I spent my morning writing this letter of complaint to my phone insurance company:
To Whom It May Concern,
Your Reference: Policy Number *********
Firstly, allow me to express that I loathe writing letters of complaint; however I simply could not let this situation pass without expressing my irritation at the situation CPP has placed me in.
I have been with your company for the purposes of phone insurance since my contract renewal. The reason I chose to take out a policy with CPP was on T Mobiles recommendation. I have been a long term customer with T Mobile, and I have never had a single issue with their service, and thus I deemed that if they were happy to recommend you, then I was happy to take out a policy.
At this point I feel it fair to point out that there are many companies that provide phone insurance as I am sure you are aware. Many of these companies are significantly cheaper than CPP on a monthly cost basis, as well as offering a 48 hour replacement phone service.
I would also like to make you aware that I require my mobile phone to complete my job successfully. I am a mobile IT Technician, and thus people call me via mobile telephone when they have issues. The loss of my mobile phone will inevitably result in a loss of business, and therefore money for me.
On Saturday the 12th March 2011 at around 16:45, my Samsung Galaxy S i9000 was lost in Weston-Super-Mare in Somerset. As you are well aware, the loss of a phone is an extremely annoying event, however I diligently searched the arcade I was in, as well as asking the management if the phone had been handed in. I was unable to find the phone, and it had not been handed in.
On my return to my home, I called T Mobile and reported the phone lost. I also tried to call your offices however they were closed. This happened at around 18:00 PM.
At this point I called the Police station in Weston-Super-Mare to find out if the phone had been handed in, and they confirmed to me that it hadnt been. They advised me to log the event on their website, which I then proceeded to do.
I used your website on Sunday the 13th March 2011 to report the loss using your online system.
I heard nothing from CPP on the morning of Monday 14th March, so I was forced to call and wait in a queue to speak to an advisor. I spoke to a very helpful lady, who took more information, and the informed me that I would need to provide proof of identification before the claim could process. As I expressed how urgent a replacement phone was needed, she assured me that as soon as they had those documents, that the claim would be reviewed. I also advised her that CPP would need to contact me via a work telephone number.
Whilst this was mildly perplexing as to why the proof of ID was needed, I agreed and scanned and emailed directly a copy of my driving licence and 2009-2010 P60 form to your offices within 10 minutes of the phone call.
I heard nothing from CPP for the remainder of the Monday, and again nothing on the Tuesday (15th March). By the morning of Wednesday 16th March I was beginning to lose my patience so I called your team at around lunchtime. The lady I spoke to informed me that the documents had been received, however nothing had been done with them. She offered to find out what was happening, however as I was pressed for time, I requested that she email me any updates to the email address on file. That was an email I never received.
A further call on Friday 18th March took place, and I was informed that your team had called my home and left a message on the answering machine, clearly having ignored specific instructions to call me on my office telephone number. That aside, the claim had been accepted and CPP were now able to issue me a replacement phone, much to my (brief) delight.
Having paid the excess charge, and confirmed address for shipping, the man on the phone advised me that CPP would not be able to send a phone on Friday 18th March, however one would be sent Monday 21st March for delivery on Tuesday 22nd. Questioning delivery, I was assured that it would arrive on the 22nd. Aware that there was nothing that could be done, I resigned myself to the fact that I would be without a telephone until the 22nd.
You will note that this email has been sent on the 23rd March 2011. Here is the reason.
Having waited at my office all day on the 22nd of March, waiting for a phone to be delivered, there wasnt a phone to be seen. Understandably irritated at having wasted an entire day and losing around £*** in earnings, I called your team again at around 16:45 to find out what had happened.
I think it is fair to commend the professionalism from the member of your team that dealt with me yesterday, as I was at the very least a difficult customer to handle. After having the reasons for delayed delivery explained, and my request for a tracking number, the member of your team phoned the distribution company.
After being on hold, the man advised me that a replacement phone had not been shipped on Monday 21st as expected, as a large delivery had gone to Scotland, and that my replacement handset would not be shipped out until the 23rd March for delivery on the 24th or 25th of March.
Frankly, this level of service is unacceptable. As I have previously stated there are companies providing handset insurance who offer a 48 hour replacement phone. Your service has been 227 hours to this point and will continue to count upwards at least another 24 hours, possibly more before I receive a replacement. Had the replacement phone been here within a reasonable 96 working hours, I would have lost around £**** in revenue. However, due to your biblically slow responses I will have lost at least £**** in revenue.
Further to this, your claims team is not only slow at handling and processing requests, but also seem to outright ignore requests directly from customers. I requested to be emailed, as well as giving a number to be called on, neither of which happened.
At this point I think it fair to bring to your attention the reviews that your company have been getting from a consumer point of view. As I currently have more time on my hands than I would like, due to not being able to take any calls, I decided to see what other customers have thought of your service. I would highly recommend you review the hyperlinked page, and have a serious rethink about your customer service strategy.
Phonesafe CPP www.cpp.co.uk Reviews at Review Centre.
I will also be sending this via post to Customer Service Department at T Mobile, as I feel it is only fair to make them aware of the problems with the service that they are recommending to their customers.
I feel that, for the above mentioned reasons, I am deserving of a refund of the £30 excess charged. I feel that this is generous on my behalf, bearing in mind the amount of revenue that has been lost.
I look forward to your response.
Yours Sincerely,
Alex Wellings