Friday 26 March 2010

The Ombudsman Exists to Protect us from the Excesses of the Free Market.

I got a letter from my energy supplier the other day, telling me that my ‘Price Protection Plan’ is coming to an end and notifying me of the new tariff. I was just a little horrified to read that the cost of primary day units was going up by 65%. That’s a jump! So I called them to ask how they justified it, and got a customer service advisor who restricted her response to ‘Well that’s what the tariff is and there’s nothing I can do about it.’

I was...er...disappointed, and so I called the Ombudsman. After sitting through several minutes of pointless recorded messages, I finally got one that said ‘If you’re calling about the price you pay, press 2.’ I pressed 2. And then I got another recorded message which said ‘The Ombudsman cannot discuss the price you pay.’ And then the call was terminated.

So, remind me; the purpose of the Ombudsman is...?

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