Controlaccount Reviews 1.075

£33 “collection fee” on a £67 bill is surely a joke. Disproportionate.

Not for the first time, Fedex have messed up our account by not allocating our timely payments and have referred our account to Control Account without responding to our communications or even warning us that they are thinking of taking this action.

Control Account are very unsympathetic and unhelpful. If you call, the first thing you are asked is "are you calling to pay?" Not "how can I help?" - you are assumed to be guilty before you've opened your mouth. Everything is done by a portal, no email address, so that involves scanning and uploading remittances and proof of payments that Fedex have already seen several times but not actioned. We're being punished further for Fedex's incompetence, but Control Account don't care.

They use Royal Mail for their initial correspondences which as we all know is becoming even more unreliable, so we heard about this case long after the initial 7 days to respond. They probably know this as it increases their odds of being able to go to court before you're even aware of a problem.

Even when you point out that their involvement has come about through Fedex's inability to manage our account correctly, we get told "we get that all the time with Fedex." Well, why are Control Account associating themselves with them? Maybe if Control Account grew a backbone and told them "no", Fedex will be forced into learning how to do basic accounts instead of relying on an external firm to do their jobs for them.

I previously wrote a review before which I took down after pressure from Control Account. They don't like negative reviews on here. Not this time.

I've given two stars because to Control Account's credit, the problems do get resolved quickly once they are involved in the account. But it should never come to this in the first place and Control Account could show more sensitivity, particularly before they've heard both sides of the story.

Update 29th June - sure enough, within hours of this review being published, I've already had a phone call at work asking me to remove my negative review or if I would at least consider improving it if they can get our current case solved. Why not reply on here, like you do for the positive reviews, and at least pretend that you take negative feedback constructively instead of keeping the harassment offline?

I had a very poor experience with Controlaccount regarding a FedEx billing issue.

The situation arose because FedEx had not correctly set up the direct debit on our account. Our domestic invoices were being collected by direct debit as expected, but our international invoices were not, which meant they accumulated over time without us realising. This was later acknowledged and dealt with by FedEx.

However, before that was resolved, we received a debt recovery letter from Controlaccount demanding payment, along with excessive additional charges including over £1,400 in late payment fees, interest and administration costs. This was extremely stressful, especially as the issue was not caused by us failing to pay intentionally, but by a direct debit setup problem.

When I contacted Controlaccount, I felt pressured to pay immediately through a link they sent, with the warning that interest would continue to accumulate. They initially said they could reduce the charges slightly, but only by around £200, despite the circumstances being outside of our control.

Even after I explained that FedEx had provided a case reference and that the account had been brought up to date, I was still told that I had to prove payment myself. The tone of the conversation felt unsympathetic and unnecessarily forceful.

In my opinion, Controlaccount handled the matter with very little empathy or understanding. The whole experience felt intimidating rather than professional, and I would urge companies using them to review how they deal with customers, particularly where the debt has arisen due to an administrative or billing error rather than deliberate non-payment.

Spoke to Tanya who was absolutely amazing with excellent customer service skills

Had a really productive interaction with John to hopefully resolve what is an incorrect invoicing issue leading to debt collection escalation. John was helpful and provided information required to hopefully resolve shortly.

Slick supportive Service and excellent competent supportive staff. Problem resolved in seconds and additional supportive and advice delivered in addition to my request for assistance.

John was fantastic. He helped me with my query and made me feel at ease setting up my plan. Thank you

Despite the invoice being disputed, the agents I had contact with today were excellent. I used web chat and also made a call. Both were polite and helpful.

John was very concise and straight forward to where to go with a payment. Great help getting this sorted.

In fairness it starts with their customer, FedEx, another bunch of common thieves who send you an invoice after you have received your item to collect duty of £12 and charge you £33 to do so, I tried to pay the invoice on line but it constantly threw the invoice back as unrecognised. It seems you can only pay that way if you have an account. TNT FedEx don’t have a phone contact, then control account mug you for more. Typical UK, legal theft, come the revolution hang them all from lampposts.

John was really helpful and answered my query really quickly. It put my mind at ease that he replied so quickly and confirmed that there was no issue with my account.

I spoke to John that he was a great person, he settled it out very well

Fedex charged me a £140 additional line items fee for a £236 parts order after delivery which I am obviously disputing as there was no disclosure or transparency. That £140 is in addition to VAT, customs and disbursement. The order contained many items of the same category and they charged me a £5 fee per item. Very unethical and dodgy business practice. One member of staff was very rude on the phone and said 'OK Shaun' and hung up while I was still speaking. Do not fall for their silly logos and psychological tactics. Stand firm and stand up for what is right. They can not grasp the simple fact that I am willing to pay duty, vat and a sensible disbursement fee which should all in be about £65, not £183.55. All this will be presented to my solicitor or the courts in due course if required.

Constantly ignore written correspondence, mindlessly try to force someone to pay invoices which have been incorrectly raised and are in dispute with a vendor.

Ignore all the facts and evidence and harass via telephone calls despite clearly stipulated requirement to converse in writing.

Rude customer service staff, who threaten to keep harassing unless you agree to using a portal and signing up for their platform.

This company are representing large companies like FedEx in civil matters and do not set the law.

Yet their poorly trained staff act like they do, also with a brazen disregard for contract law and simple facts.

How this company is even allowed to trade is quite beyond me.

Be very careful in your interactions with this company.

They will mindlessly try every trick in the book to try to force you to pay for invoices that aren’t due and have been raised incorrectly.

Sue and the gentleman I spoke to previously have been excellent.
A issue had arisen through FedEx and they got to the bottom of it in a morning, as opposed a month of FedEx passing me from pillar to post and being totally hopeless.
I understand, having worked in a debt department myself, that people like Sue often get mistreated and called all sorts of names over the phone (easy to do when you're upset and never actually have to see who you're dealing with). I personally have found them to be extremely helpful in navigating a situation that should never have got this far.

Although it was under unpleasant circumstances; the individual that dealt with me (Sue), was extremely friendly, understanding and helpful.

John was very clear and helpful. Supported me in a time in need. Thank you so much.

I would like to thank John from Controlaccount for the excellent support and professionalism during my inquiry. He was very helpful, patient, and clear in explaining the situation and the next recommended steps. His guidance made the process much easier to understand and greatly appreciated during a stressful situation. Thank you again for the outstanding customer service.

Scam artists to put it in brief terms.

Harassing over invoices that the company never sent to the address on file.

Awful company, no way to reply to any of their spam emails or letters