Trying to cancel Setanta?!

FunkyFeet

hello i thought an hour ago that i would be coming on here and posting my sorry story too of how they wouldn't let me cancel however after reading the trouble you all have been having on here i took a deep breath, threw out a couple of white lies to setanta customer services tonight and have got a result, my account with them fully cancelled, in fact they wrote off the £10 charge and the 2days i have been over my 3months today which was 66p and yes i was told numerous times that the cancellation dept is closed but i persisted, i completely insisted i must cancel tonight, i also stated i will not pay the £10 connection charge as i was not told about it at time of connection and i told a little white lie!! which was that i was a lawyer and this call is being recorded, lol! ( well i did study law for a while but could not complete my degree due to reasons at the time)

Anyway, I thought i would post my experience so as to urge my fellow mse'rs not to take no for an answer FROM THIS UNPROFESSIONAL AND RUDE COMPANY SETANTA or accept stupid excuses like 'cancellations is closed now, call back tomorrow' 'if you pay the remaining charge only then we will cancel your account' also v.important- take his/her employee number and full name like i have done so.

I called up twice and got hung up on after asking to cancel my subscription, i was absolutely furious the third time i called back it was 10.07pm, was on hold for a while but then when again a scottish young man answered i stated that this call is being recorded as i am a lawyer and im not taking any chances as your colleagues are hanging up on me constantly, he said i wont cut you off but i insisted he tell me his full name which he did immiately then began to tell me that i took my 3 month trial out on 30 October, i cancelled my DD after the £15 was taken and that i owed them £10 connection fee which could not be taken as i cancelled my DD. i told him as i was not told of this at the time i took this out, i will not pay this and no i cannot wait until tomorrow to cancel and also he started telling me i had to give 30 days notice, i again said this is ridiculous as i was also not given this information at the time of signing up therefore i am not giving 30 days notice i would like this done right now and of course i said please, he put me on hold, came back in 3minutes and said just pay me £1.81 and ill just cancel the whole thing for you. Although i was half tempted at this point to just agree, i asked what for? he, without answering said actually i dont think we need that either and asked if he could put me on hold, came back like a minute later and said that he will write off the 66p charge along with the £10 connection charge plus he is going to switch on my setanta and then immediately switch it off so that their system recognises it as a customer cancellation and not a system cancellation, this will mean i will not receive any letters in future demanding cash, i ofcourse agreed to this, said my ThankYou's and just before putting the phone down asked why do so many people have problems cancelling? he just laughed and said its the way this company acts, i have just one thing to say to anyone wanting to subscribe/try their cheap trial at the moment STEER CLEAR OF THIS COMPANY.

hth

Norfolk_Jim

I cancelled without any problem and gave the 30 days notice. Just to be safe I cancelled my DD. A ccouple of weeks into my 30 days I had a phone call to ask why I'd cancelled my DD. I told them it was because I'd cancelled on such and such a date. After that they turned off my signal that night and short changed me half a month. After reading this I think that half a month, I got off lightly.

moosetastic

this company has to be the worst one I have ever dealt with. I took out the free 3 month subscription and free digibox as I was a Talk Talk customer. The 3 months went by, then instead of taking 1 payment they took 2. I phoned to complain and they said I couldn't claim the money back by phone, I had to write to claim it back. I decided to cut my losses and I wrote them a letter and an email giving my 30 days notice on 14/11/2007 and cancelled my Debit card so they couldnt take any more money.

Never heard anything from them until last week when they would call all day long wanting to speak to me, refusing to speak to my husband as I was at work, but never calling back in the evening. I finally get a letter today demanding payment. So, I called them up, was on hold for almost an hour, only to be told, yep, they dont accept cancellations by email!! How ridiculous is this? Did anyone ever reply to my email and let me know this?? NO. And surprise surprise, they didnt receive my letter either!! I said to him, well, isnt it amazing how you've waited 3 months to let me know this, in the meantime racking up 2 missed payments (yep, 2, not 1, despite them taking 2 payments to start with??) They have "cancelled" my subscription as of 31/01/2008 as I have not paid and will send my account to a debt collection agency to get the money back.

I have emailed Watchdog tonight in the vain hope that these charlatans are exposed nationally for the cowboys that they are!! I would hope that everyone who has had problems with them also get in touch with them, there is power in numbers as they say. Maybe Martin can do something about this company?? After all they are just robbing people and then claiming ignorance afterwards. Its scandalous. :mad:

Teknophobia

Please find my posts from earlier today that may provide some comfort:

Letter to Watchdog

Have just sent this to BBC's Watchdog programme; I suggest everybody experiencing problems with Setanta do the same. I filed this on-line via the Sport, Leisure and Entertainment (Miscellaneous) section here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/tv_and...ct_sport.shtml

"Took out Setanta's 2 month offer for their Sports channel for £1 back in November. Cancelled subscription on 14 January, as per their terms and conditions. Found that they have since taken £9.99 from my credit card on 28 January. Called them 31st January. The representative I spoke with acknowledged that my account was cancelled in accordance with their T&C's, and would pass my case onto their Head Office. Promised that I would receive contact within 48 hours. No word yet received.

Have 2 friends who also took up this offer and who also find themselves unable to cancel. In one case, they informed my friend that upon cancellation, he had subsequently 'signed' up to their 3 months at £5 per month (cancellation) deal, and has since found a charge for £9.99 on his credit card.

Various forums (moneysavingexpert, digitalspy, etc.) are awash with similar stories of people trying to cancel their Setanta accounts.

They must be brought to justice!"


Update from Watchdog

Received a phone call from Watchdog. They sound like they are receiving quite a few complaints, so I would imagine it is only a matter of time before Setanta are brought to rights. Watchdog asked me if I would appear on the show; I graciously declined!

I would advise everyone who has been affected by this contact Watchdog at their earliest convenience, as usually it is those people who have their issues resolved immediately when Watchdog get on the case.

Tek

moosetastic

this is brilliant Teknophobia! I hope they do an article on them soon as they are the worst bunch of cowboys ever!! Im still ranting and my phone call to them ended hours ago!!! I hope Watchdog get in touch with me!

BEX94MAT97

Thanks Tekno.

This is my posting to watchdog.... Lets get up a head of steam on this one....

Setanta offered a 2 months trial for £1 at the end of November. Soon after the £1 was debited from my Bank Account. Was required to give 30 days notice which just happened to be new years eve!! When called I was offered the months of February, March and April for £5 per month and decided to accept. At the end of January a direct debit came out of my bank account for £9.99. Called setanta to ask for an explanation and they claimed to have no record of my call on new years eve but that I had called them in mid January to continue my service. I never had any such call. The customer service representative appologised and explained that they needed a copy of the phone bill, a copy of my bank statement, a copy of my contract and that within 28 days I MIGHT get a refund. I told them to forget it and cancelled there and then. I also cancelled my direct debit with my bank immediately. Setanta are a set of rogues and need bringing to justice in a public and humiliating way. There are a number of bulletin boards that have some very strong views over setantas underhand tactics.

loyalbrummie

just rang up to camcel and got the 3 months for a £5 a month deal , cancelled the direct debit so when they goto collect they will have to send me a payment slip that i will pay a £5 for each month , they said they would send a letter out confirming the 3months for £5 a month .will let you know if letter arrives.

LB

BlueNose1984

These channels are not worth the money. I got cable installed in with Virgin just for this channel, and it's just as bad as SKY Sports. More money in the Big 4's pockets. They originally planned to focus on the middle to lower ranking Premier League teams, but no.

I've got it for free because I take a bigger package with Virgin, but honestly it's not worth it.

setmefree2

Hi Blue nose et al,

Does anyone know if Setana is going to stay free next season to Virgin customers on the large packages. I've currently got all Sky & Setana Sports for £18 per month as have extra large Tv Package. But I've just noticed on the Virgin web site that they seem to be charging £34 per month for a Sky sports & Setana Sports bundle! Hope they are not going to try and charge me £34 next season.:mad:

Rdysn5

Hi,
like many others I signed up to Setanta when they were offering the £1 for 2 months offer. I signed up on December 7th last year, paying by DD. On January 30th, £9.99 was deducted from my account. I have decided it wasn't worth the money and instructed my bank to cancel the DD. I have also emailed Setanta informing them of this, and that I no longer wish to receive their channels. However, looking at what people have said in this thread and in others, that might not be enough. Have I made a costly mistake by cancelling the direct debit before telling setanta? Should I send them a letter? What can they do at this point? I thought the 30 day notice of cancellation means after you have cancelled the DD and not before.
If anyone can shed some light on proceedings, I would be most grateful.