Business phones direct

trena1c

We have been with Business phones direct for approx 5 yrs for our company mobile contract. IN March 2011 we renewed a 2yr contract with 3, with the promise of handset upgrade after 12 months. In June this year, we contacted BPD to try to get an upgrade on our contract with 3, as we were eligible after 12 months. Our previous Account Manager Gareth Birkett was unavailable and we were passed on to Steve Davies. We spoke about upgrading our business phones with 3, he clearly informed us that 3 were ending all business contracts and that soon they will only be issuing contacts out to personal users and not business users, and suggested we move to a Vodafone contract as 3 would no longer be running business contracts. He told us he would sort out buying out our contract with 3, sort us out with new handsets and even make our phone bill cheaper every month. This to us as a business sounded good considering he said our current contract would soon be discontinued. Whent alking about which phones to have on our new contract, we informed him that our staff weren't very good with touch screen technology, and would rather one of the phones be slightly similar to perhaps a nokia e71, but must have a good camera, sat nav and good Internet access, Steve Davies advised us to get HTC Wildfire S phones, as they were easy to use, reliable etc. So we went ahead with the contract, and Steve Davies said he would sort out the buy out costs and how much etc, he then called me later that day to get me to ask 3 for the PAC codes for the phones to transfer to Vodafone, he informed me not to let 3 persuade me into staying with them and to ignore anything they say about the buyout fee's as they will say anything to keep us in the contract, He transferred me to 3, So I did as he said and ignored all of 3's conversation and focused on getting the PAC codes as he said to do so. Steve told us that as soon as we get our final bill from 3 to call up and send in the bill and he would get a cheque raised for it. We received the new phones, and our staff tried their best to get there head around the new phones, within a few days we had to contact BPD in regards to the handsets as our staff could not work with the touch screen technology, we were told we could switch to Blackberry 9300 phones instead, which we accepted, we were told that temporary handsets would be sent out to us and we would need to send the HTC phones back to business phones direct and once they were received the Blackberry phones would be issued out to us. We were told that the temporary handsets would be delivered the following day before 9am. almost 2 weeks later we were still awaiting the temporary handsets, we were continually on live chat with BPD to try to work out why they had not been delivered and kept being told they will be sent. Finally we received 1 temporary handset instead of 2 like we requested. So BPD expected us to then send 3 handsets back and work with only 1 phone. I contacted them to find out how they expected us to run a business with 1 handset, and suggested because of all the problems that they should send out the blackberry's and once received we would send the HTC phones back.BPD agreed to do this as long as they received a tracking number to prove we had sent them. So we received the blackberry's and everything seemed fine, until we gota call to say that one of the HTC's had a big deep crack down the 'middle of the screen' and if we don't send the blackberry back and take the HTC back then we would be billed for it! We insisted that there was no crack on the screen as our staff couldn't even use the phones, but nevertheless agreed for the HTC to come back to us and send the blackberry back. Once the HTC has been returned to us we examined the screen for damages, there was a small surface scratch to thebottom right hand corner of the screen and yet again phoned BPD and alsodiscussed this through live chat, but was told that we were basically stuck with it because you will not give us the blackberry back even though our staff couldn't use the HTC. So we left it at that, and a few weeks later we received our final bill from 3, which totalled up to £718 which stated that the buyout fee for each handset would be £285. We phoned up and informed BPD that we had received the bill and was asked to email over a copy of the bill showing thebuyout fee's etc, We did this and was informed a cheque would be raised with finance. After numerous calls and time spent on live chat AGAIN trying to get this cheque sent out to us, a cheque came through the post from BPD for £200, we were puzzled as to why the other £518 was missing. So yet again we phoned up BPD and spent time on live chat, and was told that they were only told the buyout fee would be £200, so that's all that would be raised, We spoke to Steve Davies who says he has call recordings with 3 stating it is only £200. I have spoken to 3 about this matter to see if it is an error on their part, they insist that they would never give a buyout fee of £200 for 3 handsets which have until March 2013 left on the contract, which of course is understandable considering the 3 bill was not far from that figure every month, so why would they lose out? 3 said that they would phone Steve Davies themselves to try to find out where he got this information from and try to resolve this for us.Later on that day, I received a call from 3 to say that they had spoken toSteve Davies earlier on in the day, and discussed it with him, and that SteveDavies did not say alot to him, except that he thought the buyout fee was 'a little low’. I asked the man at 3 if it was true what we was told by Steve Davies about 3 discontinuing all business contracts, and to my amazement I was informed that this was incorrect and that in fact they weren't discontinuing contracts with business users but they were cutting all ties with third party companies like BPD.While on the phone to the man at 3 my colleague text Steve Davies to find out if he had any word from the man at 3, he text back replying'None as of yet. I will keep you updated' So Steve Davies was lying to us, as I was on the phone to the man at 3 who told me that he had spoken to Steve earlier on in the day and told me exactly what they spoke about. So I have been miss-sold this contract by my account manager Steve Davies who from the onset has given us wrongful information in order to get us to sign this contract. We were happy with 3 and had been with them for a long time, he lured away from 3 by lying about the fact that we will no longer be able to have a business contract with them, and now have a bill from 3 for the buyout totalling to nearly £800 which BPD seem to not be paying! I have been in contact with Vodafone who advised me send BPD a email complaining and to give them 48 hours to respond. The email was sent on 15th august 2012, and I am still awaiting a response from a manager regarding this.

I have now received a letter from a debt recovery company asking for £950 for the outstanding 3 account.

After another telephone call from Business Phones Direct this morning, they told me that 3 told them the contract buyout was around £200 and although they have found a call between mydaughter and 3 stating it would be £264 per handset, they are unable to find the call between Steve Davies and 3 stating it was 200 for all 3 handsets, but Steve Davies has told them thats what it was so there is nothing else they cando and I will need to do battle with 3.
Thisis appalling considering Steve Davies has lied to us about everything from start to finish and 3 months down the road, with us getting calls from debt collection agencies at 9pm at night, they are still wiping their hands of any responsibility.

diamonds

I would be away to Citizens Advice & get them to help, several breaches in the above, if that fails take them to a small claims court showing everything CA tried to do to resolve the situation.

Info for CA/yourself to write to

http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/d1519318fd4819dec07d8dbbd80b8593/compdetails

trena1c

I have been in touch with everyone you can possibly think of including OFCOM.
It seems like third party companies such as BPD can do what ever they like, they are not regulated as they dont actually sell the contracts!

diamonds

Ofcom are hopeless unless it makes them money from fines. Have you done Citizens Advice ?

trena1c

This issue has been resolved by BPD