TMTI Cancellation? can it be done

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  • fabfor
    fabfor Posts: 82
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    I got a phone from mobiles.co a year ago and, being savvy (or so I thought) immediately cancelled the insurance. It wasn't until I noticed TMTI on my bank statement last week that I realised that my bank account has been raided to the tune of £54.20 over the past year. TMTI has agreed to refund the latest debit of £18.32 but not the earlier 2 x £17.94=£35.88.

    I've made it clear to mobiles.co that I consider them a party to fraud (for all that's worth) but is there any other action I can take either to recover my money from these thieves or to make them work harder to keep their ill-gotten goods. I'm livid.
  • OneADay
    OneADay Posts: 9,031
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    fabfor wrote: »
    I got a phone from mobiles.co a year ago and, being savvy (or so I thought) immediately cancelled the insurance. It wasn't until I noticed TMTI on my bank statement last week that I realised that my bank account has been raided to the tune of £54.20 over the past year. TMTI has agreed to refund the latest debit of £18.32 but not the earlier 2 x £17.94=£35.88.

    I've made it clear to mobiles.co that I consider them a party to fraud (for all that's worth) but is there any other action I can take either to recover my money from these thieves or to make them work harder to keep their ill-gotten goods. I'm livid.

    Admittedly, its confusing when you do not know that they add this thing to the order but all cpw group of retailers offer it ... for some reason ... not sure why anyone would want it. But its mandatory on all orders.

    If you look at the order email you got and any paperwork, TMTI ought to be mentioned on that - so you would have been warned.

    And TMTI themselves send out an email to the customer telling them about the service.
  • mobilejunkie
    mobilejunkie Posts: 8,460 Forumite
    edited 4 July 2011 at 8:05PM
    One of the main problems/reasons why people don't get this right is that when they order it is listed as "PhoneCare Insurance" and "Gadget Helpline". These are trade names (note the capitals at the start of each word), not descriptions. Then you receive things from "Geek Squad" (which I got wrong myself one one occasion!) whilst Gadget Helpline is also known as "TMTI" (Talk Me Through It).

    On the letter confirming cancellation of "Geek "squad" there is absolutely NO mention of Gadget Helpline OR TMTI/Talk Me Through It. Indeed, whilst one heading states "We don't like the thought of you not being protected" and goes on to say "should your technology equipment get stolen or damaged, we can spring into action" - explicitly meaning it is INSURANCE, the NEXT heading states "And Geek Squad can do a lot more for you than fix your equipment" - explaining "we like nothing better than to help you regain control over your unruly equipment and get the most out of it" - explicitly meaning they are there to advise on the use and functions of the equipment (i.e. Gadget Helpline). Not only is this as clear as mud as to WHAT it refers to (is it insurance or is it TMTI/Gadget Helpline??!) BUT it also APPEARS that (in actuality) CPW intended providing both as ONE policy but then realised it could make twice as much by splitting it into two - but forgot to sort all the wording out. This is even more likely given that both "Geek Squad" and "PhoneCare" have The Carphone Warehouse on the bottom of both letters/communications and there is no obvious relation to ANY separate insurer or provider. Aviva is mentioned in the small print at the end of the cover document as the insurer - but everything else points to it all being done by/through CPW. By splitting it into two not only can they extract higher payments but also make it more likely that confused customers won't cancel BOTH.

    In principle when a deal is offered and accepted and clearly states it includes one month's free on each (with payments thereafter) it's hardly fraud. Sharp and undesireable practice and a means of squeezing extra income by slight of hand, possibly. Using different names after the event is just plain dishonest and wrong and done with the sole reason of confusing and misleading customers. Can't say I have any sympathy for people (and there appear to be many) who allow sums to be taken from their bank account without noticing for a month though - that alone a year - and I expect any court of law would come to the same conclusion.

    The golden rule is ALWAYS: if you don't read through all the terms and conditions and understand them, don't agree to it in the first place. Apart from the slight of hand with different names for the same thing (which is inexcusable) people who sign up to deals without a long hard look have only themselves to blame.
  • fabfor
    fabfor Posts: 82
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    Thanks for your responses guys and particularly to MJ for the explanation - though I don't accept that the victims of "sharp and undesirable practice" by major companies should be blamed.

    I got fooled because I was wise to the insurance scam (which I effectively dealt with), not suspecting that a new scam had been added on.:mad:

    Anyhow, the good news is that I did as Panther advised and emailed the MD who readily agreed to give me a full refund of £54.20.

    A big kiss to Panther:p!
  • mobilejunkie
    mobilejunkie Posts: 8,460 Forumite
    You do a good service as well by posting it on here; those who do some research before they order will be aware they must not fall into the same trap.

    As far as blaming the customer/victim is concerned, I am really referring to not checking bank statements for months (or even years) on end. Direct debits can be wrong - wrong in the first place or for incorrect amounts as well as (real) fraud. Nowadays it should be as basic as checking your car regularly. It's neither difficult nor time consuming but could save you an arm and a leg (bit like that car!). There is a long, non-ending line of people appearing on various threads on here in the context of mobile phones alone; apart from TMTI/insurance they pay out for terminated mobile contracts, current mobiles contracts but for more than they agreed to and so on - and don't seem to notice for an age. If you don't check your tyres etc. you are can't entirely blame others if they let you down and if you don't check your bank statements unintended payments will go unnoticed. It's your money and no-one else is going to check it for you! It's easy to see how many people get ripped off in supermarkets because the lables on the shelf don't match what's charged at the till (I always check my receipts and quitre often find such discrepancies) when they don't even check their bank statements at least monthly. I actually check mine on-line every day -though I am not suggesting people go that far. Apart from anything else, it's good money management - and with money as stretched as it usually is nowadays I'd have thought a minimal amount of time invested in that would pay large dividends!
  • Very helpful Imzadi_chester...Thanks. TMTI is linked to Dialaphone and is a help and advice service that you sign up for when taking a mobile phone package from them. If you accidentally sign up to it and they take some money out of your account, just give them a ring and they should give you a full or partial refund. That's what I also did. And as Imzadi_chester says, they were very friendly and offered a partial refund to me without having to ask for one. I would say that the number provided by Imzadi_chester is now no longer in use and you have to ring 0844 477 2995:beer:
  • In case you don't receive your welcome letter in time for cancellation, do the following:

    1. Go to your bank direct debit and take the reference number from the TMTI direct debit, something like DLAPxxxxxxxx. If you don't have this, take the 8 digit customer reference from your mobile phone contract and add DLAP in front of it.

    2. Use this to cancel TMTI online on Gadget Helpline using your bank account number and email.

    It works. I didn't received their welcome letter within the 30 days and they seem to do this intentionally, a scam that should be stopped. :(
  • TMTI Email address :- enquiries@tmti.net
    send email to cancel. Keep your copy. Sorted......
  • Sent them email yesterday and got 2 reply emails stating direct debit has been cancelled...... No problems what so ever, only sent them one email aswell. Good luck guys....:j
  • I was in the same situation, cancelled insurance and all extras as soon as I took out the contract, never authorised DD for thiis, and it was never explained to me as part of the contract.
    I phoned my bank (First Direct) when I saw the dd had been set up and money taken. They said they would pursue it with the company on my behalf under the DD indemnity scheme, and would refund the money, pending any challenge from TMTI. I await further developments!
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