A response to GreenSquareAccord and their notification of legal action.
Dear GreenSquareAccord Residents,
Some of you may have noticed that I have been a little quieter over the last two weeks. This has been the case, in part due to the invitation by Julianne Britton Director of Customer Services at GreenSquareAccord who requested a meeting with me.
I was dubious about this call actually taking place, having previously agreed with Ms Britton in writing on 2nd November to hold this meeting via telephone on the 5th November. However although I waited for this call it never happened, due again to GreenSquareAccord’s inability to manage internal communications.
I honestly can’t explain at the moment why your emails aren’t getting through to me, it only seems to be the ones you are sending directly to me – I’m assuming they were as I haven’t seen them – though as the ones you’re sending directly to info@GSA are arriving; something we checked again yesterday. Further investigations are being done today.
I know it must seem ridiculous, although I can assure you it’s as frustrating for us/me as it is for you. And I’m sorry I don’t now have time today for a call, it’s not an excuse as I’m really happy and would like to have the opportunity to talk to you, I just want to make sure we do it at a time when I can give you enough of my time and I don’t have that this afternoon as my diary has filled up.
Julianne Britton via email 5th November 2021
As this felt like yet more time wasting and excuses from GreenSquareAccord I did not put aside further time for a call.
On the 15th November I received another email from Julianne Britton requesting a call with me.
What happened in these ten days to suddenly spur another meeting invite?
I had made numerous references across Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn about the faulty fire alarm, I reached out directly to Robin Bailey (GreenSquare Group Board Chair) via LinkedIn and perhaps more antagonistically I dared to post directly on Ruth Cooke’s Twitter feed. How very wretched of me.
Although the above reasons were all relevant, I suspect the main concern was that I had issued GreenSquareAccord with an invoice for nightly patrols. I had taken these nightly patrols as the reported issues with GreenSquareAccord’s fire alarm had neither been fixed nor had GreenSquareAccord updated any of the forty plus residents who were without a fully functioning fire alarm. I will post fully about this issue very soon.
Although these reasons were quickly dismissed by GreenSquareAccord in my subsequent call it seemed more than a little too coincidental. However I will let you form your own opinions.
Whatever the reason I accepted and put aside yet more time to keep the lines of communications open, to seek a positive resolution to all our issues.
The first topic of conversation raised by GreenSquareAccord was the divert they had placed upon my email account, requesting my help to find all the missing emails, their lack of response to the official complaint I’d raised and why I’d chosen to take these issues and seek external pressure.
Which leads nicely into their main gripe - my GreenSquareAccordResidents website.
What did GreenSquareAccord want?
Stop using the GreenSquareAccord logo and their photographs - as I’ve never used any photos from the GreenSquareAccord website. (Update 1st December - I had forgotten that I had taken pictures of your homes from GreenSquareAccord’s website) I requested that GreenSquareAccord put into writing the images they are concerned about and I would consider my response. I only use the same colours and text font, both of which are in the public domain.
My website is apparently confusing for customers. GreenSquareAccord wanted me to change my domain name (considering my site an abuse of registration) or I could add the word ‘complaints’ resulting in my website being named GreenSqaureAccordResidentsComplaints this made no sense to me whatsoever, as such I refused.
GreenSquareAccord are worried that residents are coming to my website first rather than going through the GreenSquareAccord complaint process. I assured GreenSquareAccord that this simply wasn’t the case and that everyone who contacted me had already been through a long and arduous journey and had been largely ignored.
GreenSquareAccord then asked me to stop using people’s personal accounts on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. I don’t use people’s personal Facebook account as this is for personal life events, Twitter I will use personal accounts if the account itself has been used to promote, respond, or react in a professional capacity. If you need to see examples of Ruth Cooke’s Twitter account being used in this way, I can provide these. LinkedIn is where GreenSquareAccord like to hide as it’s less likely to garner negative responses than Facebook and Twitter, it’s also where the most hypocrisy is shared.
Where are we now?
GreenSquareAccord the ‘simply brilliant landlord’ who would rather hide their embarrassing short fallings that endanger and diminish the quality of life for their residents are now taking legal action against me.
Despite what I am sure are your best intentions, your persistence as a self-designated proxy for other customers in making complaints creates a false process that gives customers the impression that they can get their complaint resolved through reporting it to you. Your website does not connect in any way to GreenSquareAccord and without complaints being raised directly with us via the formal process, we will not have the opportunity to resolve them, nor will those customers have the right to escalate to the Housing Ombudsman until they have followed our published process.
Julianne Britton Director of Customer Services
Nobody expects GreenSquareAccord to resolve these issues, and I have never made any assurance that I could save residents from the agonising and annoying complaint process and ineffective management at GreenSquareAccord - I’m not Esther Rantzen!
My site clearly directs people to, first, the GreenSquareAccord complaints process and second, the Housing Ombudsmen.
For the benefit of other customers, you must not give them the false impression you are authorised to act on their behalf and encourage complaints to be raised through you. Only issues raised directly with us by individual customers, in relation to their own home, can be dealt with by our customer service team. It is unfair to other customers to put their needs at risk to achieve outcomes for your own individual complaint. -
Julianne Britton Director of Customer Services
Complaints raised by residents have a habit of being lost or ignored by GreenSquareAccord. If residents are reaching out to me it’s out of frustration of being ignored. They, like me, consider our course of action to be one of shaming GreenSquareAccord into action. We intend to keep the pressure on GreenSquareAccord within the public domain, to highlight how they actually respond (or don’t as is often the case) rather than how GreenSquareAccord wish to be perceived.
In view of this we request any social media or online platform you have set up that is designed and run to give the impression of having quasi-official GreenSquareAccord status - which they categorically do not have - is removed or significantly clarified. -
Julianne Britton Director of Customer Services
The first text box at the top of my home page has always been:
Please note, where you are collecting personal information (names, addresses and contact details for example) of our customers in connection with their complaints, you may be acting as a data processor or data controller under the UK General Data Protection Regulation. This may require you to register with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and you will have certain responsibilities in respect of their data. You can find out more on the ICO’s website (https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/key-definitions/controllers-and-processors/)
Julianne Britton Director of Customer Services
GreenSquareAccord, a company I have already reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office, are now offering me advice on how to handle data. The phrase ‘get your own ship in order first’ springs to mind.
My hope is that by explaining clearly and in writing our position and confirming how we can best deliver services to you and other customers, we can move forward by focusing on our plans to improve services. Actions you take that hinder or confuse the ability for other customers to have issues resolved is not in anyone’s interests.
Julianne Britton Director of Customer Services
I hope by replying via this open letter (as I am now forbidden to respond to you directly) that I have made it clear that the issues of GreenSquareAccord are not my doing, they sit squarely on the shoulders of your leadership team and their inability to manage their property portfolio. I will not allow GreenSquareAccord to ignore residents and hide their faults. I will keep them within the public domain so we can all make informed decisions about the part you play in the construction and management or our homes.
Without oversight you are creating future slums, as you hide behind the not-for-profit banner whilst the leadership team take home wages they have not earned and congratulate one another on how noble they all are.
This is not a role I sought, my life was not lacking fulfilment and in search of some noble cause, I do not enjoy wasting my time arguing with GreenSquareAccord.
With many of your residents vulnerable and not able to stand up to you I find myself begging you to uphold your contractual commitment, your civic duty.
See you in court - I’ll be the fella at the front wearing a T-shirt that reads:
GreenSquareAccord suck at being simply brilliant!
Yours sincerely
Ben Jenkins x