Unicom Complaints

Pixarstem

It is up to the telephone provider to make consumers aware of key charges of the contract at the point of sale and if they fail to do so, they are in breach of the General Conditions

Check out note 24.6 C(ii) of Ofcom's General Condition 24 on Sales and Marketing of Fixed-Line Telephony Services

Information at Point of sale
24.6 The Gaining Communications Provider must take all reasonable steps to ensure that before entering into a contract for a Fixed-Line Telecommunications Service the Customer who is transferring the line:
a) is authorised to do so;
b) intends to enter into the contract; and
c) is provided with the information set out below in a clear, comprehensible, prominent and accurate manner, in paper or another Durable Medium which is available or accessible to the Customer or, where the Customer enters into the contract during a sales call, by telephone:
(i) the identity of the legal entity the Customer is contracting with and its telephone, website and/or e-mail contact details;
(ii) a description of the Fixed-Line Telecommunications Service requested; the key charges, including minimum contract charges, and any early termination charges, if applicable; payment terms; the existence of any termination right, termination procedures and the Customer’s right to cancel at no cost from the point of sale to the completion of the Transfer Period; the arrangements for provision of the service, including the order process and, as accurately as possible, the likely date of provision of the service and any minimum period of contract.

Mr_Trick

I have received a copy of the recording of the contract from Unicom. Extracts of the 'contract' and the results are here:- http://bekramodels.co.uk/unicom/unicom.php .
Obviously..
DON'T AGREE TO A VERBAL CONTRACT WITH ANYONE (ESPECIALLY UNICOM) UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED TO LOSE A LOT OF MONEY.

secretwitch

Hi there,
I recently thought about signing up with Unicom and was advised by BT that I had a running contract with them and that my cancelation fee would be £345, after discussing my options with BT on the 7th DEC 2012 I was then transferred by the operator to UNicom where I requested a cancelation of the service before its start date on the 13th Dec and, Unicom informed me that I was to request a copy of my contract from BT to prove that the cancelation fee was legal and binding and proceeded to email me a letter to request the information. During this conversation Unicom stated that they would pay this cancelation fee for me if it was due and the informed me that they would wait until the end of January to allow me time to speak to BT again and await my proof of contract from BT. I agreed to contact BT on the understanding that I had no contract with UNICOM as it would take time over the holiday period to allow BT to send out my documents etc. I then came of the phone and cancelled the direct debt for unicom with my bank as I had an existing contract with BT that I could not get out of.
I received a letter from Unicom requesting my direct debts with them be reinstated as the had decided to go ahead with taking over my line rental from BT on the 13th of December, I was furious as I was already paying for my line with BT and had not cancelled my contract with them and UNICOM had lied to me regarding waiting until the end of January 2013 before waiting on my decision to change over. I phoned them up to complain and was given the runaround and eventually hung up on them due to the stress and anxiety that they had put me through regarding my phone line etc. I contacted BT and informed them that in no way had I authorised the takeover of my line from BT and requested an imediate return of my line to BT.
I had been waiting until after the holiday period to sort things out when I got several phone calls from UNICOMS complaints department regarding my account with them, Each time a told them I had no account with them as I was paying for my contract with BT and each time they got me upset and stressed where I was physically sick with the whole affair causing me to hang up.
As it stands my line is being returned to BT on the 16th of January and Unicom state that I owe them an estimate of £300 cancelation fees plus the line rental and phone calls made during the period with them even though I never agreed to the go ahead.
I am currently off work long term sick with mental health problems and don't need this harassment and stress on top, this is quiet distressful and confusing to me and I would appreciate any help or advice regarding my dilemma on what to Do now!
Please advise me as I don't know where to go next.

Pixarstem

Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, have taken a dim view of telecoms that have automatically rolled over contracts between 1st Jan 2012 to 31st Dec 2012 as this was the time that Ofcom had allocated for telecoms to phase out rolling contracts and offer customers an alternative deal.

If Unicom have automatically rolled over your contract during 2012 it should be reported to Ofcom on 0300 123 3333 to enable them to monitor what telecoms are up to. Ofcom can also offer advice and point you in the right direction about what can be done.

echo

i know somebody who is with these and the BT line has been down since the 12th of this month.it's in the contract that unicom won't pay out compensation.is this kosher.can they say this? the person concerned runs a hairdresser's so has had to give his present customers his mobile number.

any help would be appreciated.

macman

No compensation unless it's a business line. Is it? There is no SLR on a residential contract, so all he'll get is a credit for the downtime if he asks. Technically he is breaking the T&C's anyway if running a business on a residential contract.
Otherwise it depends what his contract says.

echo

thanks.can't give you anymore info at the minute

Pixarstem

I'm afraid it's kosher because it is in the contract that your friend agreed to. See the clause below from their Terms & Conditions. He could try appealing to their better nature for a downtime credit but tell him not to hold his breath. Unicom are not known for their generosity.

Faults
5.1 Unicom will use reasonable endeavours to report to its principals any fault on the Network, which is reported to it by the Customer. Unicom shall not be liable to the Customer for any losses incurred as a result of a fault on the Network, or as a result of any delays in repairing a fault on the Network.
5.2 Unicom shall not be liable to the Customer for any losses incurred as a result of any interruption to the Service.

Mr_Trick

Unicom are now claiming they have a three year contract for three lines. They now want £1,350 to get out of an agreement I never made. Just put the phone down on them.

themightyn

Can someone please send me a copy of their contracts (take out your name or any confidential details etc). Ideally both residential and small business (i.e you spend less than 5k ex VAT/annum with them) I work in the fixed line communications market (so i'm VERY in the know legally) and from what i've been reading time and time again I believe they are in breach of several key safe guards as set out in the Communications Act 2003 to protect both residential and small business line.

If your in a Three contract... then as long as it was after a certain date in 2011 (I need to check as i don't have the exact paragraph to hand at home), its automatically null. If your communication operator has an issue with that. They can take it up with Ofcom and is unenforceable.

Please PM me.