Primus are a nightmare!!!

kessa_81

Hello I recently signed up with Primus for my phone and broadband as they were the best deal and we were trying to save a bit of cash. I signed up with them 13/04/2014 and they sent out an engineer 01/05/2014. They said we had a 14 day cooling off period so I phoned Tuesday to cancel with them as we had had a better deal with Sky and I was told that we had already finished our cooling off period and in order to leave them we would have to pay £5.00 per service for the remaining terms of the contract (18 months so a whooping £180.00!!).

I mentioned the fact that we were still within our cooling off period as we had only had the service for 5 days wherein they told me that the cooling off period was from the date we ordered the service online? If that was the case then the cooling off period actually ended the day the service was set up in our home? Now it is my understanding that we are entitled to cancel up to 7 days after the product is received (as set out in the Consumer Regulations 2000) They are now ardently refusing this and when we get through to their customer service (which can take up to 30 minutes!) they are saying that it is all in their terms and conditions. We have spoken to sky and apparently they are supposed to inform them of the move over but they haven't done that either.

I am severely confused am I within my rights to cancel this contract or are they right and I should just give up the ghost now?

ripplyuk

As far as I'm aware, the 7 day cooling off once you receive a product only applies to goods bought online. I think for your situation, it's 7 days from the date you sign up as it's a service and not goods. I could be wrong though! But I imagine not many broadband companies would let you cancel once the service is up and running as by then they may have spent money on installation/router etc.

I agree with you about trying to get through to them on the phone. I recently tried to speak to them about switching to them but eventually gave up! Seems they're not too bothered about getting customers!

macman

The cooling off period commences when you make the order, It ends after 14 days or at commencement of service, whichever is the sooner.
Once you are connected Primus have already incurred all the start up costs.
As ever, the moral here is to do your research before you agree a contract.

ripplyuk

Have you agreed to any contract with Sky? Might be best to ring them and check it's cancelled if you've agreed to switch, assuming you're going to stay with Primus for now.

kessa_81

Thanks for all of your responses, We found out that they didn't inform sky of the move and that sky were considering legal action for this. So in that case they let us cancel if we paid for the installation fees so we saved £121.00 I am still unimpressed by their customer services and would not recommend them to anyone. Thanks again for your replies

Meandyou5

I signed up with Primus on 01/04/2014 as they seem to be a better deal. 2 weeks later I have received a text message telling me that an engineer visit is booked for 30/04/2014 as they promised a new line installation since I am not a BT customer. When the day came, no body turned up so I started calling and reminding them about the problem. And today, My line still has not been installed meaning that I still have no service up and running at all whatsoever and plus they already charged me with my first bill. Since three days, I am trying to reach someone at their customer service calling all the numbers I have but no one even answers the calls. Terrible company to sign up with. I don't even know what I am paying for, whats more they have no intention of solving the issue which is caused by their neglect. (I waited 42 minutes on hold still no answer). My current provider is Virgin Media and I am still with Virgin Media. Please some advise!!!!!!!

kessa_81

Hello, I checked with offcom and was going to report them on there before it was resolved.

Try your best to get out of the contract. They said the cooling off period was 14 days after you sign up with them so according to their rules you would be in the contract now but I think its special circumstances. Log a complaint with the ombudsman.

Just Google offcom, go to their advice and complaints, select phone, internet and tv, click on ombudsman, and then complain now and follow the steps. Sorry it wont let me post the links x

pcman1985

Trust me, you are better off not signing up with them. Their broadband may be cheap but it is slow. I made the foolish mistake of signing up with them to save money and I am now regretting it after only having the service for a few weeks. I get around 1MB download speeds which was the norm ten years ago for ADSL broadband but not in this day and age.
As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. And in this case it is better to pay for a more reliable and faster service.

I really wish I did not open the door to them that day and I would still be using Virgin Media's 30MB fibre-optic broadand.