A response!

Finally, they send me a copy of their complaints procedure.

Finally, they are prepared to respond to my questions. Within five working days as per their complaints procedure.

Lets take a wee look at this procedure of theirs shall we:

"You can complain in person at our New Mart Road office, by phone, in writing, email or by using our complaints form."

So far so good, I sent an email which is perfectly acceptable. Now what happens:

We will "try to resolve any problems on the spot", "[w]e aim to resolve complaints quickly and close to where we provided the service. This could mean an on-the-spot apology and explanation"

Hmm, not quite. The email that I received explained that my complaint and request for information was a complex one that would require them to review past correspondence between both parties which meant they may have to "give you our decision at stage 1[in the complaints procedure] in five working days or less".

Problem: they received my complaint at 1:48pm on Tuesday, 9th October 2012. Five working days have passed and I have yet to receive a reply. But I'm getting a wee bit ahead of myself here because I sent a few more emails trying to convince them that my complaint was not a complex one and that a response shouldn't take that long:

Hi

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly, I really appreciate it. [I have to be fair, when I requested a copy of their complaints procedure for the second time they responded that same day - I was completely gobsmacked!]

I understand that you want to respond to the questions raised in my previous email but I fail to see how  a 'review [of] the correspondence between both parties' will provide answers to the following:

• Evidence that Mr King is legally obliged to pay the factoring costs - the fact that you are sending him bills and demands shows that you believe he is liable for this payment and I would like to see the legal documents that confirm this. 
• If you have no legal documents or know of no legal precedence that states Mr King is liable for this payment then I want you to confirm that his details will be removed from your files as you have no right to send him letters demanding payment

The matter is a point of law not of correspondence. I would hope you have the above information to hand as I would hate to think you are sending out bills to people knowing that the individuals in question are not liable for said bills. If you do not have this information to hand then I would expect you to confirm that Mr King's information will be removed from your files, and that he will receive no more bills or final demands, until such time that you are able to prove that he is liable for this expense.

I expect a response to the above points before the end of the working day.

Kind regards

Jen