Don’t underestimate consumer power
March 14th, 2007I blogged earlier about the outrageous invoice from ADT Fire and Security for carrying out work on the burglar alarm in our house (ten-fifteen minutes’ work and a few pounds’ worth of parts). I’m pleased to report that persistence pays off.
| £170 | ADT Fire and Security tradesman leaves the house and leaves an Activity Report stating a price for the job of £170 |
| £115 | I fire off a fax of complaint to ADT Fire and Security. ADT Fire and Security apologise for mispricing the job and issue a new invoice |
| £90 | I fire off a further two faxes to ADT Fire and Security. After two weeks I manage to speak to a real person in authority at ADT Fire and Security. He tells me the rate in our contract is the £70 for first 30 minutes plus £25 for every subsequent half hour. I tell him it was 10-15 minutes’ work. He offers to reduce the bill. |
| £70 | I then query the £20 charge for a few pounds’ worth of materials. He tells me it is ADT Fire and Security‘s list price as they have to charge a markup. I point out that it’s one heck of a markup on generic parts you can buy anywhere for a couple of pounds. He offers to reduce the bill again, and I accept his offer. |
So, customers of ADT Fire and Security (and any other suppliers who try and exploit captive customers) – challenge outrageous bills. The last thing companies like ADT Fire and Security want is to see their company name plastered all over the web for trying to rip-off customers.
December 3rd, 2007 at 2:56 pm
I can empathise having just been thru the same issues – my experience of ADTs customer service has been absolutely woeful – just as a note (and to show that I haven’t totally lost my sense of humor yet), I Googled ADT and found an article that indicates that ADT is a “frontal lobal shutdown…they guide the organisation and prioritisation of information and ideas, decision-making and planning, time-management and various other demanding, uniquely human tasks.”….how very, very appropriate
December 14th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
Hmmm, they really are acting like a greedy monopoly. I’ve just had a letter that now lists their Standard Service Level fees as £90 for the first 30 minutes and £35 for each 30 minutes after that. Absolute rip off.
October 26th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Why does eveyone expect things to be cheap? I am an engineer and often get called out to clients houses. I may only be on site for 20 mins, but it took an hour to get there, and another to get home, several litres of fuel, the van and tools,the 24 hour telephone service.
Would you expect to earn less than £10 an hour on a Sunday callout? –
work it out:
3 hours £10
+ Tax & NI + Employers NI
Fuel for van
Call centre costs
tools, van, etc.
and a bit of profit – after all, – NO company does it for cost.
Then VAT, and I think £90 is about right!