Arguing the toss with Multinational Companies R Us!
Well I'm back in fighting form! I have had many frustrating phone calls with A Very Well Known Company, where John and I each had a 6 year ISA bond, that we took out 4 years ago. It promised the earth, and so we invested £5000 each.
When John died, I advised them by phone, the Death Certificate was sent and I was told I'd hear from them in a week. Two weeks later I phoned and they denied receipt of the certificate, though they had returned it with a covering letter!
Several other c*ck-ups occurred, and it was evident the left hand had no idea what the right hand was doing. I sent the Grant of Probate, and had been told on the telephone that the monies would be paid into my bank account "immediately".
I then received a statement, addressed to John, dated February! As my funds weren't forthcoming, and realising I was getting nowhere with the people I was communicating with, I decided to send an email to the CEO, attaching all the letters I had sent, and detailing all the problems.
I also said that I was sorry that the company was in such a dire financial position that they felt it necessary to utilise John's funds to keep the company solvent, as that could be the only reason they were loathe to part with £5,000.
Not even an acknowledgement! So the following day I sent a copy email to every Board member.
The next day, I received an reply from the CEO's assistant, saying that the "UK office have been notified to deal with this as a matter of urgency". I'd sent my email to the head of "***
International".
And, funnily enough, I had a phone call yesterday from the UK office, apologising for everything, and saying the money would show up in my Bank Account on Monday.
So I've thanked the CEO's assistant, but asked why, when every document had my late
husband's Client number on it, they still sent post to him. And I added that I would be more than happy to help them organise their files so that such things didn't happen again. I also said that
some companies didn't insist on waiting for the Grant of Probate if the sum involved was under £25K.
I enjoyed doing all those emails.