parasol IT

[Spacecadet]

Well as thread starter....

My agency finally paid up this week (see other thread somewhere) Parasol have been excellent since then, replying to emails and calling back very close to the times they said they would. They even offered to CHAPS the money straight into my account without charging me for the privilage (which they normally do by their T's & C's).

I called yesterday and almost fell off my chair as the phone was picked up instantly! Not even a ring before it was answered.

Hopefully they've got past their rough patch.

[Xtrain]

Some more info

Well as thread starter....


Hopefully they've got past their rough patch.

I have used Parasol in the past and they were very good. I needed somethign setting up quickly and they provided a good solution. After 6 months I then moved on to my own ltd.

Anyway, my contract is up for renewal and my agent popped down for a chat/ beer with me and a few other cons on Friday lunchtime. She has a contact in Parasol and their have been rumours of some in fighting at board level which has resulted in one of the original guys departing. The company is also being primed for sale (hence the new systems no doubt!) via the VC route. My knowledge of this method is not great but I would expect a few more changes in the near future as fall out from this.

On a more positive note I got my renewal and a near 8% pay rise.

[rtbuller]

Cut off after 15 minutes on the phone today (again) - The change of company name by Parasol resulted in them not having a valid VAT registration number - As a consequence, Rullion paid last months invoices without VAT (as they should), but Parasol have processed the money inclusive of VAT and took it upon themselves to relieve me of the difference.

All I want from this organisation (sic?) now is :-
a) a valid P60 for last year that adds up.
b) Refunded management fee for last months cock ups (although they said they wouldn't charge it).
c) All my money from my final set of time sheets (still about £500 down)
d) A P45 that adds up, so I can setup payroll with my new limited company.

I joined them over 2 years ago, and have watched the management fee go up in inverse proportion to the level of customer service received.

In summary, Parasol have lost my business - My perception is they stink.

(I now have an inside number, so feel free of the debacle of the customer "help" line - Apologies to Stuart who is doing his best to achieve the above wish list for me)

Enough ranting (I feel slightly better now :-)

[claudius]

Got paid today (wednesday). Last week I got paid on thursday and the week before on friday. If it carries on like this Parasol will be paying me before the agent pays them, so I can't fault the increase in performance in speed of payment. The agent does their payroll run on a thursday.

On a slight downside I have been checking my payslips. The employers and employees N.I. appear correct although their rounding methodology seems to vary, up in some cases, down in others, but its right within a penny. The tax according to my calculations is slightly out, from a few pence on one payslip, to just over a pound on another.

Not a big deal at the moment. If it doesn't correct itself in a week or to, I'll phone them up. Hopefully their comms problems will have been sorted by then.

[BigAndy]

More rants

My continuing saga is that I'm still owed money for w/e April 8th, but getting through to Parasol is still next to impossible. This is despite recent email progress report stating that they are now answering emails within 24 hours and trying to return to a 4 hour turnaround.

I created a support ticket on May 9th which still hasn't even been assigned to anyone. I also tried emailing 3 days ago (prompted by their "email is currently the quickest way to contact us" quote) but still haven't had a reply.

I noticed management fees were still taken out of my last few "problematic" payments. Has anyone been in the same boat and/or had these refunded as promised?

Andy

[dmini]

I sent an email in April which never got a reply - so three days.........
I'm waiting for live chat to become re-available - before I will hassle them. Surprise surprise - now we've hit the 17th, when it was supposed to be live again (was the 10th before that) they are now saying the 24th.
I think that will be the best sign of when they are back to "normal" - when live chat is re-opened.
I'm owed some money from the first week of April, but thankfully in some ways that was the last week of my contract through them, and I haven't had to put any work through them for the last month - used different brolly! Spoke to one agency today who have Parasol on PSL list, and she said the only way payments were being sorted out for some of her contractors, was because she had the names etc of two very good people within Parasol, but was cross that it came to having to ring them every time there was an issue.
Anyway, week after next they are going to complain about problems processing stuff, because it's a short week again! One never knows when a bank holiday is round the corner - they just sneak up on you

[kmunro]

Getting a little worried now

Just stumbled over this thread & though I'd add my two-pence worth to this debate.

Prior to April, Parasol had been brilliant. No problems in the nine months I've been using them.

Now.....

1. Rechargeable expense claim that the agency paid a month ago still not matched.
2. A second rechargeable claim from this month matched but for only half the amount. That amount PLUS two further expense claims that were matched have been held back because they didn't have VAT receipts despite the fact that I'm in the USA so don't pay VAT. They have now had the receipts for a week - still no action.
3. Payroll for two weeks ago still not matched.

Currently I'm owed about GBP6K and I haven't even put in a timesheet for the last two weeks while they get this mess sorted out.

Four emails & a web ticket over the past three weeks have resulted in....
a) An email telling me that they have now received a remittance from the agency and I would be paid within 24 hours (didn't happen)
b) An email asking me to create a timesheet for rechargeable expenses however I'm supposed to do that.

I have been paid some money but, like I said, am out of pocket for six big ones as we speak.

Sooner or latter I'm going to have to get on the phone to them but the prospect of sitting on hold for half an hour on an international line doesn't excite me. I guess it's got to be done though.

[Rassy]

Utterly utterly kicking myself for joining Parasol

I am so glad that I found this web site and hope that it helps resolve the problems I am currently having with Parasol.

I joined three months ago and it has been my worst and never ending nightmare ever since. In fact it has seriously taken a toll on my psychological well being, and that is no exaggeration. In short:

1. I am behind with 4 weeks payment
2.Even though I submit my timesheets on their system on time, they still find it difficult to raise immediate invoices to my agency.
3.They refuse to acknowledge when my agency chase them up on invoices while my payment steadily piles up with my agency.
4.Parasol have confirmed that apparently I am not set up on their stupid ‘Spreadsheet’ system. Also because my account is not classed as ‘Self Billing’, no invoices will be sent to my agency…and ah yes, I shouldn’t worry because this is very capable hands and someone from accounts will get back in touch with me within 24 hours. I am still waiting four weeks on.
5.I’ve sent complaint emails and received no response. I managed to get individual Parasol email addresses, and filtered my complaint email to them - so fingers crossed.

I am practically tearing my hair out as there doesn’t seem to be a system in place to protect Contractors when guys like Parasol decide to toss you around like rags not giving a damn. I am a busy person and there aren’t enough hours in the day to be kept on hold for over 40 minutes at a time. Anyway, now that I’ve gained some insight into the murky world of Parasol, I will begin looking for another umbrella company so good riddance to Parasol . Thanks Kmunro, the pro-corporate web site looks good.

[foritisme]

go Ltd, you know it makes sense.

[kmunro]

Solved

I just thought I'd follow up my post of yesterday with an update.

Last night (USA time) I emailed Parasol MD Rob Crossland (his email address was not hard to find using Google) with details of my complaints. By the time I woke up this morning he had personally replied as had a member of the escalations team promising to review the issues today.

I received a detailed response at around 6pm (UK time) this evening. All the issues appear to have been sorted and the cheque is, as they say, in the post.

It does look like he who shouts the loudest gets the attention right now and my confidence has been largely restored.

I hope everyone else with outstanding issues has as much luck.