called a pedant. Shocked

After years of ignoring govt. guidelines & RIPPING OFF Council Tax payers using 0845 numbers, Essex County Council changed to 0345 numbers on 2 November 2015

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derrick

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Re: CAHOOT 0844
Reply #16 - May 11^th, 2006 at 1:48pm

bbb_uk wrote on May 10^th, 2006 at 3:53pm:

Derrick,

Do you think its worth you emailing back this David Freeman now that you've got a more normal response and pointing him to the ASA decision on 08x/087x numbers in that they should be clearly indicated in all marketing/advertising materials, etc?

The relevant ASA links are Hanging on the telephone and Advertising 084x and 087x numbers.

I did send a message yesterday with those links and informing them they were breaking the Consumer Protection Act 1987 (part III), I have now received the following from them:-

Dear Mr,

Thank you for your recent e-mail.

I do appreciate your sentiments regarding the price indications and can assure you that this message was sent to our customers as a result of genuine human error. We've rectified this by posting the following message to all our customer's personal homepage:

"We now have a new customer phone number 0844 9000 900 to replace 0870 6000 655. We would like to clarify the cost of calling this number is four pence a minute at all times. If you have any further queries please click on 'contact us' above or give us a call!"

We're sorry for the error we've made and for any inconvenience this has caused.

Yours sincerely,

David Freeman,
cahoot Service Relationship Manager

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bendipa

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Re: CAHOOT 0844
Reply #17 - May 11^th, 2006 at 10:41pm

derrick wrote on May 10^th, 2006 at 9:20pm:

bendipa wrote on May 10^th, 2006 at 8:45pm:

On the few occasions I have had to ring Cahoot, I've always used the geographical number 02476 627190 without any problem.

Yes that is the number I ring, but as you say, they do try to con people and I thought it wise to let others know

They and all the other banks, I'm afraid. The trouble is none of these organisations give a rat's @rse that you know or object to their misleading adverts or announcements. Whatever, I've come to realise over time that it's not worth the sweat complaining any more, since nothing will ever get done about it. Even if a bank seriously rips off a customer who then complains to the financial ombudsman, you will just be fobbed off. The whole complaints procedure is pure farce. The only time the fo ever take you seriously is when the media pick up on a story, eg it gets featured on BBC Watchdog.

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derrick

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Re: CAHOOT 0844
Reply #18 - May 12^th, 2006 at 8:45am

kk wrote on May 7^th, 2006 at 7:36pm:

Make a complaint to the Banking Code Standards Board of a "Deliberate misrepresentation to a customer"

As I said,I did complain to the BCSB and today received a reply, not much use though:-

"Thank you for your email. The BCSB is an independent body that polices the Banking Code and the Business Banking Code. We do not investigate individual complaints against banks and building societies, because that is the role of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The BCSB Helpline can only advise on your rights under the Banking Codes, and cannot give legal advice.

I can't give you legal advice on whether cahoot has broken the law in respect of its email. The BCSB is not a law enforcer. I have passed the details of your complaint to our Head of Code Compliance Monitoring so that he is aware of the matter, and thank you for bringing this to our attention.

If you want to make a complaint to the bank under its internal complaints procedure, the procedure is as follows:

You should complain first to the bank itself. They will give you a copy of their complaints procedure. This sets out the legal timescale they are required to follow in dealing with your complaint. Your complaint should be made in writing, to their designated complaints department.

After they have looked into your complaint, they will write to tell you of the outcome of their investigation. They will also tell you about your right to bring your complaint to the FOS if you are still not happy.

The FOS helps settle disputes between individuals or small businesses and financial organisations. If a settlement cannot be agreed, they decide who is right. The service is free to consumers and its decisions are binding on financial organisations. FOS can make awards of up to £100,000. You can find their contact details on their website at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk <http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/> ; The FOS takes account of the Banking Codes in making its decisions.

I hope that you are able to resolve your complaint.

Regards,

Jane McCue

Helpdesk Manager"

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Heinz

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Re: CAHOOT 0844
Reply #19 - May 12^th, 2006 at 10:07am

I received a cut and paste variation of that 'fob off' reply from her too:

Quote:

Thank you for your email. The BCSB is an independent body that polices the Banking Code and the Business Banking Code. We do not investigate individual complaints against banks and building societies, because that is the role of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The BCSB Helpline can only advise on your rights under the Banking Codes, and cannot give legal advice.

I have passed the information that you have supplied to our Head of Compliance Monitoring, for his information. I note from your email that you have checked the position with the ASA.

If you want to make a complaint to the bank, the procedure is as follows:

You should ask the bank for a copy of its complaints procedure. This sets out the legal timescale they are required to follow in dealing with your complaint. Your complaint should be made in writing, to their designated complaints department.

After they have looked into your complaint, they will write to tell you of the outcome of their investigation. They will also tell you about your right to bring your complaint to the FOS if you are still not happy.

The FOS helps settle disputes between individuals or small businesses and financial organisations. If a settlement cannot be agreed, they decide who is right. The service is free to consumers and its decisions are binding on financial organisations. FOS can make awards of up to £100,000. You can find their contact details on their website at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk <http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/> ; The FOS takes account of the Banking Codes in making its decisions.

The BCSB is always pleased to hear from customers where there has been a serious breach of the Codes. Customers who let us know about serious Code breaches provide useful intelligence and may help us to correct a problem before it becomes more widespread.

But most individual problems are usually best dealt with via the firm’s own complaints procedure and if necessary the FOS. The BCSB cannot generally take action just because you have received poor service, nor can we become involved in matters that are going through the courts or where another regulator is involved.

A serious breach of the Codes is likely to be one that has affected other customers, has been systematic, has continued for a long time or is suspected of having been deliberate.

We keep a record of all complaints that are notified to us. We will take note of any useful intelligence regarding the operation of the Codes disclosed in your email, and if there is, in our view, evidence of a serious breach of either Code, we may write to you again for more information.

I hope that you are able to resolve your complaint.

Regards,

Jane McCue

Helpdesk Manager

« Last Edit: May 12^th, 2006 at 10:09am by Heinz »

After years of ignoring govt. guidelines & RIPPING OFF Council Tax payers using 0845 numbers, Essex County Council changed to 0345 numbers on 2 November 2015

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Re: CAHOOT 0844
Reply #20 - May 15^th, 2006 at 6:49pm

It does look like the Banking Code Standards Board may not be the organisation to complain to, but having said that, it appears that if sufficient complaints are made on a topic then the Banking Code itself may well be modified. So after all, it may not be a bad idea to complain to them [ helpline@bcsb.org.uk ].

Complaining about a bank using an 0844 900 xx number and passing it off as a local number, has its complexity.

Normally if a customer has a complaint against a bank, they first complain direct to the bank. It is advisable to head correspondence with the words “complaint” and ask them to start the “complaints procedure”. If unsatisfied with the outcome, a customer can complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service (020 7964 1000), who will investigate. I am informed by them that a customer has to suffer a financial loss, otherwise they can do nothing.

If you have a complaint about the conduct of a bank (or other financial body) you can complain direct to the Financial Services Authority (www.fsa.gov.uk), who I understand, do not correspond on the matter, but do have very wide powers against financial institutions and can inspect all manner of documents (not only yours). They can fine them quite large amounts and are the most powerful body to which a complaint can be made.

Using an 0844 900 xxx telephone number and passing it of as a low cost “local number” is serious as it can generate substantial revenue for the bank at the expense of customer who are mislead as to the true cost of telephoning the number. This is especially so when telephoning from a public telephone box, as 0844 900 xxx numbers are more expensive than even the expensive 0870 or 0845 numbers and cost 10p for every 45 seconds of call time. As a customer you can complain that you would be unable to telephone your bank from outside the UK using an 0844 900 xxx telephone number.

I would send a complaint to all three of the organisations mentioned above.

« Last Edit: May 15^th, 2006 at 6:52pm by kk »

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Heinz

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Re: CAHOOT 0844
Reply #21 - May 15^th, 2006 at 7:23pm

I received a grovelling telephone call apologising for the 'error' and for the subsequent 'error' by the member of staff misquoting the cost of calling.

I'm not bothering to do any more complaining though because, when I questioned the groveller about the cost of calls to 0870 numbers at evening and weekends compared with 0844 numbers, SHE DIDN'T KNOW!

Naturally, I told her, describing the introduction of the 0844 number as a devious New Labour-style stealth tax which would result in closure of my account and removal of all my money. I am sure it'll be small potatoes to them but it'll make me feel better.

« Last Edit: May 15^th, 2006 at 7:24pm by Heinz »

After years of ignoring govt. guidelines & RIPPING OFF Council Tax payers using 0845 numbers, Essex County Council changed to 0345 numbers on 2 November 2015

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