Prestige telecom / plan.com - its time we fought back 28 November 2018 at 1:35PM in Mobiles 91 replies 19.3K views

C0mbat_W0mbat

I am a new member on MSE, that said I am wanting to join with others and take a stand against rip off phone companies.

I am hoping thatif enough of their victims err i mean customers can band together we can do something about their unethical selling practices and the way they treat customers.

Recently I was sold, or should I say bullied into, a new mobile contract with them. I told them I was with EE and happy with EE, it was just my phones battery that needed attention. They didnt listen and pushed me on to an O2 contract ( only telling me this AFTER I had signed the contract ).

This now costs me around £10 a month more, has a far inferior 4G speed ( something I told them was important to me ), has a very poor signal where I live and in some areas that I work in and have now had the goal posts moved on the payment for buying out my EE contract.

I have since seen their trust pilot reviews and realise I am not the only person to suffer at their hands.

This has to stop so I would like to get as many of their dissatisfied customers as possible together and take action. Be that through OFCOM or BBC Watchdog action needs to be taken.

pmduk

So why did you say yes to their offer?

mobilejunkie

What did they do exactly? Hold your neck in a vice?

C0mbat_W0mbat

I was being harried and bullied over the phone while at the same time trying to deal with a customer and show my daughter how to do the job ( She is training to work with me ).

They omitted certain key information such as the price was +VAT, there was no cooling off period, that I would be shunted to O2 on the new contract.

I am not the only person this has happened to ....check out their reviews on Trust pilot. ( The real ones not the paid ones ) uk.trustpilot.com/review/plan.com?languages=en&stars=1

Like wise for Prestige telecom : uk.trustpilot.com/review/prestigetelecomgroup.co.uk?utm_medium=Trustbox&utm_source=Carousel&languages=en&stars=1

ballyblack

its a business contract?

You are supposed to be more savvy!

so no cooling off period, so why you need a business contract

similar complaint here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5917527

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C0mbat_W0mbat

Yes it is a business contract, however I am not VAT registered as I am a sole trader, I asked them if that was the price or was it plus VAT, they said it would be £37.50, ie they ommited to say it was plus VAT, if I had know it was I would not have signed up as it is almost £9 a month more than I was paying.
I did not know that a business contract would not have a cooling off period, I was under the impression that distance selling regs were still in place.

ballyblack

so why do you sign up to a business contract with very little consumer rights? or was it you were not aware

did they get your details from o2?


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pmduk

Try https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=27 This is a board aimed at consumers. B2B sales are assumed to occur between organisations who are aware of business practices.

d123

C0mbat_W0mbat wrote: »

Yes it is a business contract, however I am not VAT registered as I am a sole trader, I asked them if that was the price or was it plus VAT, they said it would be £37.50, ie they ommited to say it was plus VAT, if I had know it was I would not have signed up as it is almost £9 a month more than I was paying.
I did not know that a business contract would not have a cooling off period, I was under the impression that distance selling regs were still in place.

The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 have been superseded by the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, the clue is in the title “Consumer”. Both sets of Regulations only applied to consumers, not businesses.

Why didn’t you just put the phone down if you were feeling pressured by the sales call?

molerat

I find telling them to !!!! off usually works.

PHK

molerat wrote: »

I find telling them to !!!! off usually works.

Quite, if you're in business you soon realise that everyone will try to sell you something. Be it software, services or subscription tea bags. Hanging up is the best way.