Setanta Sports - Writing a complaint help please

tyegarth

You need to reply to OTELO stating that they are in breach of contract under the Supply of Goods and Services Act. In past I have written to Waterloo Place, London SW1 office - L Ryan MD - and got a response 3 months later from customer srvices. Good Luck - I am in the process of giving them 7 days notice to reinstate me or pay for missed viewing. Emailed them as customer services could not help verbally (what a surprise)! Never had a response from them by email in the past so not expecting one now. I am sure Watchdog would like to expose this appalling organisation.

jaynerhodes

I am absolutely furious with a member of Setanta staff and the hassle they have now created through blatantly lying to me; he has also committed a crime.

I received a phone call on Monday 13th October at 20.22pm from AC from telephone number 02920550183.

He told me that because I had expressed an interest in Setanta he was ringing to tell about a promotion you were doing.
(By the way I did express an interest by email for a birthday gift, however I did not receive a reply until approximately 10 days later, this was too late).

The conversation was:
He could offer the sports package for £6.50 for the first 3 months, no connection fee, thereafter the monthly payment would be £12.99 and if we paid by credit card we would have Setanta within 15 minutes to one hour.

I then put A on to my partner JP to talk through the channels and he repeated the deal. I then spoke to A, once again, repeating the deal. I cannot stress this enough, and also said that I did not want to pay by credit card after he had taken the £6.50 but wanted to set up a direct debit. He gave me the customer services number so I could change this and I told him that nothing more had to come off that credit card. He confirmed that it wouldn’t.
He then proceeded to talk about a ‘card’ which would be sent in the post. My partner and I told him we did not have sky and had no boxes, we had free view already built in to the TV and that was all.
He still assured me everything was fine and we should see Setanta soon. This worried me slightly so I posed the question ‘why are you then sending us a card ‘. His answer was this card made things much easier to process should there be any more promotions or other things we required from you and it would be “even quicker than 15 minutes”
After seeing no Setanta for 2 days and receiving a card in the post we got hold of a customer service guy called PM at the Gateshead Branch who has confirmed that AC has put us on a £5.50 for 2 month deal and charged us a connection fee of £14.99, so he has taken £25.99 off my credit card NOT the £6.50 we discussed on the phone.

We told P we have received a card through the post but we do not have a box as explained to A. P apologized and said the deal we had been put on by A bore no resemblance to what I was talking about, however he seems to think I was put on a Sky deal. I had no idea about the figures quoted by P. He then told me I need to purchase a box which is £30. When he asked me what I wanted to do about it, I said I want my card refunding immediately, I want the deal I was told I was getting and I want a box for free.
He then informs me I have to write to you to get this refund and he has to escalate this complaint first.

I cannot express enough how furious I am, from Monday hoping to receive Setanta to now having my card charged with an amount I am not aware of to making expensive 0871 telephone calls to now having to write to get my money back – money which has been taking and shouldn’t have by you -.

I asked P to contact me on Monday afternoon as I was not prepared to make anymore phone calls to go through this scenario again, then to be fobbed off by another employee who would probably need to escalate this again.

P did call me, he told me his Team Leader said we will have to buy a box, (an expense I can do without right now) and that they would give us Setanta free for the first 3 months for the mess that had been caused, then our terms will be £10.99 per month.

I have asked P to call me on Monday evening after we have purchased this box because the conversation did not fill me with confidence. To write something on one’s case notes does not mean it will be actioned. P assured me he will phone and he will set up the deal so we get it right this time. (He did).
I have asked for a refund from Setanta, twice now, but I have had NO response whatsover and this balance is still on my credit card.
I have also asked why these kids on the phone are trained to lie and cheat to get a deal.
I am about to post my third letter to them
Jayne Rhodes

DerekS_2

How please am I having read these comments about Setanta Sports. I paid via the internet on Thursday and despite 10+ expensive calls and 5 emails I am still unable to watch these channels. I phoned my building society and they advised me that whilst they can't stop the payment going out on Monday, they have advised me to call them (my building society) again, late on Monday and make a Direct Debit Imdemnity Claim and they me get the money back for me within 2 days. They advised me that not many people know that this is possible. So if in ignorance you have done as I did and signed up expecting no problems, then get on to your Bank or Building Society and get them to get your money back.

Silent_Bob_3

Did anybody else have problems with the Calzaghe fight Sunday morning on Freeview? It was due to start about 4.15am but didn't get going until 4.45am ish. Saw the first three rounds then the I got a black screen. Turned the Freeview box off and back on and got the programme information that Setanta closes down at 5.00am. Not a problem I thought as I know that they switch it to another channel - 38. So I turn to channel 38 and get the programme information saying the fight is on this channel. Only problem being it's a TopUpTV channel and I need a card/subscription to view it. Not happy. Ended up listening to it on Five Live.

pen1

I was overcharged by £10 (£12.99 instead of £2.99) for a "multibox" subscription on my second Sky box.

The following day, the Setanta channels became encrypted on the first box.

Setanta claimed that I had cancelled it, but couldn't provide any evidence that I had, other than a computer record claiming I had.

A member of staff agreed all the actions that were needed to put matters right, but I've just received a recorded telephone message urging me to contact them urgently regarding my subscription.

I had a bad experience with Setanta earlier in the year, and it seems that some of the same issues remain- my experience is correspondence goes unanswered, overcharging occurs as a result, and when direct debits are cancelled to stop them repeating it, they become a nuisance with incessant letters and phone calls.

loweian

i have had a mixture of all the complaints about setanta why dont all who posted here send email to watchdog

Chasethecheese

My cancellation of Setanta was going very well. I called up waited about 5 minutes max, provided all my details and was told that it would be cancelled 1 month after my next payment, which was great.

I recently went online banking and cancelled my rent standing orders as I am moving, and decided to cancel my Setanta direct debit as well considering my last payment had been withdrawn.

A couple of days later I received an automated call from Setanta telling me I had to contact them urgently, so I waited on hold for a moment (I was being charged for this) and thought stuff this they can call me, which they did later that night. I was queried about problems with my cancellation, whereby I told them that I was paid up and expect to be cancelled later in the month, she said sorry for bothering you and hung up.

In the post a few days later I received a letter stating that Setanta needed to contact me urgently, with no indication as to why, so I threw out it as I thought it was part of the same problem as the phone call.

I got home tonight and turned on my Setanta and have no longer got a subscription, so I called them. After speaking with his manager, I was told because I cancelled my direct debit, despite not having to pay any more, my service was cancelled, and this was in the terms and conditions. He then said I could apply for a refund by writing to somewhere in Ireland. So I took down the address and yelled [EMAIL="F*#@EN"]F*#@EN[/EMAIL] SETANTA!!!!

So I read the terms and conditions, and there is no mention that cancelling your direct debit will result in the cancellation of your account. It does state in the case of any cancellation, you will receive 7 days notice, which I did not get either.

So back on the phone, didnt have to wait long at all which was good, whereby I proceeded to state my case again. He told me where in the T&C's, part 8(b), that it said it could be cancelled, which it didn't, so he went and spoke to his manager. It turns out the problem they had was that despite me cancelling my subscription 3 weeks ago and having an email from Setanta to prove it, my details on their computer showed nothing about the cancellation, and it simply looked like I had stopped paying!

After keeping my cool for a few minutes and reading quickly through the conditions, I shall have my connection back up very soon, even if its only for another 2 weeks.

The message is, cancel your subscription through the normal channels, and then a day or two before the contract expires cancel your direct debit, just incase they conveniently werent aware of your cancellation and charge you for another month. Also make sure you go through the email process and have some confirmation about the cancellation (from memory you first call and then email, bizarre!!! thats Setanta!)

Hope this helps someone.

suretech

Yes hindsight is a wonderuful thing isn't it. They phoned me up and sweet talked me into signing up for a freeview viewing card and mentioned nothing of any set up charges. I emailed them and cancelled as soon as I received the letter saying they would be taking £24.99 out of my account when they said it would be £5 per month.

I managed to get through on the phone but they refused to cancel over phone as promised in the original phone call "there's no monthly contract" I was told.

So if they want to waste their time writing to me telling me I owe them money then they can go ahead and do just that but I won't be paying them a penny.

I will also tell 10 people everyday about how pathetic they are. This business model went out int he 80's. With a resession begining to bite, they will be out of business in 6 months time with an attitut like this so I won't be wasting any time and effort on them.

We are turning into a nation of scared little idiots. Who the hell do these guys think they are.

DON79

[deleted through choice, suretech the troll not worth the effort]

NAG_2

try the existing MSE complaints board - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1295235&page=4