UPC and my nana!

Bevvie

Hi all,
I was wondering if you could help me on this issue.
My nana was pressure sold UPC's phoneline and broadband package.
She told them she didn't have a pc, they ignored that.
She told them her eircom phonebills were tiny(tbh she has forked out a rake of money already!).
Basically she accepted so they'd leave her alone.
She was told that if she cancels it will cost her 100 euro(fair enough I understand that)
So we said fine we'll set it up, tried setting it up and it wouldn't work properly.
Rang up installation help, told us it would cost 60 euro to get a fella round to fix it!
Can anyone help us?
Thanks

Thoie

If it's under 7 days since service was started, maybe she could cancel under the cooling off period for distance selling? That's assuming the agreement was all made over the phone. Not sure what the situation is if someone called to the house and sold it to her on the doorstep.

Bevvie

Thanks, I'll try that and keep ye updated!

looksee

How did she pay? Could you stop the cheque? Tell them that it has not been set up and they will not be getting any (more) money, cancel direct debits if she signed one.

Write to them and mention pressure selling and elderly people and the fact that she has no computer, and and anything else you can think of.

She does have a cooling off period, I have been trying to find information but can't. Ring Citizens Information, they should be able to help you.

Don't just accept the €100 charge to get out, unless the situation with your nana is not quite what you are describing, she should not have been signed up. Make them prove it is a valid charge.

rubadub

If all else fails "talk to Joe", he would lap that stuff up, big company like UPC.

thefishone

And they gave her the self install......just ring them on her behalf,explain politly,but firmly and tell them to collect the equipment.
They are trying to sell my mother the same thing,had to get on the phone and
tell them not to ring again,so far so good.

91011

Its called mis-selling and the telecoms regulator takes a dim view of it.

Put in a query to comreg and see what they have to say about it.

http://www.askcomreg.ie/about_us/form.asp

BTW - most of these hard selling assh0les are employed by dodgy sales companies that use any and all means to get sales. So a complaint abot the sales person should also be added.

Magenta

Bevvie wrote: »

Hi all,
I was wondering if you could help me on this issue.
My nana was pressure sold UPC's phoneline and broadband package.
She told them she didn't have a pc, they ignored that.
She told them her eircom phonebills were tiny(tbh she has forked out a rake of money already!).
Basically she accepted so they'd leave her alone.

Sorry, but your nana needs to learn how to say "No" and hang up the phone.

tallaghtoutlaws

Magenta wrote: »

Sorry, but your nana needs to learn how to say "No" and hang up the phone.

To be fair the OP never said if it was a door to door salesman or a someone on the phone. Phone is easy to hang up but door to door is a different kettle of fish. Besides that my nan was one of the strongest people I knew when she was alive but the last 10 years of her life you could have sold her sand as gold, especially if you were pushy enough.

dudara

It sounds as if your Gran was pressurised into purchasing the product. As 91011 said, that is taken lightly by Comreg. Definitely get in touch and lodge a complaint.

the groutch

it could also be covered under capacity to form a contract

Yawns

Ok this is so easy to sort out if what you have said is true. Read closely.


Go to the bank from which the direct debits will be withdrawn. Cancel the direct debit setup if any. Any questions by bank tell them it wasn't authorised. They won't question it anyway. Any credit card signed up with just ring and cancel and get a replacement card with a new number. The next step is optional.

Ring upc and tell them to please **** off. Pressure sold to a pensioner and that you have cancelled direct debit and cc. The will not recieve a penny. If they wish to have their modem back they have 30 days to send a courier to pick it up and afterwards it will be disposed of.

Never open a letter from them, simply write no contract on outside and send it back. Do not answer phone calls. If they get you on a private number they still must tell you who they are and which company and then you simple hang up. In a few weeks they will tell you they are leaving the matter with a debt agency who will not pursue a small fee

Do no pay a single cent to them.


Of course all this can be avoided in the future if she had just said no to them. Seeign as she has a phone with Eircom she'll be ok. If they switched phones ring Eircom and explain a mistake has been made and you would like to be reconnected to them and try to get her setup on her cheap package again.

UrbanSea

Tell them straight up to **** off,remove the line and go back to eircom. She really shouldn't have given in to them,but it's understandable that she was pressurised,but why keep paying them when it's clear that they don't even care about their customers?

delllat

greetings wrote: »

Tell them straight up to **** off,remove the line and go back to eircom. She really shouldn't have given in to them,but it's understandable that she was pressurised,but why keep paying them when it's clear that they don't even care about their customers?

tell them she suffers from a mental illness and she is incapable of making discisions for herself

they will cancel all charges immediately or you will be starting legal proceedings for pushing a broadband sale onto a senile elderly person who doesnt even have a computer

Ash.J.Williams

That UPC phone sell was the biggest pain in the arse i ever encountered. Everyday a private number would ring, (normally the bank or my ma, so i had to answer) and the same s**t....not only trying to sell the phone, but telling you how stupid you are NOT to buy it, and how much of no brainer it is....
One girl told me if i got a cheaper shampoo it would absorb the cost of the phone......I'm F****ING BALD!! Every call was the same...."oh sorry sir, there should be a note here saying you were called before...

then nothing for ages...then remembered i changed my mobile and neglected to tell UPC....

Over all i'd say there was about 15-20 calls and they could be 7 days a week and late into the evening....

Bevvie

She has lodged a complaint with ComReg about UPC and paid 100 euro to cancel. She also switched to Sky digital from UPC.

Solair

She shouldn't have to pay a €100 cancellation fee and shouldn't have paid it at all.

Incidentally, while I wouldn't try to defend UPC on this one, if your grandmother's in receipt of Social Welfare telephone allowance payments, their packages work out fantastically well as the money normally paid to eircom for line rental can be paid into her current account and set against your cable bill.

All my elderly relatives are doing it and effectively getting almost free basic digital cable TV and phone!

UrbanSea

Now try to get the 100e back,I like the excuse of a mental disease,as people of unsound mind can't enter a legally binding contract.

Exclamation Marc

greetings wrote: »

Now try to get the 100e back,I like the excuse of a mental disease,as people of unsound mind can't enter a legally binding contract.

And if they turn around and say "yeah thats no problem, we just need a certificate for the record" he'll look like a moron.

There's no point lying to get out of it, the last thing you want if it comes down to a Comreg investigation is to found to be telling porkies yourself.

delllat

FireballPitcher wrote: »

And if they turn around and say "yeah thats no problem, we just need a certificate for the record" he'll look like a moron.

There's no point lying to get out of it, the last thing you want if it comes down to a Comreg investigation is to found to be telling porkies yourself.

whos to prove a vulnerable old persons state of mind when bullied into a contract by a greedy young sales person
trying to get a commision??

if you tell them shes a little bit senile and doesnt even have a computer YET THE GREEDY SALES REP FORCED A BROADBAND PACKAGE ON HER they will refund your 100 euro before they will let this story hit the national papers and the joe duffy show

mark my words

Varik

You can get her number set so no more telemarketers or vaguely legal ones at least can call her, i did it a long time ago and haven't gotten a call since.

mufcboy1999

just dont pay upc that will get rid of them free of charge.

eye for an eye

Exclamation Marc

delllat wrote: »

whos to prove a vulnerable old persons state of mind when bullied into a contract by a greedy young sales person
trying to get a commision??

if you tell them shes a little bit senile and doesnt even have a computer YET THE GREEDY SALES REP FORCED A BROADBAND PACKAGE ON HER they will refund your 100 euro before they will let this story hit the national papers and the joe duffy show

mark my words

Hold on, my point is that there's a huge difference between saying "she's a bit senile etc etc" like you said and flat out lying and saying she has a mental condition.

I agree telling them what you said, but saying she has a mental condition is flat out lying.

delllat

FireballPitcher wrote: »

Hold on, my point is that there's a huge difference between saying "she's a bit senile etc etc" like you said and flat out lying and saying she has a mental condition.

I agree telling them what you said, but saying she has a mental condition is flat out lying.

if some sneaky young sales rep forced my granny into signing up for broadband when she didnt even know what it was or even have a computer id have no problem getting him fired

using ANY means necessary

i hate people who prey on the old and vulnerable and this is just another example of it

Magenta

delllat wrote: »

greedy young sales person
trying to get a commision??

delllat wrote: »

sneaky young sales rep

How do you know the person was young?

delllat wrote:

id have no problem getting him fired

using ANY means necessary

Unless you're his boss, you can't fire him, and no company is going to fire a member of staff based on a customer's demands. Unless he physically forced her to hand over money, she only had to say no and close the door/hang up.

tatli_lokma

Magenta wrote: »

How do you know the person was young?

because generally people with more experience (even life experience) don't stick at these sould destroying jobs, so generally it is younger people.

Magenta wrote: »

Unless you're his boss, you can't fire him, and no company is going to fire a member of staff based on a customer's demands. Unless he physically forced her to hand over money, she only had to say no and close the door/hang up.

as a past employee of a telecoms company dealing with compliance issues, I can tell you that, yes often such complaints - if genuine - do result in the staff member being sacked. Not immediately, but a formal investigation takes place and if the complaint is proved to be genuine then by pressure selling in this manner the staff member has committed gross misconduct and would therefore be dismissed.
this is why it is important to get comreg involved - if they uphold your complaint, they are saying that the rep mis-sold and pressure sold, and as a result the company would be in the right to dismiss the hungry young rep.
It happened a lot where I worked in the early when monitoring of the reps was not so good, and then a comreg fine would come in, and out the rep would go. A comreg fine can be up to €75,000! so why would you keep a rep who cost the company that kind of money? Once serious monitoring and quality checks came in, the company often spotted the errors before comreg were involved, and sacking the rep kept comreg sweet and if a complaint arose, the fine would be relatively small.

Don't underestimate the power you have as a consumer - often the reason nothing happens is because we don't insist on our rights.

delllat

if i called head office and told them my elderly grandmother was bullied into signing a broadband contract when she doenst even have a computer or know what broadband is there would be at LEAST a written warning for whoever was responsible

NO company would want this to hit the headlines ,newspapers and joe duffy show

instant refund guaranteed as well ,dont beleive me ,try it and see

(i am an x-sales rep ,have worked for eircom,esat bt ,cynergie telecom,cobra direct sales ,gaelic telecom and 5 fold solutions so i know this procedure better than most people )