This piece first appeared in the money section of the Saga website on 1 January 2014
The text here may not be identical to the published text

 

How to make sure you complain to the right people

By Paul Lewis , Monday 30 December 2013

If there’s been a common theme in this column during 2013 it has been ‘complain’. And the more the year passed the more I realised that although the principles of complaining were always the same, the details for each firm and each sector – telecoms, finance, retail, and so on – were all different.

So I was delighted before Christmas to meet James Walker the creator of a new website called www.resolver.co.uk which automates the process of making complaints and helps you through all the fiddly bits that can be tricky for an individual to navigate. The service is free but you have to join and give your email and other details – Resolver promises not to pass these on to anyone without your permission. It makes its money by telling firms what is being complained about and what annoys customers – all data is kept anonymous. 

Resolver takes you through the steps you need to make an effective complaint. First, what are your rights? Some things cannot be rectified even though they were very annoying. Second, what went wrong and what would action would you like? Fill in the details and Resolver will draft a letter of complaint to the right person at the correct address. You can even click on a variety of smiley faces tell the software how annoyed you feel – and it will tailor the language to suit! 

You click a button to email the complaint to the right person. When you get a response Resolver will tell you and advise what to do next. That could be escalating the complaint up the management hierarchy. If that does not work then Resolver will tell you if there is an Ombudsman or dispute resolution service that you can complain to. Ultimately it may advise taking court action – though it won’t directly help you through that. 

At all stages Resolver keeps copies of your complaint and any response preserving a timeline of documents for you. Very soon an app will be available so you can telephone the firm from your smartphone and Resolver will record the conversation and store that alongside all the other case documents. 

Some of the top complaints people make through Resolver include late flights, broadband not working, holiday not as expected, energy bill wrong, insurance premiums too high, or a gym has refused to let you leave your contract. 

At the moment Resolver handles complaints to energy and water providers, travel companies, telecoms and broadband suppliers, some finance firms, leisure services, call out support, and some retailers. It covers more than 1000 firms and others are being added all the time. In future it may be extended to include complaints about Government services. 

Resolver is new and I would be very interested to hear of experiences about how well – or not – it works. Leave a comment beneath this article or email me at paul@paullewis.co.uk  

And resolve to make that complaint in 2014.

 


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