Thank you

Last year someone ran into the back of my company car causing damage to the bumper. It was not my fault and the third party insurer paid to have the car repaired without a problem. I am about to insure my own car for another year, do I need to tell the insurance company, even though I was driving a company car and it was not my fault.

Performance Direct part of Grove and Dean based in Romford Essex. These people are utter **** and once they have your money will treat you with total contempt. Their only aim is to rip you off in anyway they can.

I don't think these 'type' of people are worried about image. If they can rip you off and make a sale they get a double high. They probably ring a bell and get a round of applause in the office. To them you are a number and a target and so long as the balance between sales and complaints is just in their favour, their happy to keep on doing it.

Errr. Not sure if that last comment was supposed to help or if your trying to 'draw me into a debate', but the drama started back in Jan this year. You only go public as last resort.

Hi Topper 1966 So you have problems with Cousins. Have you seen my post on very similar complaint. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?264143 I refused to accept the goods on the grounds that they were obviously faulty. But they will not refund, even though they know you are right cos they also know you don't want the hassle of a small claims court. Classic sociopath behaviour. This company deserves to go the same way as ELS, and with Mr Foster in charge, sooner or later they surely will. If they wont refund, definitely sue. Visit your local small claim court and they will help you fill out the claim, its quite easy to do and the cost can be recovered from the defendant. Mr Foster knows you will win and settle out of court, but you have to show them you are serious.

Thanks. 20 posts achieved.

Update: After another phone call and a letter telling them I could see no logical reason why my claim should not proceed, I finally got a letter from M>T saying the third party had now admitted full liability and I would not even have to pay any excess before my car was repaired. I got the distinct impression from both insurers that had I not persisted, they would have quite happily closed the book and walked away from their responsibility. I had my car repaired last month case closed. Not insuring with M>T again or anyone with an Indian call centre.

Just had a phone call off Richard, and not surprisingly after reading my comments on this website he wasn't very happy and said he would contact the owners to have the post removed. I can only say the truth often offends. He wanted to know why I felt it necessary to post the problems instead of discussing them with him. We did that on many occasions but he was not listening. That's the beauty of the Internet, when faced with injustice from large arrogant companies, it gives the victim the power to be heard and fight back. He/they have put me and my family though great deal trouble when all I original wanted was my right to a refund. A picture is worth a thousand words.

You were so right. They returned the damaged chair today and in spite of their assurances that it would be repaired as good as new, it's not a very good job.There's a slight bulge where it should be flat and the switch is in a dip where it should be flush with the flat surface and unlike the main chair it is aligned vertically and not horizontally. These people are complete a**e h***s, they do not deserve to have any customers. They rang and asked me to pay for the remaining balance and when I asked for a discount for all the trouble they had caused and the fact the repair to the chair was a poor job, Richard the Sociopathic manager refused point blank and would only offer a refund. I said I needed time to think it over. I think I will go for the refund. Can you recommend a good furniture store?

Ay...

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Hi miss muppet & Bazooka Boo. I totally agree with you both. The dilemma is how do you know which stores are trust worthy. In my experience non of them are.

Hi miss muppet and thanks for your continuing interest. Yes they sent the same old team, Paul the 'Independent Technician' and pretend Mr nice guy Richard the Sociopathic manager. First we discussed pleasantries like how Richard’s satnav sent him to the wrong address making him late, but we soon moved on to the main event, the damaged chair. Paul came to the obvious conclusion that the chair had been damaged in transit. He said they would need to take it away to repair it and would collect it on Tuesday and return it Thursday. I accepted the offer of a loan chair, on condition it was clean and did not smell. Richard said he would look into why the loan suite we received was delivered in such a bad state and then apologised, although I felt the apology wasn't genuine as when saying it he stepped back and looked away. I then broached the old question of why he would not offer a refund on the Elgar when it was obviously faulty. At this he offered me the choice of a repair or refund. He said we now had a different contract on a different suite, and he was not disputing the Katya was damaged. He said we would have to agree to disagree. I didn’t like the idea of having to search for a new suite all over again, we had already waited/wasted SIX MONTHS and still counting, so I said I would rather they repair it. I had intended to show them the pictures on this website (the gap in the seat) but forgot and so lost the opportunity to show how crass his original managerial judgement had been. He then remarked that Cousins is a family business (hopefully not Cosa Nostra). I took that to mean he felt they were looking after us, but in reality he was just doing the bare minimum to hang on to the sale and keep them out of court. So not much consolation for all the trouble they have caused and not even the slightest hint of compensation. .

This is a typical Sociopathic response, a half hearted public apology without any admission of guilt or sense of shame for all the trouble they have caused. I wonder if they are sending the same 'Independant Technician' and 'Manager' who said there was nothing wrong with the Elgar. I find it strange they call their 'Technician' Independant, is this because he is self employed (for tax purposes) and they think customers will be duped into thinking he is impartial, in spite of the fact he appears to work for them on a very regular basis. I will let you know the outcome of the 'Concern' after their visit at 4pm tomorrow. Definition Of a Sociopath Profile of the Sociopath .

UPDATE: They delivered the new Katya suite on Wednesday 23rd June, of course there was a problem. One side and front corner of the single seat chair was 'caved in' quite badly around the up/down switch. Looked like it had been kicked in. I had to point this out to the driver and he wrote 'damaged' on the delivery note. He said he would phone their office and they would send out an independent repair technician to fix it within 5 days. Damaged side of chair. Other side undamaged.

I also took photo's of the display Elgar in their Dudley store which had no gap. They had removed frame fixing brackets so the 2 half's could be shoved closer together. When I pulled the 3 seater apart I took photo's that clearly show the missing brackets. I imagine they had purchased a job lot from China and were trying to cover up the fault. Elgar display 3 seater showing missing brackets.

I'll just wait and see if they deliver. If they don't I will unleash hell. With my luck there's bound to be some other problem.

Just had a phone call saying they will deliver next Wednesday 23rd June. I wonder if trading standards had a word.

I probably wont get a reply, so I think I'll just drop all the info to Trading Standards. Thanks anyway.

Caught between a stone and a hard place. The story so far... Back in early January 2010 my wife and I visited Cousins Furniture store in Dudley West Midlands. We purchased an Elgar electric recliner leather 2 piece suite for approx £1750. Delivered 2 weeks later, the drivers spotted a gap between one end of the seat cushions where the 3 seater is joined, it comes in 2 half's. They like me thought it looked odd as there was no gap the other end. They gave me the option to reject it or keep it. I rejected and they took it back. I rang Cousins customer service who said their independent technician report said the gap was acceptable and they were ready to return it to me. I said I want a replacement or a refund. They refused and wanted to return it. To keep the story short, after several letters, phone calls etc, and getting nowhere, my wife and I visited their warehouse in Oldbury to view the Elgar again. The attractive young lady employed by Cousins and trained to lie, cheat and bull s**t, said she did not have the authority to offer me a refund. So I asked to speak to someone who did. Just at this moment a senior manager confidently swaned his way into the warehouse to simply repeat what they had already stated, there was nothing wrong with it and he would not even acknowledge there was a gap and I could not have a refund. I was ready to blow my top but kept my cool and said I wanted to avoid the hassle of taking them to court, although I had no doubt I would win as the fault was so obvious to all but the blind. So I said can we choose another suit instead. Yes, he said still wearing the same arrogant sociopathic grin in spite of my obvious displeasure. They agreed to refund the full amount for the Elgar less a 20% deposit for our second choice suite, the Katya. But there was a catch, apparently we would have to wait 12 to 14 weeks for delivery as that’s how long it would take to get from China. Yes, like everything else these days, the suite was ‘Made in China’. We had sold our old leather suite to make way for the Elgar, so they agreed to supply a loan suite. The loan suite was disgustingly filthy and stank like an RSPCA kennel. I should never have accepted it but I was sick of all the hassle, so before my wife came home, I gave it a thorough clean. Even now it still whiffs. Also, the electric recliners didn’t work as they had not supplied power units. When I asked where they were, they said they could not be found. Not to be out done, I use my 12v laptop charger, works a treat although a little inconvenient. Fourteen weeks came and went with not a word from Cousins as to where our Katya was. Then on the 30th of April we received a letter from their ‘Order Progress Dept’, saying they were now expecting delivery at UK docks on the 17.5.10 plus 5 days transport to their distribution centre. This would make delivery a month over due. It is now 17th of June 2010 and still no sign of a delivery and not a word from Cousins. I would like to cancel and purchase from somewhere else. My question is: What would you do and what are my options legally. The 3 seater they delivered showing gap. The other end with no gap.

I can see your argument assuming one is dealing with an insurer who is doing everything they can. You have to appreciate that I have been dealing with MoreThan and it's Indian call centre since January. Would you say that was 'more than' enough time for the third party to respond and good reason for MoreThan take legal action. The point I am trying to make is MoreThan are NOT ACTUALLY DOING ANYTHING.

Yes, I do have legal cover on my insurance. The problem is not just with OnStream, it's also MoreThan who have said if the third party do not respond they will take legal proceedings, but they aren't actually doing anything. I know where the driver lives and I think I have his name, but I am reluctant to confront him as he became aggressive and threatened to smash my car windows all without any provocation from myself. A real nice guy. Do I sue him, his employers or my own insurers. Or perhaps all of them. Everyone that could and should help just don't want to know. That's why I posted here in the hope someone has the answer.

In January this year, someone deliberately backed their work van, the utilities company OnStream, into my parked car causing a small dent in the wheel arch and refused to give me any details. My insurers MoreThan have consistently lied to me and is ignoring my claim hoping I will loose interest and give up. MoreThan have only written to the third party TWICE in three months and they say the third party is ignoring their letters. I have repeatedly asked to be sent copies of the letters and they have 'assured' me they will send them but they have not. The police say its an insurance matter and wont help. FOS say they can only help with third party insurers. (is this true?) I have also written (recorded delivery) to OnStream and they replied sympathetically but have since done nothing and not replied to my follow up letter. I do not want to give up so what can I do.

Call centers in India that either don't understand you or don't want to understand your problem and are trained to lie and be polite at the same time. Actually this also applies to MoreThan UK call centre which should be renamed LESSThan.