Trying to cancel Setanta?!

DavePerry1972

shirlthegirlx wrote: »

I too have tried sending emails to those adresses listed, but to date , have received NO ACKNOWLEDGEMENT at all.
And they have the nerve to say that only a single figure percentage of people have cancelled their subscription to them!!!

I too have sent an email to the people listed in post #324 and copied it to the normal customer services address. The only response I have had to date is the standard auto response form customer services telling me they will respond within 5 days (I bet), I will keep everyon informed.

Hopefully if enough of us send emails to this hierarchy who ought to have better things to do something may actually be done.

scattymam1

My husband cancelled setanta months ago by e-mail as he could never get through by telephone. I noticed the direct debits were still coming out and an extra payment had been taken also but I thought that must have been a final payment or something... but no the direct debits keep coming out so he tried again and again - he phoned sales and got through very quickly but was cut off several times and Hmmm they were having a very bad line each time.

So eventually one bloke was very helpful and said he would start things rolling on their side but that they don't receive e-mails and that we had to write a letter in. So we're adding on more time there aren't we - daren't cancel our direct debit incase they give us bad credit.

So it's all just a time delaying tactic to get more money out of us isn't it.

Please post here if anyone is going to stage a protest outside sunderland offices - will gladly join you.

I thought it was no contract so how come we still could get wrong if we cancel our direct debit.

shirlthegirlx

DavePerry1972 wrote: »

I too have sent an email to the people listed in post #324 and copied it to the normal customer services address. The only response I have had to date is the standard auto response form customer services telling me they will respond within 5 days (I bet), I will keep everyon informed.

Hopefully if enough of us send emails to this hierarchy who ought to have better things to do something may actually be done.

I dont actually think any emails are gonna do any good.
I think our only hope is for some 'bad publicity' to be made about them i.e. tryin to get some of the press on our side. If we all decide on a few 'names' to contact and we all bombard them.....surely someone has to listen?

And I agree with scattymam, maybe stagin a protest outside the sunderland offices is a very good idea!!!

scattymam1

don't understand though - cos if you go to their website click on contact us then in the drop down go to cancellation enquiry then it says e-mail us so they should answer that e-mail shouldn't they.

p.s. If you's are going to do a picket I'm not organising it.:rotfl: I is chicken.

shirlthegirlx

scattymam1 wrote: »

don't understand though - cos if you go to their website click on contact us then in the drop down go to cancellation enquiry then it says e-mail us so they should answer that e-mail shouldn't they.

p.s. If you's are going to do a picket I'm not organising it.:rotfl: I is chicken.

CLUCK CLUCK lol

pen1

scattymam1 wrote: »

don't understand though - cos if you go to their website click on contact us then in the drop down go to cancellation enquiry then it says e-mail us so they should answer that e-mail shouldn't they.

When the drop-down menu was introduced to the "contact us" section in June, it originally said:

Cancellation Enquiry
All cancellation requests must be made via the telephone by calling 08712 00 33 22 between the hours of 9am to 9pm 7 days per week.

Not answered your query? Click below to email us now.

As I commented at post 260 in this thread:

...at which point- unless they've changed their policy again- they'll presumably try to persuade the customer to stay, then if that fails, insist that the customer can't cancel by telephone (because the terms & conditions state that any notice must be given in writing) and demand it in writing (?)

Why they don't just outline a procedure transparently, that doesn't prevaricate, I do not know, because the pressure of work that multiple contacts on the same subject must add to their customer services, and the anger that customers feel and relay on forums like this etc, must be more damaging than respecting peoples' wish to cancel and doing it at the first time of asking, in my view.

Shortly after that observation (perhaps by coincidence), Setanta removed the first sentence, hence it now reads:

Not answered your query? Click below to email us now.

By not subsequently adding the correct information- that cancellation requests are required in writing and the address to which such a letter should be sent- then I think they've just changed the impression, from cancellations can be made by telephone to cancellations can be made by email.

In my view, the root of Setanta's apparent reluctance to publish the cancellation procedure/address more transparently, is that by not doing so, they know that the majority of people will resort to the telephone, which is Setanta's preferred method for the customer to contact them, so that they can try to persuade them to stay.

They're also happy to avail themselves of the opportunity to make multiple telephone calls in to the customers' homes, when they want something.

However, I think that when it doesn't suit them, they don't want to afford the customer the same ability and convenience, to communicate and have their wishes processed, by the same method.

2toes

After finding this thread, and reading most of it. As I wanted to cancel my subscription.

So I sent the following letter's out.

Formal Letter for cancellation of Setanta Services and letter of complaint regarding process.

Cancellation of Services
Dear Sir/Madam/Cancellations department.
I write this letter to request cancellation of the services you provide, I do not need to provide you with a reason, and do not want to be contacted with counter offers.
Account number: *******
After a phone call to your call centre I was informed that I had to write a letter to you, to cancel the service you provide.
Accept this as written confirmation of my right to cancel.
Complaint
This letter has been sent to three parties, your processing centre in Sunderland, your head office and to the BBC programme “Watchdog “
When in conversation with the person at your call centre he said that I had to write and give 30 days’ notice. After reading many articles about your cancellation process, it seems apparent to me that I now have to send a letter special delivery, to enable me to prove to Setanta that I have indeed posted such letter. At this point he said to me that the terms and conditions were sent to me in a welcome pack.
But can you Setanta prove to me that this was actually received? I have never signed for a recorded letter/pack from Setanta.
I find your cancellation process to be very inhibitive and frustrating to the consumer, and whilst the overall process of joining Setanta is easy enough, I think you should make your cancellation process also an easy process, also confirmation of receipt of letters to customers, and also from customers. What if I call in a month’s time and get the answer “we never received your letter “ my proof is the recorded delivery via the Royal Mail, but yet you have none to prove that I ever received a letter regarding your terms and conditions.
All you are doing at present is alienating your exiting customers, who wish to cancel the service.
Update, as I was checking my bank account, I find that a payment to Setanta for £12.99 had gone out this month, so a quick call to them and I asked the question, " why had it increased" they said we have increased the monthly cost, due to the extra content" so I asked did they inform me of this change, they said letters where sent out. Of which I have never recieved.

So yet again I now need to write another letter to them, to get try and get what I see an unlawfull increases. It seems this company can do anything they want, and make you do all the work.

I would boycott this company by all means nessecary and ask any customers to also write to Watchdog and give cases.

It seems what you have to do is the following..
1) Phone and make contact
2) Write letters and send then recorded delivery
3) Ring up a week later and check to see if they have recieved your letters
4) Confirm over the phone the last payment you are expected to pay
5) Cancel your last payment the day after it is taken
6) Write a letter to Watchdog, trading standards and post here in this thread
7) Now this one really worries them, inform them in all conversations over the phone, that you are indeed recording the conversation, if they then refuse to continue the conversation, tell them they need to provide you with a representive of the company who will..

Sorry the post is so long, but I wanted to give a full account of what I have had to do.

It really annoys me just how bad some customer services are, and I welcome anybody from Setanta to contact me, to discuss why it is so bad.

Oh and btw their cancellation period has now changed to 2 months. rediculous.

musogeek

:j
here is what i did

i sent an email to [EMAIL="customerservices@setanta.com"]customerservices@setanta.com[/EMAIL]

the email contained my setanta account number and other details

i told them to escalate it to a manager

I told them i had also sent the email to the CEO and other top dogs

I told them if it wasn't actioned i would contact all the consumer programs and newspapers etc, and trading standards, ofcom, and that i would seek legal advice

I explained fully my efforts so far to try to cancel (that took a while!)

I told them the reference of the recorded letter of cancellation i sent, the address i sent it to, and the date it was signed for.

I gave them this forum's address

I told them how i felt, and how everyone else feels on this forum

I reminded them that this has taken hours of my time and them cancelling my account would take minutes

I requested conformation of action.

I now have no setanta:T

I requested that i get my refund without having to write in, but this wasn't mentioned in the email reply, so i will reply to the email i got from the senior team manager to see if they still expect me to chase this up even though they shouldn't have taken it.

i set the email high priority and titled it 'why won't you cancel setanta despite emails phonecalls and letters?'

I got an automated response straight away saying it will be processed within 5 working days, but 40 minutes later i got an email and an apology from a member of the customer services, and was told it has been cancelled, and 2 hours later a senior team leader followed it up with confirmation it had been cancelled and i am no longer getting setanta - horray!!!

good result so far though, and i hope that if you try my method, you get the same results.

good luck everyone!

musogeek

I have just discovered setanta outsource thier call centre to a company called 2touch/axciom - and that is the office based in sunderland (indeed the same address that all our cancellation letters are going). The people we have been dealing with don't even work for setanta. If setanta do care about thier customers, maybe they will review this situation. I found this out as it was on the email reply i got from the senior team leader, and with a bit of research it turns out to be the same address as the cancellations address!!!

shirlthegirlx

All i can say is, that if we all keep bombarding authorities and press etc, they're sure to get sick of us and do something.
Setanta should be stopped from trading as they are def not a customer friendly company!