I hate Atos and their PIP assessment<\/a><\/span>, or more accurately, who doesn\u2019t hate Atos and their assessments? Ever since Atos and their assessments were introduced, they\u2019ve been drowning in complaints<\/a><\/span> and deaths<\/a><\/span> of applicants. Yet, somehow, they keep having their contracts renewed to carry on their unfit-for-purpose assessments.<\/p>\n

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This wasn\u2019t the article I was originally planning to write. I was planning to write an article about my insane amount of appointment cancellations and reschedules recently. But when I got to my Atos appointments that were rescheduled, I was reminded of how that\u2019s just the tip of the iceberg with their behaviours. Thus, this article was born.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019ve had a few run-ins with Atos over the years. The most recent run-in resulted in my assessment for Personal Independence Payment\u00a0(PIP)<\/a><\/span> being rescheduled one and a half hours before the assessment was to start. They caught me just as I was about to get on the train to the assessment centre. I was also lucky enough to reach my partner before they got on the tube to tell them the appointment had been rescheduled to another day (my partner was taking time off work in order to come to the appointment with me).<\/p>\n

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Then, just to further wind me up, on the day of the rescheduled appointment, which my partner couldn\u2019t make, they call me to make sure I\u2019m attending at the stated time. Which I confirm. Then, again, as I\u2019m leaving the house to catch the train, they call me to reschedule the appointment to an hour and a half later. Now I\u2019m sitting at home wondering if they\u2019re going to reschedule the assessment to another day instead: expecting them to call back to do so.<\/p>\n

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As I\u2019m killing time for the later appointment at home, I notice I had missed a call from Atos. So I try to call back because I\u2019m wondering if they\u2019ve actually cancelled today\u2019s appointment now. I don\u2019t want to find out it has been on the train there. After 20 minutes of calling, I finally get hold of them before I\u2019m about to get on the train. But they didn\u2019t call me to cancel, just to make sure I\u2019m attending. What was the point of that after already speaking to me twice on the phone that day already? Thanks for that unneeded stress.<\/p>\n

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