Trying to cancel Setanta?!

pen1

I think it's hard to see the business rationale behind Setanta's approach to cancellations- especially the insistence that cancellations be in writing, if they then cannot/do not reply to that correspondence and process the cancellations within the notice period, and this subsequently leads to payment claims being made that are not due.

As I see it:

-it creates suspicion that the motive is to inhibit cancellation, by unfair means.
-it multiplies the workload in Setanta's customer services.
-it generates low-value monetary disputes, which are difficult to cost-effectively pursue.
-it causes damage to Setanta's reputation/brand and the intended impression of their "no annual contract" marketing strategy.
-it acts as a barrier to customers re-subscribing to Setanta.

The process of accepting peoples' wish to cancel and processing it, seems an extraordinarily straightforward administrative task to me, and I think it's incredible that Setanta have somehow managed to generate so much anger and damage to their reputation from it.

As a customer, who had intended to re-subscribe in August, I feel very hesitant about dealing with Setanta again, in terms of concern about their ability to manage my account/payment instruction fairly and efficiently; and in terms of whether a business that has provided service as poor as I've received, deserves further business from me.

musogeek

following up my above post
I decided to contact setanta over the phone, as they had taken out a dd from my account, which i was none too pleased about. first of all i explained the issue to an advisor who put me through to cancellations, and he started by asking me why i wanted to cancel - (would be nice for the original advisor to explain what i said to her to the next one). I told him i already did that bit when i phoned to cancel over a month ago. First of all he told me that the direct debit should have been taken out because of the way the billing worked, so i explained simply, i had 4 month's service, the first was free (with free connection), so i have paid 50 quid for when it should be nearer £30 - so i won this arguement.

The next one was 'your account is still active' - and i told him i sent written notice to cancel on the 13th may by recorded delivery. He went for a minute and came back and said they had not received this. I began to get angry and said cancel immediately or i will contact ofcom/trading standards/citizens advice.

He thought he would catch me out by asking for the delivery code which i told him, and i also told him i checked the website and it was delivered. He wanted me to tell him who signed for it but the website doesn't tell me that. He then went away again, came back and said he had now cancelled it but i had to write to a place in Northern Ireland to get a refund of the last payment (and i will be asking for the last two). I asked for his full name, and he said he couldn't give it because of data protection. He gave me his first name and initial. I was under the impression that he is obliged to give me his full name if i asked for it. I have to in my job, but then again i work for a proper company!

I will now be cancelling my direct debit, and if they send me any letter telling me i need to pay, or damage my credit file, i will take them to court for damages.

I am never going to deal with setanta again even if they win the rights to the next world cup!

Glencoy

Like many others- trying to cancel is proving difficult- very difficult.
In accordance with the terms and conditions then in force I wrote on 29 April 2008 to the Kirkcaldy address stating I wanted to cancel and would not accept any further charges after the May payment had been taken (credit card- continuous payment authority) and my notification in writing ( and by recorded delivery) complied with their terms and conditions governing cancellation.
Surprise surprise - a further payment was extracted in June. Once again I wrote to the Kirkcaldy address (again by recorded delivery) enclosing a copy of my first letter and requesting a repayment of the June charge they had extracted without authority.
On June 16 I received a letter stating that my subscription would be increased to 12.99 also enclosing their new terms and conditions. This time the address on the letter was Newry rather than Kirkcaldy as before.
I have written again this time to Newry ( again by recorded delivery) re-iterating my cancellation and enclosing copies of previous letters. I state in my letter that I regard the extraction of the June payment as theft and intend to take whatever action is open to me to recover the payment and any further payment taken without authority.

I should add that when I originally subscribed at the £5 per month offer no mention of a connection fee was mentioned yet a connection fee was charged to me. I wrote protesting about this and eventually got a reply which simply said a connection fee was chargeable and no refunds would be given. This first instance of sharp practice should have alerted to me to what kind of company I was dealing with.
A difficulty with paying by credit card is that the credit card company will not cancel the payment mandate regarding that as a matter between the holder and the company being subscribed to. I am now extremely careful about entering into any agreements which involve credit cards and continuous payment authorities.

NeilB

Welcome to the wonderful world of Setanta.
Have you tried going to your Credit Card company and asking for a dispute to be raised on the transactions in question (as they were effectively un-authorised) or asked for them to do a chargeback on them?

peediedj

i sent them a e-mail asking why i had to pay £5 per mth for multiroom,yet new subscribers got it for 3 mnoths free then £2.99 a mth,they phoned me yesterday when i was at work and spoke to my wife, they said as i didnt sign up online i wasnt entitled to this,eh yes i did sign up online for my £10 a month,then phoned up to add multi room,bunch of con men

mitchec1

I phoned up to cancel about a month ago and agreed another 3 months for £5 deal. Yesterday I got a letter telling me my price was going up and they are going to £12.99 instead of £5 and I'd have to accept new t&c's

I phoned up to cancel to be told I couldn't and have never been able to cancel by phone.
So when I said how did I cancel after the Boxing promotion last year he went quiet and then said I must have written a letter.

I've sent them a letter (recorded delivery) and have spoken to my bank who have advised me already what to do if they take the wrong amount and don't reply (they've had a few problems with Setanta).

nobbler_2

hi i cancelled on 8th may by email and also by post, got letter last week informing me price increase, so rang customer services what a joke, got told that the new 60 day cancellation applied as my cancelation was not processed until 2nd june by setanta. I told them that my T&Cs stated 30 days as i cancelled before the new ones came into force. guess what i got no where with the first person so asked for a manager, got just another person who could do nothing. The best i got was to ask for a refund for the 12.99 that will be taken in july.

this company stinks, i have never dealt with such a company that has no regards for customers

customers need to stand up to them and get the media to take this up and give them some bad press!!

fedupconsumer

Empl01 wrote: »

All i can say is please go easy on the agents you are speaking to. They are doing the best they can with what little Setanta allow them to do. Sorry if you have had a bad experience. We will continue to put pressure on management to get the changes needed!!!

oh come off it nothing ever gets done and will never get done and as for being kind on the agents i spoke to 5 agents and they all were rude and one called me a liar and i heard them laughing about me when they thought they put me on hold. So you can imagine myself and a lot of people dont have any sympathy for the CS agents. If i were you i would leave the company they are like a sinking ship at the minute struggling to keep their head above water.

simax

This is what I've been charged for my TopUp TV service and Setanta since I got it switched on at the end of April......

Nationwide_statement wrote:

06 May 2008 Direct Debit SETANTA SARL - DTT. £9.99
20 May 2008 Direct Debit SETANTA SARL - DTT. £10.00
05 June 2008 Direct Debit TOP UP TV SA. £29.98
12 June 2008 Direct Debit SETANTA SARL - DTT. £5.00

The payment on 6th May was for the following month (1st month and connection was free)

I called mid May to ask to cancel as the footie was finishing and got offered a £5 a month deal for 3 months. I accepted. This triggered the £10 payment on 20th May. When queried, I was told this was for the next 2 months upfront (even though I'd not even got the whole months worth of the £9.99!).

Then 12th June the other £5 comes out after being promised that I wouldn't be charged again for months. I called and got told I was now paid up until the end of August at least.

I have since got a letter telling me it's going up to £10.99 from my next payment of 10th July!

If that happens, I will see the following...

What_I'll_see_on_my_Nationwide_statement wrote:

10 July 2008 Direct Debit SETANTA SARL - DTT. £10.99

Now, I was under the presumtion that it was £9.99 a month/£10.99 a month (or whatever)...

Anyway for the period until 10th July, if that payment goes out it means I have spent £35.98 since 6th May!

Been a sub since 26th April, so thats 2 months and 2 weeks. About £16 a month equivalent!

And where was my free month??????

I am going to call them tomorrow, ask them about my payments and if I am to be expecting a DD on 10th July. If I am told that I am not due to be paying on 10th July, then i will ask them to put it on record that if a DD goes out on that date to them, not only will I be re-calling it, I'll be cancelling the DD and will be telling them I am not paying anymore, because as far as I am concerned they have breached their contract with me by overcharging and that any contact by letter or phone will be passed on to my solicitor.

Would that work? Doubt it :rolleyes:

t-elle

We phoned to cancel about a week ago. Lady asked why? and I said it was because of the subscription going up. Ok, that will be cancelled for you. Didn't have any offers to stay, but it seemed very easy...we will see if it actually does happen.