Companies I will forever avoid.

[Listeningtogold]

Dealing with my mums death and all the extra work. Plus now probate.

BRITISH GAS enough said. Have spoken to at least 8 people to finalise the account.

HALIFAX branch and bereavement line. Asked in branch what to do one lovely lady told one thing to do after I had the death certificate, took it in branch and a horrid b*tch told me in a polite way to go away.
Bereavement line told me I MUST open an executors account, so I made an appointment and when I turned up was told no you can't do that until you have probate. Then tried to get me to open a deposit account but to do that I would need to jump not only through hoops but bend over backwards whilst I did.

PARK HOMES this is the owner of the nursing home she was in for 10 days.
Want to charge £2500 even though there is no charge as mum was sent there from hospital. I have a solicitor who is dealing with probate and they are giving her the runaround. Finally today they are now admitting they have got it wrong and there is no charge (3 months) Pity head office staff are not as nice as the staff in the home.

PRUDENTIAL mum had an annuity which had a death benifit. They told the solicitor there is no payment due. Again 3 months later after a few letters back and forth and the threat of reporting to the ombudsman it's been resolved.
They have admitted that they read the small print wrong.

At the time of a loved ones death you certainly don't need hurdles in your way.
Thank goodness I have a solicitor as I'm sure if I was dealing with it myself nothing would be resolved.

I had financial and health POA. Of course they stop on death.
Estate is quite complex so that's why I've got a solicitor involved.

Halifax were so difficult for MIL too! She gave up in the end - they told her that she wasn't able to close the joint account without both signatories. She asked how best to get his signature since FIL has been cremated? No common sense with some companies.

Agree that these things are needlessly difficult at an already awful time. I'm sorry for your loss OP

When you say there is no charge because she was discharged into the home do you mean she met the financial eligibility criteria or was she there for a rehab bed with the intention of her moving back home?

It was a rehab bed. The health authority were supposed to do a financial assessment on the Tuesday but mum died on the Sunday before.

If you are discharged from hospital to a home until the HA do a financial assessment there is no charge this can take upto 6 weeks. This is because it's like being in hospital but as they need the beds the patient is sent to a rehab home.

I have it in writing from the hospital and the HA there would be no charge.
Which Park Homes have a copy of and the HA wrote to them as well.

Nationwide Building Society Bereavement Services…ditto as above.

Mark Warner Holidays - previously travelled loyally with them for around 30 years.
But the truly shocking way they treated customers during covid was unforgivable.
I’m now spending (lots and lots) of money and months and months of holidays - with their competitors.

e-on energy. I was sexually assaulted by their meter-reading employee. They sent out company representatives in suits to just basically discredit my version of events. Also offered a round-table meeting with said criminal to "hear his version of what happened".
As a company they were more interested in making it all go away and to avoid being sued, than actually caring about the safety of their customers.

I let our solicitor deal with it all, he said "you're paying me, why have a dog and bark yourself "so I let him get on with it. Saved me a bit of hassle.

@JackieQueen im so glad I have a lovely solicitor.

I hope it goes smoothy for you, its very stressful when you have so many things to think about 💐

British Gas. Fuckwits

God that awful

@QueenCamilla That’s awful, I’m sorry that happened 🙁

I was very fortunate when Dad died, Santander were amazingly helpful and the utility companies. He was diagnosed with cancer and died within months so we had no time for POA or anything else.

The worst hassle was with the undertaker and I've still not had a bill since burying his ashes in June...... I'm not chasing them for it as frankly they were so disorganised it was like something out of a 1970s comedy show.

When my DM died Halifax were shocking. They were insensitive and rude.

Eon lost me as a customer when I last moved because they refused to give me a final bill.

Made (although I think they've gone bust) after a really badly made chair they expected me to pay to return and then wait 6 weeks for a refund.

Jet2 holidays. My holiday was in September and they still haven't sorted out my complaint.

Raddison Blu hotels again my last holiday. It was the worst hotel Ive ever stayed in and their excuse is that "all hotels are like this". No they are not.

Reed Rain estate agents. They were useless when I was selling my house.

Expedia. I know it was a pandemic but it was nearly a full time job getting a refund.

National Express. Refused to give me a refund because the bus was still running to Heathrow even though the flights were cancelled.

Nat west were awful when my mil died
In fact, dealing with any bereavement is a nightmare and the companies you deal with make it worse
My sympathies op and sorry for your loss

One undertaker we had wasn't great either
( sadly, I've had to organize a few funerals this last decade )
I know it was lockdown , but the man couldn't string a sentence together and communication was scant.

Campanile - I booked a wrong hotel through their website and prepaid, realised the same day and begged them to transfer to the correct one. Couldn't find anyone with powers to do so and their structure prevented me from actually finding their CEO or similar. Was sent round the 3 different locations internationally with no luck. Gave up in the end as international calls were just adding to the cost.

Not bereavement related but Sykes Cottages are a classic. They will not give you your money back for any reason at all. Thing is I booked the cottage from Booking.com who didn't tell me it was a Sykes Cottage or I wouldn't have booked. Sneaky, both of them.

When my late mother in law passed away my now late father in law took over the tenancy of the council house (this being the 90s) the council didn't understand or there was a mixup and they kept writing to DMIL demanding rent. In the end DFiL had to set his solicitor on them and they stopped.

I'm sorry to hear of your loss op.

Not probate related but I came to say British Gas- I've never had a bad experience of their service, but I have BEEN their service and frankly their deliberate underhand practice made me feel seedy accepting the wage check. They train to exploit and bleed their customers dry. They do not give a shit about anything but money and that's the bottom, fuck it, the only line for them. Working in their call centre made an empty shell of me because I was constantly reprimanded for telling customers how to not be ripped off, and threatened with my job for refusing to try to sell more and more unnecessary products to clearly vulnerable customers . Dreadful company