Setanta Sports - Writing a complaint help please

carpy

well i was thinking of signing up just for 1 month @£5 ;-) to watch the cazaghe fight this weekend but after reading this i don't think i'll bother!!!!

NicolaC

OP here...They rang me up this weekend to see if I wanted to re-sign up for a special fight night offer! I almost couldn't hold back the laughter.The girl on the end of the phone really didn't sound surprised when I said no.

They never ever responded to my actual complaint. The phone calls weren't cheap, but were not as much as I'd expected.

Grimzz

Well yet another letter has gone ignored.

I have taken a preious posters advice and reported them to BBC Watchdog, I only hope enough people do the same so that Watchdog will pick up the issue.

Bad publicity seems the only way to get through to these people.

I have wasted enough money on premium rate phone numbers and recorded delivery letters.

Waiting in hope

Grimzz

fedupconsumer

Grimzz wrote: »

Well yet another letter has gone ignored.

I have taken a preious posters advice and reported them to BBC Watchdog, I only hope enough people do the same so that Watchdog will pick up the issue.

Bad publicity seems the only way to get through to these people.

I have wasted enough money on premium rate phone numbers and recorded delivery letters.

Waiting in hope

Grimzz

Know how you feel GRIMZ they are cowboys im not wasting any more money trying to deal with them .

sdavi3680

I originally wrote this on another Setanta thread...

Im really annoyed with Setanta, I bought it a week ago just so I could watch the Calzaghe fight. I saw the £5 a month no annual contract and thought it was a great deal, I would pay £5 watch the fight then cancel straight after. Checked my bank balance, was charge £15, I now know that is a connection charge, which was not mentioned anywhere on the website where you click through entering all your details. Surely you should be presented with some kind of bill stating what you will be charged, not a charge hidden away somewhere that you can never see unless you read through the massive T & Cs??

Secondly, when I phoned to cancel (after waiting for ages), they said I could not cancel until after 29th November, you have to have the 30 days viewing before you can cancel, and guess what, this means they then take the 2nd months payment from your account and only then can you cancel. So basically it is a 2 month minimum contract.

I told them I would just cancel my direct debit (which I had already done), they said they this would cause me problems as they would then get the debt collectors in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What the hell, now what am I supposed to do, DD already canceled, so Ive got to just wait for that knock on the door??

What a crappy company. I dont care what fights they have in the future, I will NEVER sign again or recommend them.

DJM_4

DJM wrote: »

Room for one more?
November 6, 2007 - My credit card should not be debited today….we shall wait and see what happens.

So can anyone guess what happened? Another dispute for Mastercard to sort out...

yeslek

uk2007 wrote: »

Nope I have never worked and do not work for them!
Just saying thats its a few people that are having problems. Very small amount when you consider how many arent having any problems. With all companies there is always a select few with problems which appear on forums like this. Its very rare for people to go on a forum to praise a company.

fair enough it is only a small percentage but they obviously dont have a cancellation department - a work college of mine had the same issue, he cancelled from his bank

mleonard79

Grimzz wrote: »

Has anyone actually received a refund from Setanta,

As a Scottish subscriber to Setanta I have been a customer since day dot!

Hi Grimzz,

I'm also a Scottish subscriber that's been a customer since day one and the exact same thing happened to me - although I had even more issues with them as you can see from This Thread. It's taken me from the start of August til the middle of October to get a refund but I did get one in the end. I made numerous expensive phone calls initially and then sent a letter via recorded delivery that was not replied to so I followed this up with a second letter by recorded delivery which I addressed directly to their Chief Executive in which I detailed the catalogue of incomptance I'd suffered and also threatened to report them to Trading Standards, Ofcom and Watchdog. I received a letter back within a couple of weeks saying that my complaint had been received and someone was looking into it and I would receive a written response within 10 working days. The 10 working days came and went, though, and I didn't receive any response so I called them up again to speak to the person who was supposedly dealing with my complaint only to be told she was on holiday but the person I spoke to said she would deal with it and refund my money.

Finally 2 and a half months after I'd first complained £60 was paid back into my account - I wasn't happy though as I'd specifically asked for the full £180 to be refunded and for me to then be put onto the £9.99 option instead. So I phoned them back up and this time did get to speak to the person who was meant to be dealing with my complaint and she told me that there was no way they could do it that way but that I would go straight onto the £9.99 package as of next year. Since I got the £60 back I've effectively paid the same as those on the £9.99 package though so I'm not going to argue that one anymore - anyway the C/C I have on file with them will be out-of-date by Aug next year so even if they do try something similar again they won't be able to get away with it and I won't be giving them new details until I'm 100% sure I'm on the £9.99 package. She also said she'd give me a free month for all the trouble I'd been through. One paltry free month doesn't seem much for all that hassle but I'll take it anyway as it doesn't seem many people even get their complaints sorted out let along some compensation - I'm not holding my breath on it being applied properly though!

All I can suggest is to do what I did and send the letter addressed to their Chief Executive Michael O'Rourke and just don't give up as you should get that £60 back by rights. Remember to request action within X working days of receipt of your letter too. If they still don't respond at least you have proof that you tried to allow them to resolve the dispute and gave them ample time to do so at which point you should gather that proof together and report them to Ofcom. Good luck.

Regards

Michelle

Grimzz

Michelle,

Thanks for taking the time out and responding.

I have sent recorded delivery letters to the PO Box in Fife, did you send to their head office in London?

The annoying thing for me is the cheekly blighters have cut me off and they have my money! I never asked them to cancel only to refund the overcharge.

Maybe I should send the debt collectors round to them...:T

It would be intersting to know how many people like us have been duped by Setanta. im personally £100 out of pocket and thats after taking into account the £40 refund ny credit card company gave me.

Multiply that up few times and it soon racks up.

I only wish I had cable up here and could subscribe without dealing with Setanta direct. I dont mind paying for a service, I just dont like taken adavantage of.

Price increases as their own terms and conditions state shall be intimated no less than one month before the increase in price.

I have been advised every year of a price increase but not this year and as you point out days after taking £180 a £40 increase on my 2006-2007 sub they reduce their price to £9.99.

Ironically I have never argued that I should be on £9.99 its like a mobile phone contract, deals change so you keep moving around. I was only looking for my £40!!!!

Now that Mastercard have made them pay it back to them, (I produced my letter from 2006 advising of £140 yearly sub, last correspondence).

They now want me to re-subscribe to view their service!! but they have my money in advance until next June. SOmething gravely wrong there.

Im glad you have had a resolution, my correspondednce dates back to june of this year.

I refuse to speak to them anymore. I was insulted on the phone. Writing is my only way forward now.

Many thanks

Grimzz

sdavi3680

I have recently sent an email to BBC watchdog, maybe all of us here with complaints should do the same. Im sure they have other things to use, but you never know, they might pick it up. Worth a quick email anyway.
Im still annoyed about having to pay £20 for the Calzaghe fight when I was led to believe I would be paying £5.