Primus contract cancellation - please help

MickdaMiller

Hi all,

I really hope someone can advise me on what to do. I signed up for Primus line rental at the end of November last year through homephonechoices on the £7.99 a month deal for 12 months. However they actually put me on their £8.99 a month deal with an additional £2.50 fee for caller ID - as I only use my line for broadband I didn't need this and I eventually managed to get them to credit the caller ID amounts for the first few months and take it off my package. However, incredibly, it took them until March 2011 to correct my package and honour the £7.99 deal I had signed up for. I got a standard email at this point welcoming me to Primus, even though I'd been with them since November! After an incredible amount of badgering them (including emailing every primus contact I could find online!) I was finally relieved to be on what I'd signed up for. I also made the decision at this point that I would get out of the contract in November 2011 and switch to a more expensive but better provider (IDNet).

I started the process of switching two weeks ago and, after holding for 20 minutes with Primus 'Customer Service' as usual, I also phoned their accounts payable department and spoke to Robert who reluctantly looked into my account (apparently that's 'not his job') and confirmed that my contract would expire on 23rd November and would then just roll month by month until I cancelled it. Furthermore I sent an email to savers@primustel.co.uk informing them that I would be leaving on the 23rd November and received a named response from a guy called Ollie (including his direct line) acknowledging my request but also informing me that my contract was due to run until March 2012 so I would have to pay an early cancellation fee! I immediately clarified my position to him and explained what had happened with my account history. I asked for his clarification but received no response. I called his direct line which went straight to voicemail - I left a message and sent two further emails and again received no response. I tried to call him again today and it went straight to voicemail.

So I phoned customer service today and held on until someone answered. The lady I spoke to told me that when they moved me to the correct tariff in March 2011 it meant that I had also entered into a new 12 month agreement and that this would have been in the terms and conditions!! At no point was this discussed or agreed with me and it was entirely their fault that I was on the wrong tariff in teh first place. I asked her to put me through to someone who could help and she said that no-one in her department would have the authority to correct my account and that her department 'don't deal with complaints'!! I said 'sorry which department are you again?'' to which she replied 'customer service'! How ridculous. So I said please transfer me to the complaints department - apparently they don't take calls and guess what email address I to send to? Yep that's right savers@primustel.co.uk - where this all began and the same email address that Ollie uses. I said to her that it's crazy and she apologsied but said that there's nothing she could do. I explaine dthat I wasn't getting a response from that address any more and she said it's becuase we've had a lot of new customers sign up so we're busy. She also told me that the early cancellation fee would be my montly tariff multiplied by the number of months remaining on my contract - £39.95.

I'm at my wits end. I'm due to switch over to IDNET on the 23rd November but I can't pay for two line rentals. I'm convinced Primus will continue to ignore me and hope I'll give up. I know I could cancel my direct debit but I don't want them rasing a CCJ against me and screwing my credit rating.

I'd be so grateful for anyone's help/suggestions.

Thank you

Heinz

You don't have to contact your existing line rental provider to move, you just contact the NEW provider and they deal with the old one for you.

MickdaMiller

Hi,

Sadly that's not the issue - the handover has been agreed. It's the fact that Primus are saying I have to pay out the rest of my contract until March 2011 - something I never agreed to when they finally sorted out my tariff 4 months after I signed up with them.

Heinz

Then dispute the charge and take the matter to Otelo if and when you reach an impasse with Primus.

MickdaMiller

Thank you. I have emailed Ollie at Primus and told him he has 24 hours to respond to me agreeing to honour the original agreement from 12 months ago or I will be escalating to Otelo. I'm sur ethat Primus won't surprise me by suddenyl admitting their guilt so I think the complaint procedure is going to be my only option unfortunatley.