PIP T/Phone Assessment Never Happened

Firstly I hope that everyone reading has had the best Christmas, whatever your circumstances, I know times are not the best for many of us, but wish you all the best for this new year.

Just a heads up, I'm not sure whether anybody else has experienced this Capita 'technical issue', (their words).

My daughter was due her 1pm telephone assessment, (for her PIP Review, after 25+ years on higher rates DLA & PIP for conditions that will never improve), on Monday 15th January.

We duly awaited our call, with the laptop ready and waiting, recording equipment primed:

13:01: phone rang, we answered and awaiting us was a garbled/indistinct message informing us that it was 'Sarah' from Capita, that we had already received a letter and texts informing us of our 1pm assessment and as she couldn't get hold of us she would call again in ten minutes! (must note here that due to the speed of speech, it was only after listening to the recording a number of times that we actually managed to decipher it!)
13:10: phone rang, we answered immediately, (I was a little peeved to say the least!), same recorded message - only this time with the first part missing.
13:20: phone rang, a new recorded message - Again from Sarah, who informed us that as she hadn't been able to get hold of us, that we now had to telephone the call centre to arrange another appointment Luckily the recording had been running throughout at this time........... (note ambiguity of 'hadn't been able to get hold of us')

I immediately rang the call centre, spoke to a lovely young lady, I explained that we had been answering the phone and due to the bad press re Assessments, I had recordings proving that we had received and taken calls that were all merely recorded messages. She immediately messaged Sarah, the Assessor - Sarah's reply 2 minutes later was that she was having technical issues and that "we hadn't answered" - hmmm, not sure whether the lovely young lady at the call centre had provided her with the information that we had been recording?

So, upshot we were told to leave it until this Friday and call again to rearrange, as, by then, Sarah would have updated the file to allow a further appointment date.

Now forget all the anxiety issues being experienced by my daughter (32), at this time, the build up awaiting an assessment etc - forget all of that, my biggest gripe is that despite noting under further information in the PIP Review that it would be appreciated that any assessment could be undertaken on a Monday or Tuesday - my daughter works Wednesday - Friday - and I'm not sure that anyone should she be expected to take leave from work for an appointment which, from reading a lot of accounts on these boards, may not happen, (case proven!).

Naturally the first appointment they sent was for a Friday. I Rang to rearrange, a pretty straightforward process that came with a warning that if we didn't keep the appointment, it would not be able to be rearranged a second time - I did mention that we had originally requested a Mon/Tues and was told that they don't read the applicants paperwork before the actual appointment is due, (appointments were computer generated).

Anyhow, back to our Call Centre conversation with the 'lovely young lady' - she commiserated with us, but couldn't guarantee that my daughters paperwork wouldn't be sent back to the DWP with a 'didn't attend' - I asked her to note the call on my daughters file, (not sure that this was possible or, in fact, could happen), also to note that the 'non- attendance' was courtesy of Sarah/Capita and further note that we would be happy for an appointment on a Monday or Tuesday ................... very lovely lady just reiterated to phone back this Friday - I'm not sure what the process is if the papers are returned to the DWP in the meantime, as reading the guides on here, suggests that I should have insisted that Capita rearranged the appointment straight away?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Dear Sheila 966, I personally would be alerting my MP to what has been done to you. If it continues to be badly handled, at least you will already have got the beginning registered in their consciousness with any luck.
Shocking.
Denby

Thanks Denby,
We are making a complaint as I write - I've been reading a lot of the comments on here and it might seem reasonable to assume that the DWP are currently advertising their efficiencies, getting through the backlogs etc, are merely based on blatant inefficiencies & inaccuracies by some assessors?
Certainly requesting recordings, and continuing to carry out your own covert recording seem the way to go - it would seem the only way to prove the inaccuracies in the assessment process.
Had we not set the recording before we answered the phone there would be no proof that the assessor, on this occasion had most certainly lied! - I wonder whether there will be any disciplinary for them?

Quick Update:
Rang Capita today, my daughters paperwork was returned to the DWP under 'failed to attend' - advised to ring DWP and ask for papers to be returned to them!
So, on hold 56 minutes then, not to put too finer point on it, spoke to a lady who didn't have a clue what I was talking about and 'luckily' put me through to my daughters caseworker - He confirmed that Capita shouldn't have sent the paperwork back, as it was not a FTA and was indeed their fault. He confirmed that he has now, I assume at the touch of a button, returned my daughters review paperwork back to Capita!
Upside: he confirmed that my daughter does not have to be in attendance for the telephone appointment - something I had conflicting advice from Capita for, (spoken to two people from Capita, one said she had to be there, the other said she didn't), so as Appointee I can speak on her behalf - I really feel that this should be made clear to everyone - they should drop the ambiguous notes on the appointment form!