Help Needed.vibe Fm Win A Phone For A Year

photome

I have posted this in the comps section, but I guess thats the wrong palce.

In April/May this year Vibefm (east anglia radio station) were running a daily comp and giving away 50 phones complete with a 12 month contract on T mobile with 500 inc minutes and 200 inc texts worth £35 a month.

I won one of these phones and it turned out that a company called Onlycommunications were the company supplying the funds for this comp and that each winner had to sign a 12 month contract with T mobile and pay them direct and Onlycommunications would pay £35 a month into my account for 12 months.

Contract started in june and Onlycommunications duly paid £35 in to my account in july and in aug, but then payments stopped, so I am owed £105 at the moment.

I have been in touch with Onlycommunications and they kept fobbing me off telling me money was on its way etc and now they wont answer phones or emails.

I have been in touch with Vibe only now they are called Kiss (same office and phone number), who tell me they cant get any answers from Onlycommunications either. They are trying to get T mobile to cancel the remaining term of the contract and if they can do that they will look at paying compensation for money owed.

This has been going on for over a month now and I dont really know who to turn to, I am hoping there may be others on here who won a phone as they must have given away around 1000 phones.

I have two letters from onlycommunications stating I won a phone from Vibe with a 12 month contract and that they would pay me back monthly.

Even if Kiss can cancel the contract and get the money I am owed back ( which is the minimum I want) it still leaves me without the prize that I won for the remainder of the contract.

I believe that I should be fighting Kiss who used to be Vibe (that could be a problem) for whatever? as it was them that I won the phone from.

Any help would be appreciated

gyzmo

My first stop would be the OFT. Things like this can get awfully complicated, and you do not want to lose out through no fault of your own.

Keep hold of ALL documentation and write everything down as you have here (inlcude dates and every detail you can think of, no matter how seemingly unimportant).

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

GiveItBack

speak to trading standards and CAB too. You might be able to claim against Kiss fm, while I'm fairly sure youcan claim against Onlycommunications through small claims court

libra10

Alternatively, you could submit a complaint online to the ASA, at

http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/

They are brilliant at dealing with this type of complaint. I had been waiting for a prize from The Sun for ages, and they were fobbing me off. As soon as the ASA became involved the prize sponsor phoned straight away, apologised, and the item was delivered within a week.

I had also been waiting for a cheque since July 06 from a company who run internet surveys. They didn't anwer emails and time was running on. Within two weeks of contacting ASA the cheque was in my hands.

The advertisement stated winners receive a free prize phone, and that is what you should have received.

Good luck, let us know how you get on

photome

GiveItBack wrote:

speak to trading standards and CAB too. You might be able to claim against Kiss fm, while I'm fairly sure youcan claim against Onlycommunications through small claims court

I have tried the first option Trading standards and while they are sympathetic, they cannot get invovled because it was a competition.
I think i am going to put in writing that i want Kiss to sort it within 7 days and then see what happens.

Trading standards did hint that i wasnt the first person to inform them....I wish i knew where there were others so we could get together

gyzmo

7 days is a bit too short. You really are best of contacting the OFT. whether your claim is against Kiss FM or Only communications will depend on teh terms of the competition. It is possible (but unlikely) that the competition contract is not legally enforceable. as I said before, it is a very complex field, and expert help will be needed to resolve the situation with you coming out tops.

photome

gyzmo wrote:

7 days is a bit too short. You really are best of contacting the OFT. whether your claim is against Kiss FM or Only communications will depend on teh terms of the competition. It is possible (but unlikely) that the competition contract is not legally enforceable. as I said before, it is a very complex field, and expert help will be needed to resolve the situation with you coming out tops.

I have tried...as the OFT website gives the link I used to get in touch with Trading standards who believe that Kiss are liable but they cannot get invovled.

I have rung Kiss again who think that by the end of this week they will be able to cancel the contracts and payback any monies owed.

That doesnt get me the rest of the 12 month contract but it may be the best I can hope for.

I think i will leave it till end of week and then if it is not resolved, I may see if the local news are interested or watchdog.

photome

libra10 wrote:

Alternatively, you could submit a complaint online to the ASA, at

http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/

They are brilliant at dealing with this type of complaint. I had been waiting for a prize from The Sun for ages, and they were fobbing me off. As soon as the ASA became involved the prize sponsor phoned straight away, apologised, and the item was delivered within a week.

I had also been waiting for a cheque since July 06 from a company who run internet surveys. They didn't anwer emails and time was running on. Within two weeks of contacting ASA the cheque was in my hands.

The advertisement stated winners receive a free prize phone, and that is what you should have received.

Good luck, let us know how you get on

I did look at the website but wasnt really sure if it applied to a radio competition

photome

I have bumped this up in the hope of finding others in the same boat.
I have had one other person contact me.

The situation is still ongoing but may be resolved tomorrow

ajp8806

photome, i'm in exactly the same boat as you unfortunatly. There was an article in today's EDP about the whole fiasco. Been such a chore getting in contact with the right people at vibe fm. Let me know if you have any luck. Spoke to t-mobile, who offered me half-price line rental for the remainder, but still waiting back from vibe/kiss. Have to see what amounts...

janamills

Hi I've been looking at these posts for a couple of days. Like you I have been let down or 'had' by Only Communications. They owe me £70 for two months not paid. They never even paid anything into my bank account - I had to ring where they told me there was problem with BACS payments. They sent me a cheque. The next month I rang and they sent me another cheque. This month they've disappeared completely. I rang T mobile and they offered me half price line rental which I have accepted for now. I have emailed the manager at Kiss radio and am awaiting a reply. I didn't see the article in the EDP - can you tell me what it said please?

It's such a rip off - makes you so cynical and we could all do without all this extra hassle I'm sure.