Privilege - the Turning Point

A man from Privilege customer relations rang me yesterday to tell me they are going to upgrade my level of cover and refund me the £70 I was charged for mileage. Funny how a small gesture can be so disarming. I must admit to feeling a warm sense of victory spread across my entire body.

Unfortunately for them it was a little too late. A woman from the Trading Standards Authority called a few hours earlier, in reply to an email I had sent them outlining my case, saying they may make a criminal investigation.

And Privilege having basically just admitted to me they have been "accidently" misleading customers for several years, you'd think they'd be up Shister's Creek without a fake ID. But I bet they wriggle out of it.

Also, went to an NPA seminar on funding and contracts last night. It was good and now I know how to produce a movie. Don't know what all the fuss is about.

Privilege Part 2

Yesterday, the way my complaint was handled by Privilege was so absurd and infuriating, I ended up spending 3 or more hours on the phone, instead of doing the writing I had planned. They insisted the "No charges" statement was part of a "summary" and shouldn't be taken at face value.

So I rang their sales department, and inquired about the Rescue level cover, acting as if I was a new customer. I asked the salesman "So there would be no charges for mileage, no matter where in the UK I broke down?"

This was the perfect opportunity for the salesman to explain the "10 mile radius from my destination" clause. But, strangely, he didn't mention it. He was happy to reassure me there would be no extra charge.

Until I reveal, "Well, actually, that's a lie. I broke down on Saturday and was charged for the extra 9 miles to my home, plus 40 miles for the truck to get back to base."

Suddenly, the salesman was fumbling for words and backtracking. "I just need to talk to someone about this..." When he returns to inform me that (as if I didn't know) there was indeed a charge, I press my case that customers are being deliberately mislead.

"Do you want to make a complaint?"

So I find myself talking to another stroppy Scottish automaton-bitch, who says they've been through this over and over already and they're not going to change their position. Eventually, I get passed up a level to a manager. He is slightly less moronic, but continues to insist there's nothing wrong, and that the salesman I spoke to would need "retraining".

I point out that three parts of their sales strategy, the website, the "Welcome" booklet and one of their salesmen, have informed me, in no uncertain terms, "There are no charges for mileage." How can I interpret that in any other way? It's not an ambiguous statement.

Surely he had to admit it looked like they were deliberately misleading customers to increase their sales.

It's only when I tell him "Look, I don't want my money back." that he suddenly changes his stance. "Well, yes, I can see how that could be taken the wrong way. I'll talk to head office."

Jesus...

"I want To Complain..."

So I check the Privilege website and find that it states "No mileage or callout charges". Well, that is clearly and blatantly a lie. So I call the Privilege complaints line. I explain that I had to pay over £70 to have my vehicle towed back to my house, because I was outside a ten mile recovery zone, even though their website states clearly there are no mileage charges. The man decides he's not qualified to deal with it, and leaves me listening to Sinatra.

"Moon River" and "What Now My Love?" pass. I call again. I talk to a woman who tries to convince me there are two levels of Rescue, and I'm only level 1. I explain that the website doesn't mention levels and merely states I would not be charged for mileage. She says I need to talk to Green Flag, who are the people who provide the rescue service, and ask me to hold while she connects me.

I'm halfway through "Strangers In The Night" and, although it's one of my favourite Sinatra tracks, I decide I've had enough being put on hold. I call again. I get another woman. I go through all the details again. She says she nees to talk to someone else about it, meanwhile I'm left with "Summer Wind".

I call again and get another bloke. I've called three times previously, I explain, and keep getting put on hold.

"What's your policy number?"
"I've just been through this three times."
"Policy holder name?"

We go through the whole thing again.

"Someone is in your file and I can't access it."
"Yes, I just spoke to someone. But I keep getting left on hold for ten minutes."
"I'll have to put you on hold while I find out who's in your file."

"I Did It My Way" insists Frank.

"In the policy booklet it states Rescue covers you for the first ten miles and there may be an extra charge for any mileage travelled after that." I'm talking to the woman again.
"But on your website it says no charge. That is plainly not true."
"I admit that if it says that on the website that is incorrect, but in your policy booklet..."

She logs my complaint but says I have to take it up with Green Flag. I insist I speak to someone at Privilege who can answer my complaints, because as I see it, Privilege are misleading customers with their statement, "No mileage charges".

I'm eventually allowed to speak to a supervisor. She insist that "In the booklet..."
"I don't care about the booklet. The fact is your website states there's no mileage charge and that's clearly a lie or a mistake."
I listen to Frank while she works out how to navigate the Pivilege website.

"This is just a summary of the what you get. If you want the full details the booklet..."
"No, it's not that there's some information missing. It's that there is a clear statement about what I'm going to get if I purchase this product, which is clearly false."
"It says we will tow you to a nearby garage, which indicates for there to be no mileage charge you must be within a ten mile limit."
"It doesn't say anything about a a ten mile limit. What if a nearby garage was 11 miles away? Would there still be no charge?"
"Any mileage over the 10 miles is not covered..."

It's like talking to a computer.

"But your employees have agreed with me that this statement is misleading."
"That's a training issue between us and our staff."

So Privilege don't care about their customers. They don't care if they've mislead you. As far as they're concerned, the customer is always wrong.

Not Much Of A Privilege

Yesterday we went back to Burnham Beeches with two of the actors to shoot a couple of shots needed to clarify the plot. In our testing of Callback, audiences have found themsleves confused about who gets run over at the end.

Everything went well, apart from my car misbehaving a little, and we had everything we needed in about 2 hours. As she lives near me, the actress decided to get a ride back in my car, a decision she was shortly to regret as the car conked out somewhere on the A40, with smoke pouring out from under the bonnet.

But it was OK, as I have a rescue service as part of my insurance with Privilege. So I called the 0800 number. First we have an argument about the address. I give the Priviledge woman my address - no, that's not the address we have. I give my old address - that's not it either. I started to panic - what the hell? Then I remember - it's S's parents' address. Then I have to give this woman some idea of where I am on the A40, but I have no idea. I panic again, until I spot a road sign in the distance. I tell M to get back in the car to keep warm and sprint off down the A40.

It's along way. A kind couple pull over and tell me I'm near Northolt. It's turns out I'm not, but at least I have something to tell the rescue service. An hour and half later, they turn up. But now there's an issue over what I'm covered for. Turns out this rescue service I've payed for gives me 10 free miles. It's 19 miles from the A40 to home, and they also have to include the distance from their base. So it comes to about 62 miles. And I'm paying for 52 of them, which comes to about £70.

The world is full of people trying to scam you out of your hard earned cash, and it doesn't matter if it's some Nigerian doing the old "We have 5 thousand million billion $ in a bank account and you can have 10%..." or a "reputable" insursance company like Priviledge.