Posted by BustaC
Sat, 17 Dec 2005 23:41:00 GMT
Had an email today in response to my last one asking for the other info they hold on our complaint / claim. Not exactly the details I hoped for.
I may be wrong in my interpretation of the Data Protection Act but from what I can see, this would be classed as "personal information".
Anyway, here is the reply we got.
To Us
Dear Mr Jones
As you are aware I made no notes but my recollection of last Friday’s conversation, when I spoke to you from Steve Fanning’s office at Britannia’s head office in Croydon, was that we discussed the status of your claim you advised me that it had been sent to the insurers, to date I have received no correspondence from them but as promised will assist them in every way that I can in making a speedy settlement.
You insinuated that the cricket comment on the Britannia wrapping paper protecting your double bed mattress amounted to criminal damage (I know you notified Newhaven police, again I have heard nothing from them), and that it was the equivalent of sending a consignment to Germany saying “we won the war”, I disagreed with this comment.
You asked me to confirm that the quotation you received including unpacking and setting up and I confirmed that this was always the case unless specifically requested to port only or pavement only. We have since been advised that you declined the offer of unpacking, you asked me if I would consider compensating you I think you suggested a refund of all our charges and I declined.
You asked me for copies of all paperwork including internal office notes, correspondence between us and yourself and between ourselves and Britannia and any other 3rd parties. You stated that this was a legal requirement under the Data Protection Act. As you are aware I have taken advice and my understanding of the advice is that the Data Protect Act only refers to personal and confidential information, and therefore this type of correspondence is not covered.
The conversation then closed in a civilized manner with a promise that I would do all I could to assist you with a speedy settlement.
Yours sincerely
John Ballard
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Posted by BustaC
Wed, 14 Dec 2005 19:22:00 GMT
Monday and Tuesday passed, and we haven't had any faxes of the rest of the information they have on our case, so it's time for another email.
Here is the contents of it below
To Britannia Beckwith
Dear Simon,
Just to let you know I have not as yet received any of the information that I asked yourself and John Ballard to supply. Please
could this be dealt with as a matter of some urgency. I was assured by John Ballard on Friday that I would have this on
Monday or Tuesday along with any notes he could supply on the phone conversation we had that day. This would seem to be
yet another case of promises not fulfilled. As we've said before, any correspondance letting us know if things are talking longer
is a courtesy that costs nothing.
Also, we have faxed our claim through to the insurance company and have lodged the damage to the mattress and mattress bag with
Newhaven police.
Thanks in advance,
Ian Jones
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Posted by BustaC
Sun, 11 Dec 2005 23:39:00 GMT
Speaking to various people we found out that as the packaging was ours, we should notify the police that it had been vandalised.
We first of all went to the local police station here in Australia, but was told by them that as it most likely happened in the UK, that it should be reported there.
We have just done so and have been given a case number which we're handing over to the insurance company along with the details of our claim tomorrow.
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Posted by BustaC
Fri, 09 Dec 2005 22:30:00 GMT
We had another phonecall today, and asked again for all the information to do with our case to be faxed through. We were told by Simon Ballard at Britannia Beckwith that it would take him a while to compile, but we would have it with us on Monday or Tuesday.
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Posted by BustaC
Thu, 08 Dec 2005 23:57:00 GMT
After speaking to people at Britannia Beckwith I was told that under their terms and conditions they were not responsible for any damage that our goods received. Unfortunately we were not given a copy of this document (that we had to sign to get the removals process underway), so I asked them to fax it to me.
I also asked them under the Data Protection Act to send me any other information they hold on their systems (either paper or electronic) pertaining to us and our case. Instead of all the documentation that we asked for, we got just the terms and conditions.
Below is a link to them, so you can see for yourself.
Terms and Conditions
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Posted by BustaC
Wed, 07 Dec 2005 23:30:00 GMT
We finally manged to speak to the person who was supposed to be in charge of international shipping at Britannia, and after a long phone conversation we discover, that not only did this person not have any power to give us a refund / compensation, Britannia don't really have much in the way of control over it's child companies.
We also found out that there was no real point in them doing an investigation as they would be very unlikely to find anyone who would own up to any of the damage that happened to our goods.
So really, everything that has happened so far has been to stall us and try and make us 'give up'.
At least we really now know who it is we need to be speaking to (funnily enough the second person at Britannia Beckwith that we had any contact with)!
Our email to the MD of Britannia Beckwith
Dear Sirs,
Following a telephone conversation today with Steve Fanning at Britannia, we have been informed that we should be speaking to yourselves instead as Britannia has no real juristiction over Britannia Beckwith as far as:-
a, The investigation into the state of our goods when they were received,
b, The message written on the mattress bag and stain,
c, Compensation due to the points above.
He has also informed us, as did John Ballard, that an investigation would be futile as no-one would own up to the state of the goods, and even if they did,that the liability would be decided by the insurance company and not yourselves. So, why even bother with an investigation in the first place? If no-one will ever own up to what has happened to our goods.
This, therefore leaves us with a rather bitter taste in our mouths knowing that all we have been subjected to so far is 'stalling tactics'.
Although we realise that the insurance should cover returning of our goods to their original state, this by no way excuses the unprofessionalism and poor
service we have been exposed to while attempting to deal with this matter.
We were informed by Steve Fanning that the contract we signed agreeing to the handling of our goods by Britannia Beckwith states that you not
responsible for the state of the goods whilst in your care. We have no record of this contract and neither of us can recall ever signing or having brought
to our attention the said piece of paper.
As stated in previous emails, we expect a full refund not only for the services that we did not receive, but also to in some way make up for the heartache, and
time that we have had to spend trying find someone who can actually take responsibility for sorting out this debacle. Insurance would never be able to cover us
for any of this. Steve Fanning has told us that the only person that has the authority to do this is John Ballard.
Please for once, be wholly honest with us, and explain how this can move forward by phone tomorrow morning (your time) between 9am and 12pm.
We are aware that between the two of you, you have been cc'd into all email correspondance that has taken place, therefore we do not expect to be
'palmed off' with someone else again.
Yours sincerely
Mr & Mrs Jones
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Posted by BustaC
Wed, 07 Dec 2005 07:08:00 GMT
Today (after a phone conversation trying to get hold of one of the managers at Britannia), we received this email from one of the people in the Customer Relations department at Britannia, They were supposed to be confirming that their manager would be talking to us tomorrow to try and find out how their internal investigation was going. Instead we got this
To us
Dear Mrs Jones,
Further to our telephone conversation today, Mr Fanning would like me to confirm
that he will be speaking to our Australian agent, Chess Trans National, tomorrow
morning, as well as to our member Beckwiths today in order to address both your
complaints.
Yours sincerely,
Noelle Fleming
Our reply
Dear Ms Fleming,
Thank you for your email. As per the telephone conversation yesterday, it was actually that you were going to confirm that
Mr Fanning would be phoning us between 9am and 12pm today on [number removed] to tell us what the outcome of
the investigation was, so that we could complete the liability question on our insurance claim form.
Thanks in advance
Mrs Jean Jones
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Posted by BustaC
Mon, 05 Dec 2005 19:56:00 GMT
We have finally today received a claim form by email. This is a monumentous occassion as it's only taken since the 24th of November (this was the date we told Britannia Beckwith about the damage and gave picture evidence of it).
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Posted by BustaC
Wed, 30 Nov 2005 23:42:00 GMT
While this has been going on, we have actually been talking to them by phone, but as things haven't been done, people not phoning back etc, we started asking for everything to be copied into emails as well, so there was a chance to get some proof that people were doing what they should.
Today we got some more email, this time from Britannia who is Britannia Beckwith's parent company.
To us
Dear Mrs Jones,
Further to our telecon, I can confirm your details will be passed to Noelle
Fleming, who is our customer relations representative.
Noelle is currently dealing with your file, and she will be in contact with you
asap on either email or by calling [number removed]
Many thanks and kindest regards
Rachel
Our reply
Dear Rachel,
Thank you ever so much for your time and understanding. I have just spoken to the insurers and it appears that the details of our claim were never passed on. I have a confirmation email from John Ballard saying that this had been done. As you can appreciate from our telephone converstion and with this news from our insurers this only adds more heartache and unnecessary prolonging of this situation.
Warm regards
To us
Dear Mrs Jones,
Further to your recent messages, we are sorry to hear that you are dissatisfied
with our Australian agent.
I can confirm that our insurer was asked to send you a set of claim forms by
e-mail yesterday morning and that the attached file to your original e-mail was
passed on to them as well.
I can also confirm that I am waiting for a report from our Australian agent in
order to answer your complaint. The Manager of the Exports Department and I
chased them for an answer yesterday and will do so again today if nothing is
received. Please accept our apologies about the delay, out of our control.
Yours sincerely,
Noelle Fleming
Our reply
Dear Ms Fleming,
Thank you for your email explaining the stance of your company, but I unfortunately have to disagree with it.
Firstly, as stated in our original correspondence by email, it was not just the service that we have received and the state of our goods, but also the standard of packing used for certain items in our consignment. To further explain the situation, none of the hi-fi equipment that was packaged in boxes was wrapped in anything but paper. Some of these items have suffered scratching and denting caused by no other protection than corrugated cardboard, including two speakers that have received considerable damage from rubbing against items with metal casings. Another example is an amplifier which was placed in a box with the front panel facing downwards, and has such become damaged due to the internal components flexing. This would not have happened if the individual items had been not only handled with care, but packaged in a way that they deserve.
Secondly, the message that had been written on the mattress bag, whether it was directly attributed to a person within your company or it's contractors, cannot be called professional, nor something that can be ignored when considering what has happened to our belongings. I feel that this issue in particular has been swept under the carpet wherever possible, along with the possible urine stain on the mattress that was found when we received it.
Thirdly, we still have a garage and house that is full of packaging and damaged goods. These items should be removed by yourselves or your contractors as a matter of some urgency. They are a constant reminder to us of the abuse our belongings have received.
While I understand that your company's investigations take their time, we are still left in a situation where our treasured possessions are not in the state we last saw them in. I also understand from speaking to John Ballard that while you can't 'wave a magic wand and make it all disappear' and that 'this is a matter between us and the insurers' this does not exonerate your company and it's partners' negligence and unprofessionalism in this matter. While it is nice to know that people we have spoken to in your company feel that this is a terrible thing to happen, someone has to take responsibility for what has occurred, and as the people contracted to carry out this service, this responsibility lies squarely at the door of Britannia.
My husband and I have been deeply upset by the way that not only our possessions have been handled, and used as a public message system, but also in the way that we've been passed from person to person, hoping that someone might eventually tell us that this is indeed being dealt with in good hands. While there is a slim chance that our possessions may be repaired to their original working state, I have absolutely no doubt that they will not be returned to their original impeccable condition. We have worked very hard to buy the possessions that were shipped, and we have kept them in pristine condition. You cannot put a value on the damaged nest of tables, which were passed down in perfect condition, by my husband's grandmother. Insurance will never cover us for the heartache and distress this whole situation has caused. As such, we believe it is only right that we are at least refunded the �1878 paid to Britannia for the services that you must agree, have been left wanting.
Yours sincerely,
Jean Jones
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Posted by BustaC
Fri, 25 Nov 2005 23:14:00 GMT
Received an email reply from Britannia Beckwith.
Their email
Dear Mrs Jones
Further to our recent telephone conversation I have just spoken to Steve Fanning who is the General Manager of the International Division at Britannia Head Office and he has confirmed receipt of my e mail.
He in fact replied to Simon yesterday afternoon, but I had not looked at Simons e-mails prior to your phone call. He has confirmed that he has ordered his Export Manager to speak to Chess Trans National and ask them to give him a full report a soon as possible.
In the meantime he has informed our insurers of the claim, unfortunately the person who deals with this is absent today but they have been instructed to e-mail you on Monday with regard to the procedures that need to be followed.
I am sorry that Simon did not phone you as promised first thing this morning but he has not been in due to circumstances beyond his control.
We are obviously devastated by the severity and the amount of damage your consignment received and I add my apologies to those already given to you by Simon.
We of course will give the insurers and Britannia staff every assistance we can in arriving at a speedy settlement of the claim. I will contact you when I have some more information to impart.
Yours sincerely
John Ballard
Our reply
Dear Mr Ballard,
Thank you ever so much for your swift reply.
Please be assured that we have been happy with the service we received from Britannia Beckwith whilst in the UK.
Thank you again for your time and understanding in this matter.
Warm regards,
Mrs Jean Jones
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