Anyone heard of about comms? should I take the deal??

Glitterbin

Dear Mrs Unhappy, Please do not hold out much hope for the recorded calls - you will never receive a taped recording of your calls, just a typed "record" of your conversation, with relevant points excluded. Sorry. Been there myself :-(

mutz_2

MrsUnhappy wrote: »

Please read my post before entering into a contract with this company.......

A woman contacted me by telephone 12 months ago from Advanced Data Networks (About Comms) and said she could get me a cheaper deal on my mobile. At that time, my husband had a very basic 'pay as you go' which cost him approx £5 a month and I had an 'Orange' contract Smartphone which worked out at £15 a month. I didn't think it was possible but for £20.00 per month I was told I could have four contract mobiles with the Three network - each one having 1125 any network minutes, 2000 same network minutes and 150 texts per month.

The package consisted of one Samsung Galaxy Ace with 2GB internet and three basic Nokia handsets (internet not included in package on these but available if required at extra cost).

Before making a decision, I Googled Advanced Data Network but found nothing. I also rang the Three Network who confirmed that they did receive customers from ADN but couldn’t discredit them.

Having looked at the paperwork that came with the phones, it did indeed work out at £20 a month after receiving four cashback payments from About Comms. They paid off my Orange contract which was around £300 and I commenced with this new Three package. After a few weeks, I was concerned when I realised that the cashback only referred to a period of 12 months and the contract was for 24 months. When I telephoned ADN stating that I didn't want to pay any more than the £20 a month, I was assured that after 12 months the contract would be looked at again and they would assess the current market and get us a deal more suitable to our needs.

During the past year, every time I rang ADN to request a cashback due, I met with an answering machine saying that they were very busy and it could take up to 5 minutes to be answered. On most occasions it was nearer 10 mins. Payment was always promised in the next few days but normally took several more calls and at least a couple of weeks before it reached my account. In addition to this, emails should be responded to within 24 working hours, however, when I emailed they did not even give me the courtesy of a reply.

Then, on the 16th Feb I phoned them to request cashback, but when I received the payment in my bank account on the 29th Feb, it was only half of what was expected. When I phoned to ask why, I was informed that it was because only two phones were being used. No one had told me that I must use all handsets to ensure payment for them. I consequently was then asked to make calls from the two other mobiles and they would then instigate cashback payments for them. The second part of the payment due on the 16th May finally arrived on the 2nd July.

I am now half way through my contract with ADN (12 months) and having heard nothing from them, I telephoned to see what could be done. I have been informed that there is not much chance of reducing the full £127.00 per month I am currently paying because it would not be to ADN’s benefit to pay off these mobiles which still have 12 months on them. They say they will look into it by listening to the sales recording where I definitely stated that I was quite happy with my current set up and did not want to spend any more than £20 per month.

I chased them up again, four days after they said they would ring me to be told that they are still awaiting the recording and will contact me tomorrow. They did not contact me. I rang again a week later to be told that the recordings had been received but not listened to as yet. They say they will ring me but I very much doubt that anything will be done and consequently will have no option but to pay approx £123 for the next 12 months. I’ve been left feeling very embarrassed that I was talked into such a deal and want to let others know of my situation. I wish this forum was available to me twelve months ago.

Three network have ceased trading with Advanced Data Networks and from my experience I can see why.

If you are considering entering into a contract with these people, think again, you may end up very much out of pocket and stuck in a contract that you can’t get out of unless you pay the remaining months outstanding.

Almost exactly the same problem ! Buyer beware this company is scum.

MrsUnhappy_2

Please keep me in the loop here.

I have 10 months left to pay on a 2 year contract with 3. Unfortunately I was given two additional phones as well as the two I required. Now in the second year, with no more cash forthcoming and no upgrades as promised, I'm having to pay in excess of £170 per month for one smartphone and one very basic Nokia handset which is only used for the odd call now and then. The other two handsets have always been surplus to requirements but now I find myself having to pay the full £30 per month for them as well, even though they are never used and one is still in its unsealed original box.

Even though I've sent them a Recorded Delivery letter threatening further action, I am still waiting for the recording of the initial sales call which was promised weeks ago.

Richard_136

In October 2012 somebody claiming to be from T-Mobile, contacted my mother.

The caller then said to my mum that as she had been a loyal customer for many years they would like to offer her a reduction in her monthly bill and also offer her a new phone.

Mum said she did not want the phone but would of course like to have the reduction in her monthly bill. A new phone was sent to her house serval weeks later buit with no paper work.

While back home for Christmas mum mentioned to me that her monthly phone bills had doubled. I called T-Mobile for an explanation and this is when they told me that mum had agreed to enter a contract for 24 months with about comms which tripled the number of minutes and texts. I have complained to T-Mobile who initially told me to contact about comms directly. However, this was not possible as the website for about comms does not seem to have any more than a home page. A polite and helpful lady from T-Mobile has promised to get back to me before end of this week with an update to my complaint.

In short, I strongly recommend that you avoid about comms and advise your parents (my mum is over 70) to not agree to any 'deals' offered to them over the phone, no matter how good they sound.

spread01

hi, new to t his site but, i did a search on google on "about comms" as i have been having some serious issues with them.

i haven't read all the threads thoroughly but skim read most of them and from what i can see i am not alone.

About comms signed me up to a 36month contract with out telling me 2 years ago, i kicked up a fuss with them and o2(my network) last year, 1 year into my contract, to get an upgrade, they eventually and very reluctantly gave me another phone, BUT, again with out me realising renewed my 36 month contract after i specifically told them that it must be a continuation of my contract to which at the time they agreed !

i am again in talks with o2 who have escalated the issue to get me out of the contract with them, i can't afford to buy out as it is £60 per month inc.
I tried to talk to the manager "Gary Mann" today, but i have a feeling that yet again he won't return my calls, he is such an arrogant bloke to talk to, luckily i don't live too far away so if he doesn't return my call then i may have to go and visit his office one morning.
i will keep you posted of my progress, but in the mean time for anyone reading this post
DO NOT GO TO ABOUT COMMS in Gosport they should be called about cons !!!!!

ellie1108

I received a Cold Call to our business premises on or around August 19th 2011, I had no initial interest. In early September 2011 Advanced Data Networks operator **** called and offered 1 x Iphone 4 at a feeof £40/month, 1125 minutes, 150 texts and unlimited internet for a 2 year contract. We advised Advanced Data Networks (adn) that we were not sure whenour contract was due to end with virgin (our current providers) so were notinterested at this time

After persistent phone calls and assurance that theywould take care of everything including existing contracts from virgin we decided to agree a slightlybetter deal

The New deal was Agreed alongside my wife who also spoke to a female operator at the same time of 2 iphones 4’s at £65/month total equals £32.50 each phone for the same tariff as above for 2 years

The operator received confirmation from her line manager togo ahead with the deal

I was also assured at this point that there were no hidden charges or cashback schemes involved as we had been involved in these schemesbefore with ‘3’ network and it was extremely difficult to re claim our moneyback



The operator proceeded to offer us 2 FREE sony erricson phones with the same tariff but no internet access as part of this deal. I point blank refused this additional freebie as part of the deal as I am a sole trader therefore do not require an additional 2 phones as we do not employ staff and I really did not trust the free theory

The operator assured me that it was completely free and kept insisting on us to take the free phones, we finally agreed reluctantly as we liked the idea of the iphones

I duly received the two new i phones promptly within 24hours, at this point I made another call to adn and spoke to a ***** to ask about the transfers of our existing mobile numbers, he advised me that I had to complete this process myself bycontacting my current supplier and retrieving a PUK code (even after initially agreeing that they would take care of all the change overs etc !)

Our current providers virgin advised us we were still bound by a contract with them and to get out of it the charges were as follows

£153 & £255.30 for the exisitng 2 phones My wifes and my own phone


We immediately telephoned adn and was put through to ****** who deals with the transfer of numbers and buy out options,

We advised that we wanted to return the unopened i phones as we couldn’t afford to pay the get out fees,

Adn promptly called me back and advised they would pay the get out fees for us, however we would have to pay the fees initially to our existing providers virgin and ADN would reimburse us, I was reluctant but trusted the company as calls were recorded !!


This was where the problems really started and I would like to add here that it took to January 11th 2012 before we were reimbursed of the above money, this was given after continual emails and telecons to a ****** who advised that I fax the proof of payments to our old network provider. This was faxed several times and posted out copies recorded mail but alas adn continued to state they had not received our proof

October 11th received our first bill for the new I phones. Low and behold it was a bill for £154.57 which was extremely different to the agreed £65 contract

Upon calling I was advised I had 4 phones and that was whyt he bill was higher than expected

I couldn’t believe it I never wanted the so called ‘free phones’ and at this stage we hadn’t even opened the boxes of the free phones because we didn’t need them

I told operator I never wanted phones in the first place and that I was assured on several occasions throughout the initial call that theywere free ‘you might as well have them’ was the flippant comment from the operator, I proceeded to advise that the phones were unopened in the sealed boxes due to not requiring and that I would return them asap.


I asked adn if they could find the recorded telephone conversation to prove that I had been told the sony ericsson phones were free and my initial refusal of them . Adn advised that this process could take up to2 weeks to try and retrieve my initial call. After several calls from myself and my wife to chase progress and a call to ‘3’ network operator: *** Ext ****ref: 11955437 , they finally admitted that we had been misold the free phones product and it was they’re mistake ,they stated that there was no mention of ever having to pay for the free phones at the point of selling me these products therefore they would honour the free sony ericcson, however I still wished to return them but they refused and said ‘KEEP THEM’


However there was a slight snag to the agreement, we were yet again entering a cashback situation ! I was advised that all 4 phones would have to be paid for each month by direct debit with a cashback every quarter. As you can now imagine this cashback situation has become a painful process which has been continuing for over 12 months as the money due back to us never goes back into our account without me having to continually hassle them for it (again exactly what we specifically said we didn’t want)

October 10th I received a letter from an independent company advising that I had taken out insurance for the phones at £25/month a new development as at no stage was insurance mentioned and at no stage did I authorise our personal details to be passed on to another company.

This was duly cancelled by another weary oversees telephonecall

October 2011 Spoke to ****again requesting our initial buy out money still owing to us and he advised it was being sorted

October 27th £136.92 was refunded back into our account for the start of our quarterly cashbacksituation

November 17th telephoned adn again and spoke to a female operator to advise still not received our buy out money she advised it was being sorted

Dec 11th called and left message with *** and advised if they would not pay up we would take to small claims court.

Dec 20th spoke to ***at 3 network to ask for help with retrieving our buy out money, he said that the issue had beenresolved on 11/11/11 allthough I assured him that I still hadn’t received anypayment. Steve assured me that it would be in our bank account within the next 48 hours (of course it wasn’t)

January 4th jan 2012 emailed adn asking for our buy out as still not received

January 5th phoned 3 network asked for there helpalso phoned fsb for advice, Federation of small businesses advised me at thisstage to not break the contract as they were not in breach yet because theywere ‘actively’ trying to resolve it !

January 6th faxed and emailed customer servicesthe copies of our evidence of paying the buy out from virgin

January 9th received second quarterly cash backfrom the mis sold sony ericcson phones of £164.31 direct into our account.


January 11th HOORAH finally refunded £463.28 our buy outcash back


October 19th called ‘3’ for advice on quarterlycash back, he advised they had proof of a contract that we only agreed to 12months cash back a contract by the way I or my wife have never seen neversigned and would never have agreed verbally due to admitting mis sold phones, Iasked for evidence of this so called contract but to date have not received.


Called **** at GK Telecom Friday October 19th as given his name and number by 3

He advised would find out more and call back

No call back was made


My wife Ellie called *** who again advised he had sent an email but would prioritise a new email to adn

Manager upgrade to urgent

Adn called me shortly after to advise a resolution would be made by 19/11/12

Advised 1/11/12 Resolved by 19/11 for proof of original phone call as now saying we only agreed to cash back for 12 months !

**** at GK Telecom also made my wife aware during one of the many calls that ADN were not obliged to keep calls after 12 months, however surely if there is ongoing issues with a customer you would not delete any ofthere calls, or has it conveniently been deleted so there is no longer evidence of the scam.


It is now 23/11/12 and low & behold no news no phone call, no email

I would also like to see the so called signed documentation for agreeing to the new argument of a 12 month contract. It will be interesting to see signatures as we have never signed anything !!

18/12/12 spoke to 3 who say that adn have evidence of a verbal agreement (not written as initially told us) and that they cant help but advised us to acquire a ‘subject to access’ this is full documentation on allour conversations throughout the whole process so that we can prove our claim.

3 advised they would initiate this process

Adn promptly called to advise that they had spoken to 3 and that we require subject to access documents, however although we are entitiled by freedom of information to obtain our documents they are also entitled to charge for the service. This would be a fee of £10 of which could not be paid over the phone but by cheque.

19/12/12 emailed Adn to ask who we write check to and who we send it to

20/12/12 sent £10 cheque to Advanced Data Networks by recorded delivery.

20/12/12 emailed adn to advise sent the cheque and asked how long it will take to compile the ‘soa’



Finally received ‘soa’ in a cd format on January 21st2013, I then had to make a further call back to adn to be given a password to access the recording !!!!!



OMG – I cant believe the recording is 2 minutes long and not all the above conversations as 3 had advised we would get, so I have payed £10 for them to send me a disc for the pc, which by the way was locked in a RARf ormat and I had to you tube a video for unlocking the disc without beingcharged by a computer company.



Upon finally accessing the voice message it is barely audible and appears to have been edited out in some areas of the T & C’s soyou only actually hear the bits they want you to hear, 12 months was mentioned but after the 24 month section and very quickly went on to discuss financial bits,

Adn have now offered a new package and say they will pay offthe 3 contract, I don’t want to stay with them and really need to get out


Can Anyone help !! CanI take to watchdog or attempt court I just want to terminate contract and start a fresh with a new company


Any advice welcome sorry for the long winded document butfortunately we inserted in our work diary all the conversations we had sothought I would share it

ellie1108

Richard_136 wrote: »

In October 2012 somebody claiming to be from T-Mobile, contacted my mother.

The caller then said to my mum that as she had been a loyal customer for many years they would like to offer her a reduction in her monthly bill and also offer her a new phone.

Mum said she did not want the phone but would of course like to have the reduction in her monthly bill. A new phone was sent to her house serval weeks later buit with no paper work.

While back home for Christmas mum mentioned to me that her monthly phone bills had doubled. I called T-Mobile for an explanation and this is when they told me that mum had agreed to enter a contract for 24 months with about comms which tripled the number of minutes and texts. I have complained to T-Mobile who initially told me to contact about comms directly. However, this was not possible as the website for about comms does not seem to have any more than a home page. A polite and helpful lady from T-Mobile has promised to get back to me before end of this week with an update to my complaint.

In short, I strongly recommend that you avoid about comms and advise your parents (my mum is over 70) to not agree to any 'deals' offered to them over the phone, no matter how good they sound.

Please read my problems with about comms it may make you feel a tiny bit better, however you are not alone These scum bags need reporting I cant believe we have no consumer rights, Its now going to cost me £800 to get out of the contract with these cowboys, I sympathise with your poor elderly mum its so wrong, how do these people sleep at night. :mad:

Katiesmother

I was contacted by this firm yesterday, originally proporting to be calling from T-mobile (but later saying they were an agent/dealer of T-mobile products) with whom I have a pay-as- you go phone. They told me that for £5.00 a month I would get 300 minutes, innumerable texts and a new phone. All I had to do was give them my bank details and we would be off! I was very tempted but, being a bit cautious with my bank details, I called T-mobile to try and verify the company. I have to say that T-mobile didn't come out of this well either! They were very largely uninterested. They told me they hadn't heard of the company - it wasn't an agent of theirs - and they weren't interested at all that there was a potentially fraudulent company pretending to be T-mobile or an agent of T-mobile. They seem to have no interest in the fact that they are linked to this company in people's eyes - didn't even want to ask me the telephone number of About-comms. Why?? Surely they would want to take some kind of action?

What really bothers me about this is that Aboutcomms contacted me under my maiden name - which altered just after I bought my current phonenumber/sim card from T-mobile some 10 years ago. This means that T-mobile MUST have released my details to Aboutcomms in order that they could contact me. And this is a company they don't even recognise. Isn't there a data protection act to cover this kind of situation?

bottletree

My wife had a call who she thought was from T-mobile, but yes its these scammers aboutcomms. I visited this site and have told her to cancel everything and return the mobile. We are contacting trading standards and T-mobile as they said they were and lied. She is also phoning her bank right now so this company do not get any money.
Will let you know how she gets on with this disgraceful company.

deadringermatilda

I've had a really good experience with AboutComms, I went onto their 6.12 deal with t-mobile and have had no problems so far. I got referred to them by a friend, who was called from about comms when she was due renewal with her t-mobile contract and they got her a good deal, 8 quid less to what she was spending a new phone with it. She got ten pound for referring me and I have referred one other person aswell. I can't stop raving about it, it's cut my phone package down each month by nearly 20 quid.