CustomerStreet charge

Nile

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

Robert2009

Someone phones you out of the blue to sell you something you don't want and you spend 40 minutes on the phone with them. Do you know that there is a button either on the phone or on the base that the phone sits on that disconnects the call.

USE IT!

I get calls like this all the time "Hello Mr crabby git I am from space kitchens (insert your own company here) you have won an award for a kitchen" Me "!!!! OFF" then press button. EASY!

Reggie_Rebel

As Zammo said.

JUST SAY NO

Happy_To_Help_2

Andrea_Lane wrote: »

Where can you make the official complaint? I signed up with them a fortnight ago after a 40 minute (at least) call. They cut the charges in half to £150 for joining up, and £30 per month as they said I was a start up business. At no time did they say it was excluding VAT. They also said that they wouldn't take the £30 until the end of March but when I checked my account £207 had been taken out which I worked back to find that's the £150 and £30 plus VAT.

I decided to cancel two days after getting the Direct Debit confirmation from Ufindus and before the 'welcome' pack from BT Customer Street (which incidently doesn't have any invoice or contract details only another form for an direct debit and instructions on how to log in to their site). I had checked various forums online and no one had a good thing to say about them. The professional forum for photographers I belong to all said they had never got any business at all through them.

When I cancelled I got an incident number emailed to me at the time of cancelling and they contacted me today but said I have no rights to cancel. I'm at my wits end. I feel an absolute idiot to have been taken in by them.

What can I do? Anything?

First and fore most understand you rights. As a business, consumer law does not protect you from purchases of this type i.e. no cool off period - so you need to ensure you have recieved what you have bought or think you have bought. the easiest way to do this is request the call recording under the data protection act. if there is no call recording they cannot hold you to a contract since no proof of contract exists. when you get the call play the reasonable assumption game. note down every point that is made and next to it note down your understanding of what was said or implied. call the company query the facts you were told and your understanding of them and if they do not match, or it is reasonable for you to assume something that was untrue the contract is void. companies are responsible for the "assumptions" their customers make, especially when there are so many complaining about the same thing - if they have implied something e.g. first page of google and allow you to make that presumption by leading you this actually constitutes fraud under the fraud act 2006 :T

MothballsWallet

Customer_Street wrote: »

I have been able to locate your file and have had now had the opportunity to listen to the sales call. I can advise that the payment was discussed and agreed to and we also provided you with the payment authorisation code after the transaction was made.

I can however advise you that in this instance as a gessture of goodwill we will be arranging for a refund on the package.

If there are any other concerns then please dont hesitate to contact me at [EMAIL="ad@customerstreet.com"]ad@customerstreet.com[/EMAIL].

Graham Armstrong
Accountability Manager

Also, if you want to post on behalf of your company you must contact the forum team and get their permission - it's in the forum rules.

gotcher

Happy_To_Help wrote: »

.............- if they have implied something e.g. first page of google and allow you to make that presumption by leading you this actually constitutes fraud under the fraud act 2006 :T

This may not seem relevant.

It was about six years ago I was contacted by IOMART. The sales man said he guaranteed to get my website on the 1st page of Google. Before contacting them my website was just visible, after two days of their service my site was totally invisible. I gave them the benifit and stuck it out for 3 months to see if it would improve, it did not. I then complained, eventually I wrote a very stern message to every member of the board (about 8 at the time) and I got my money back.

IOMART is a S H I T company and should be closed down ASAP

AlantheCourier

I've read all the stuff about BT Customerstreet on here and can, unfortunately, relate to it all and there seems no point in relating my experience!

However, is there anybody out there who can offer any suggestions as to how these clowns may be stopped - it is too late for us but it would be nice to see them get their comuppance and also save other new starters some money

Spitfire147

Hi

I think I have been stupid enough to fall foul of the BT Customer street scam. 2 very long very hard sell phone calls, with discount after discount until I got the set up fee to £150.

Is this a scam? Or do they just provide an atrocious service? I have yet to have any e-mail from them, or welcome pack, but having read the above am desperatly worried I have made some huge mistake!!

Can anyone enlighten me as to any successes they have had in separating themselves from BT Customer street.

Many thanks in advance for any forthcoming advice.

Amistoso_2

Customer_Street wrote: »

I have been able to locate your file and have had now had the opportunity to listen to the sales call. I can advise that the payment was discussed and agreed to and we also provided you with the payment authorisation code after the transaction was made.

I can however advise you that in this instance as a gessture of goodwill we will be arranging for a refund on the package.

If there are any other concerns then please dont hesitate to contact me at [EMAIL="ad@customerstreet.com"]ad@customerstreet.com[/EMAIL].

Graham Armstrong
Accountability Manager

How the hell could this person possibly know who is being spoken about here? maybe he does work for this company but there is no way he would know this persons details and to discuss it on an open forum is way unprofessional

ridgebk

i have just read your post and it sounds as if you took the words from
my mouth. they have done the same to me .i was wondering how you resolved your problem i have just been contacted by black recoverys the are thretening me with the courts, they are also telling me that the recording they made of the sales call has been destroyed so its there word against mine . any help would be great thanks john.

nocashatall2009 wrote: »

Suckered me too, I feel so stupid.
i have just read your post and it sounds as if you took the words from
my mouth. they have done the same to me .i was wondering how you resolved your problem i have just been contacted by black recoverys the are thretening me with the courts, they are also telling me that the recording they made of the sales call has been destroyed so its there word against mine . any help would be great thanks john.

Cold called two weeks before Christmas 2008 on my (newly added to Yell.com) mobile number so of course I was going to answer it may of been a customer.

Hard, hard sell. Reduction after reduction after reduction on the price, got it down to £149.39, which I really needed for presents but with all those customers out there being able to see my services seemed worth it.

Was told or should I say lead to believe, the £149.39 was for first page Google listing and a website. Told to try it for 12 month, if I was not happy with the service and the amount of customers I could cancel and don't pay anything until next year.

Because it was so late in the year, rightly or wrongly I assumed that ment I'd paid for 12 months out of the £149.39 and after the 12 month, If I didn't want it any more I could then cancel or continue by paying £30 per month for the website.

Debit card payment paid immediate.
Received no contract or welcome pack explaining the terms.
Website went live in January before I had even seen it.

Shock horror when in January 2009 I found a Direct Debit Mandate set up on my Bank Account for regular payments of £30. I already had enough D/D's on that account I couldn't afford yet another, so no way on earth I would of agreed to that. The details I was asked for and what I supplied were for the Debit Card payment of £149.39 only.

I immediately cancelled the D/D and informed BT Customerstreet of this after seeing Blogs and forums from other customers complaining about them and the art work they had used in the making of their website without Reuters permission. Turned out the company who's name was on the website apparently became liable for fees and not the company BT Customerstreet that made it. I told them I wished to cancel. I was given a case number and it was arrange for someone to call me back.

SIMON at BT Customerstreet who called me after, informed me that I couldn't just cancel because I had changed my mind, only he could cancel the service contract and I had to continue to pay £30 per month under some business to business contract law.

I have refused to pay a penny for the last 6 months, they had a company called Black's Collections (PO Box 2113 Blackpool FY4 2XZ, check it out on google earth or maybe someone in Blackpool could go round and see what is there) send me a demand for £103.32, for three months unpaid fee's.


It would appear to be for a 'pay per click service' and dispite all the visits they claim have gone through them to their webpage in my company name, I have had ZERO WORK GENERATED FROM IT.

Why should I be expected to pay for a service that doesn't work?

For all I or anyone knows, they could be paying other people sat at home in front of their PC's and Laptops to repeatedly pay a visit to a list of website's on their books simply to generate a 'CLICK' for which they can charge £30 per month for!!!!???


Funny how I have had NO WORK COME IN FROM ANY CLICK FROM THEM, don't you think?

I have contacted the DTi through the Office Of Fair Trading, they sent me a format for a letter to reclaim my £149.39 under Breach of Contract, seeing has BT Customerstreet send me no contract or terms and set up a live website in my name before I had approved it.


I will keep you all Posted as to further out comes.