I’ve recently sent this letter off to Royal & Sun Alliance as my patience with them is at an end. Hopefully now they’ll actually do something and fix the car they were supposed to fix last year. I live more in hope than in expectation, but as my previous blog showed; they do read this website, so maybe it’ll spur them into dynamic action.

Zoe Banks
Royal & Sun Alliance
PO Box 21561
Stirling
Scotland
FK7 1AA

Reference: **************

Zoe, thank you for your letter dated 31st July with regards to my car, the BMW Z3, registration P192 PLR.

However I feel you may over looked a few points.

I understand that there would be no need to replace the lock set for my car if the key had been recovered because a new key cannot be made without adequate documentation for the vehicle. However, the key was never recovered. I had to give my spare key to the Hillcroft in order for them to recover my car.

I only ever had one key back, my spare key.

If as you say the car was recovered with the key in the ignition then please produce the key. I will accept that the locks do not need changing if you can provide me with the original key, otherwise replace the locks as instructed.

With regards to the damage and providing an estimate, I’m afraid I cannot do that as the car is no longer insured, taxed or MOT’d and as such cannot take the car to a repair shop. It was 13 months ago when you should have acted. I have tried to get someone to come to see the car where it resides, but alas no one is interested in doing so.

So, as again it was your fault the car was not fixed last year I expect you to arrange for someone to visit the car to provide an estimate, and then repair it. Please let me know when you have made these arrangements. The car is currently located at *********, Newport.

With regards to the £55 you owe me for lost items, I am not willing to wait any longer for this as it been over a year. Kindly send me a cheque to my Manchester address without further delay for that amount.

Finally, with regards to the content on the website www.mrdaz.com; all statements on the website are accurate. If RSA is embarrassed by the content it is perhaps due to RSA’s incompetence over the past year. You will also find on the website detailing of further incompetent acts by various parties, including Direct Line, who are also responsible for the mess surrounding the BMW.

Their case is currently with the financial ombudsman.

I record all of my phone calls, and am entitled to do so. They are posted on the website as I believe it is in the interest of all concerned to discover just how bad customer service can be with various companies, including RSA.

I will consider removing the content once this matter has been resolved to my satisfaction. I have seen little sign of that so far, one year on.

I look forward to your reply.

Regards

Darren Jamieson

Let’s see what they come back with. I have a feeling I’ll be buried with that car, still unfixed.

Share on Facebook

For those of you eagerly awaiting for an update on my stolen car (and I’ve had emails requesting info) here’s the latest.

Direct Line insist they were not at fault, and their offer of 200 quid remains their final offer. Naturally that’s going to the financial ombudsman now.

RSA have replied and offered to fix the car and pay for the stolen items, some 13 months after the car was nicked. BUT they won’t pay for a new lock set because they said the car was recovered with the keys in the ignition.

Was it???

I never had them back, which is why I had to give the spare key to the garage to pick my car up. If the original keys were recovered with the car, where are they?

Maybe they could tell me?

I’ll be replying to RSA and instructing them to return my keys, if they say they were recovered, and if not to pay for the sodding locks to be changed like they should have done last September.

They also asked for all blogs to come off this site that talk about them. If they weren’t so consistently incompetent I would, but people really need to know about this shit.

Share on Facebook

Finally, after nearly 12 months since my car was stolen, this Saturday gone a fraud investigator from RSA has viewed my car.

I was a bit surprised however that he didn’t have any technical or mechanical knowledge and wasn’t sure if the engine was reconditioned or not. He did say in his opinion it was a recon engine, which of course was not what RSA paid for.

If it is a recon, one has to ask where is the new engine BMW supplied?

I filmed the whole interview as proof that he has seen the car, as let’s face it my dealings with insurance companies over the last 12 months hasn’t inspired me with confidence in them.

I gave him a full rundown of the last 12 months, and filled 11 pages with my statement. Let’s see if this gets me anywhere with regards to getting the car fixed.

Share on Facebook

Here is my letter to Royal Sun Alliance with the breakdown of what has happened over the last year regarding my stolen car. I have since spoken to them and cannot believe the outcome of that conversation.

I truly can’t.

That will be added as a podcast this Friday. Stay tuned for that, it’s an absolute classic!

Royal Sun Alliance
FAO: Pippa Watson
Customer Relations
West Gate
Colston Avenue
Bristol
BS1 4SY

RE: BMW Z3 Reg P192 PLR
Ref: **********

Dear Pippa Watson

It is with regret that I must complain to you now officially concerning your awful service with regards to the theft of my car from your client The Hillcroft Garage in Langston back in July 2006.

It has now been 11 months since my car was stolen and you still have not satisfactorily completed the repairs that your client was liable for. My car, one BMW Z3 (registration P192PLR) was recovered just a few weeks after its theft and returned to the same garage without my ever having seen it, and the garage refused my attempts to view the car.

Your client made no effort to contact me and would not return my calls.

Your engineer, Kevin Morris from Bridgend (07710 882 7160), examined the car after much pushing from my part through the insurance broker ‘Churchgate Insurance’ (01633 252 352) and the liaison there Don Robinson. Kevin explained that the car required a replacement engine as it had been in the garage for a new radiator and had been stolen before repairs had commenced, so the current engine was damaged beyond repair.

Kevin suggested that a reconditioned engine would be preferable to a new engine as a new engine would, for some reason, result in me having to contribute to cost of the repairs. I agreed to this and the Hillcroft garage completed the repairs and returned the car to me. It was only then that I was allowed to view the car, where I noticed that several items were missing and extra damage that I had not been informed of was present. This included a quote from BMW for a replacement arial and a new lock set as the thieves who stole the car still have a key when they drove off with the car from the Hillcroft Garage.

This included:

• Cocoon Sleeping bag 15 GBP
• Tom Tom Sat Nav Holder 15 GBP
• MP3 player Tape Adapter 15 GBP
• 1 leather glove 10 GBP
• Ariel ripped off 16.94 GBP + VAT quote from BMW
• New lock set 285 GBP + VAT quote from BMW
• Fitting of the locks 300 GBP + VAT quote from BMW

Also after viewing the car in the light it became clear the rear bumper was damaged also, as though the car had been driven backwards through a fence. Kevin Morris had mentioned damage to the back of the car when he first spoke to me but I assumed it was the paint chip on the rear passenger side where someone had hit the car in a car park. No, this damage is right across the rear bumper, and was as a result of the car being stolen.

I faxed through the information to Don Robinson at Churchgate to give to you on 17th November 2006, but later found that he did not forward it to you. Neither Don Robinson nor David Cheetham of Churchgate were returning my calls or performing their job. Instead I had to contact RSA in January this year myself to secure the return of my documents and to ask about the extra work that needed to be done.

I also raised my concern that the ‘reconditioned’ engine I was told by Kevin Morris would be fitted to the car was different from the ‘brand new’ engine that BMW Rydale in Newport said they supplied for the car. The engine in the car does not look brand new, so either Kevin Morris was mistaken when he said a reconditioned engine would be fitted, BMW are mistaken when they told me they supplied a brand new engine or someone has paid for a brand new engine, only to fit a reconditioned one.

I would have thought RSA would be interested in the potential fraud of paying for a new engine only for a reconditioned engine to be supplied. Apparently not!

Did RSA pay for a brand new engine? Did BMW supply a brand new engine? Did the Hillcroft garage fit a brand new engine or a reconditioned one? Someone has made a big mistake there. I personally don’t care either way; I just want my car fixed.

I did receive my documents from RSA after a week, but was never contacted again.

I chased RSA once again on May 8th and May 10th speaking to Neil Godfrey. He assured me I would receive a call as a matter of top priority in relation to this matter. Naturally I did not.

I telephoned again on June 14th and spoke to Neil once more. He was surprised I had not been called back and assured me again that I would receive a call back during my lunch break. I did not, but did get a message after that time from Sarah Bryant apologising for not returning my call.

I tried calling again Monday morning on the 18th June, again speaking to Neil Godfrey and again I was assured that Sarah Bryant would call back before 2:00pm. She did not.

Finally after having another message on my phone from Sarah where she stated that she didn’t know how she could help me I tried Neil again. He put me on hold and left it there. I hung up as I think I have been more than reasonable in my efforts to contact RSA; making countless phone calls and faxes only to be still without the repairs to my car, 11 months after it had been stolen.

I’ve had enough of this, my car has been off the road since July 2006 and it is now June 2007. RSA are responsible for the repairs and I expect them to do what they are supposed to do. If I do not receive a satisfactory resolution to this matter within 8 weeks of this letter, which is Tuesday August 14th 2007 I shall forward the details to the financial ombudsman for them to proceed with the case.

What I require is the following:

• The repairs as outlined above to be made immediately
• The items stolen to be paid for
• A written apology from Royal Sun Alliance

I trust that this matter can be dealt with without the need to involve the financial ombudsman.

Regards

Darren Jamieson

Share on Facebook

In follow up to my previous podcast where I attempted to telephone Royal Sun Alliance about my car, and they didn’t phone back when they said they would, I tried again Monday to contact them.

Firstly Sarah Bryant was out of the office, so I once again left a message with Neil Godfrey to get her to call me back, and I explained how I didn’t understand their lack of interest in the fact that they may have been defrauded by the garage. I pointed out that I finished my lunch at 2:00pm so needed a call back before then.

Naturally, I didn’t get one.

I did get a message on my phone later that afternoon from Sarah Bryant, and I couldn’t believe what I heard. Seriously.

She apologised again for not calling me back sooner because she was away from her desk (as always) and then said, and note the incredulous tone with which I write this… ‘I’m not sure how I can help’…

WHAT THE FUCK???

Not sure how she can help!!! Fix my fucking car bitch. The motherfucker has been off the road for 11 fucking months and you’ve done fuck all about it. You were fucking asked to fix the cunt back in Autumn 2006, it’s now mid Summer 2007 and you still haven’t fucking done it.

For fuck’s sake.

How many fucking times?

This will be added as a podcast on Friday, together with any subsequent phone calls so stay tuned for that. In the mean time my letter to the bastards will go off, and be posted here shortly.

Why me, why do I always get the morons?

Share on Facebook