How to complain about financial products and services

So much can and does go wrong when you’re dealing with a financial institution! This post will signpost you to various posts on The Complaining Cow blog which will help with most bank/credit card and insurance problems.

The Financial Services Regulations 2004

Financial products are covered by the Consumer Rights Directive 2013. These regulations cover the sale of most financial services that take place at a distance (such as online), directly,or through an intermediary such as an insurance broker. Generally, you have 14 days to cancel starting from the day of purchase. There are some products where you don’t have the right to cancel, e.g. where the price of the service depends on fluctuations in the financial markets.

For pension products, you get 30 days from when you enter into the contract, and for life insurance you have 30 days from when you’re told that the provider has agreed to accept you for cover. f you decide to cancel, you should receive the payment within 30 days of the date that you notify the company.

How to complain about insurance

How to save money on your car insurance tips for saving money before you take out any insurance

Do Morethan just comparison websites for insurance quotes! case study describing how you can come unstuck if you don’t do your full research when purchasing insurance

Warning about insurance procedures how to complain when an insurer doesn’t want to pay out

Banks and credit cards

How to increase a bank’s offer of redress case study where first offer of redress from bank was increased

Who else wants to get back those bank charges? how and when you can get back bank charges

How to ensure banks don’t break the Misrepresentation Act 1967 case study being wrongly charged commission for travel money

A guide to credit and debit cards and the Consumer Credit Act 1974 how you can get money back for goods and services from your bank or credit card company

VISA outage – what you need to know covers what you need to know if your credit card provider’s system goes down

Using finance to purchase items

Everything you need to know about financing your car purchase the different ways of financing your car and what to do if you encounter problems

Taking things further

Why use the Financial Ombudsman? a guest post from a lead ombudsman on how, when and why to use the Financial Ombudsman

Gift cards

Looking a Gift Card in the mouth? all you need to know about your rights regarding gift cards

Looking a Gift Card in the Mouth

Payday loans

Everything you need to know about Payday loans guest post regarding information about your rights regarding loans

Bright ideas for complaining about Brighthouse (& avoiding them in the first place!) refunds and rights regarding Brighthouse

More effective complaining resources

Why you should write not ‘phone to complain effectively the importance of writing not phoning when complaining

5 top tips for complaining effectively

For more help on complaining effectively see Top 20 Tips How to Complain!

Want to act now without waiting? Purchase downloadable templates to gain redress

For masses of information, tips, guidance, laws and regulations and templates GET THE BOOK! How To Complain: The ESSENTIAL Consumer Guide to Getting REFUNDS, Redress and RESULTS!

Want to get better at complaining? See 101 Habits of an Effective Complainer

The Complaining Cow doesn’t sit around when solving a recliner sofa problem

Lorraine’s complaint against DFS

In November last year Lorraine bought two recliner sofas from DFS. When they arrived she discovered that one of the recliners didn’t work, the sofas moved and separated and didn’t match. One recliner tipped right over while people were on it. It did it again when her grandson was on it and when her friend’s large dog jumped up onto it too!

Lorraine contacted DFS on the day of delivery regarding the broken recliner. She was told that it could take up to 8-12 weeks for a replacement if the broken one couldn’t be fixed.

Days later she called again about the dangerous tipping of the other sofa and asked for it to be removed. DFS refused to do this. Oddly she was told that the movement was normal and that once reclined you weren’t supposed to move! Not moving when sitting down? Really? In any case, in addition to this absurdity she had been told in store that it was safe for the children if they climbed on it, even when in the reclined position. Lorraine said that DFS staff “didn’t seem bothered that it had tipped with people in it”.

Continuing complaint against DFS

Over the next few days she spoke to a number of people from DFS. She dealt with different people from various departments as she was sent from pillar to post. One of the reasons I always advocate writing not phoning is to avoid this situation. It also ensures that you have your evidence trail. Eventually she spoke to the manager of the store who, when she asked for a refund, told her “that’s not going to happen”. She explained about all the problems with the sofas, in particular the issues with children’s arms getting trapped. The photos and even a video showing the tipping were still not enough to get a refund, according to DFS.

DFS said they would send out a representative to come out assess the sofa.

Then Lorraine got in touch with me….

The Complaining Cow resolves DFS customer complaint

Lorraine had already agreed that DFS could inspect the sofas the following day. So I advised her to write, stating that she reserved her rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. (CRA). The CRA states that if the item is not of satisfactory quality that the customer is entitled to a full refund up to 30 days from point of purchase. Having reported one issue on the day of delivery and another days later, she was entitled to a full refund on both. If you reserve your rights it means that you can still claim a full refund at a later point if the matter is not resolved to your satisfaction.

In the meantime… I advised Lorraine to write to the CEO. (Find contact details for CEOs at ceoemail.com) And refer to the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and her right to reject the goods for a full refund. I also advised threatening to take the matter to the Furniture and Home Improvement Ombudsman. It costs companies to be a member and for each case to go to an Ombudsman so it is in their interests to resolve issues to avoid Ombudsman involvement. The company needs to be a member of the scheme and DFS is a member.

DFS complaint resolved to the full satisfaction of the customer

Within 24 hours, the head of DFS Group Customer Services telephoned. He apologised most profusely and confirmed her sofas would be collected. Lorraine received a full refund of £2,225.

More help for complaining effectively about furniture.

Rip Off Britain talking getting redress with independent reports and ombudsmen

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