POP Telecom - Watch out for router charges (With advise)

idisputeallcharges

Be aware, long read.

If you are coming to the end of your contract with POP Telecom and looking to cancel or move services elsewhere you need to be aware of a practise they seem to have brought in from around August 2025 which is still occuring.

For backstory I cancelled my renewal with them giving 30 days notice as required, my last bill with them was then incorrect (Inflated by double as they tried to bill me until the end of the month rather than cut off at the cancellation date agreed) upon contacting billing they did swiftly rectify this.

4 days later, again while still in contract and using their services they issued a direct debit for £79.99 to be taken from my bank account.

Upon speaking to them on the phone they stated this is automatic and how their billing works, the charge was for non return of a router (Note here im still in contract and require the router) and it would be returned 28 days after the end of my contract providing I send it back.

This I was not best pleased with, contacting billing via email was responded to in a similar fashion, stating the phone conversation was correct and this is done to "protect the business" as many people do not return the routers. They state this is all in their terms which I agreed to.

I take this akin to the police fining me £100 in case I were to commit a crime in the future despite none being committed.

Not being happy with this response I combed over the terms and conditions, surprisingly there is no mention of a clause permitting a router non-return charge before the return deadline has passed, there is no provision allowing a temporary or refundable charge pending return and the amount charged of £79.99 is not stated anywhere.

This I then believe to be a breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 as it was not transparent and they had provided no invoice or notification of the charge.

Quite quickly after sending my email over with my findings and stating I will be contacting the bank for a chargeback they then back track on their initial respose and state this was "an error made which has now been corrected" and that they would refund me if I have not already issued the chargeback as well as saying they will now pay for the return carriage of the router.

I responded informing them I doubt it was indeed an error due to other posts online regarding the same issue and that I would allow the remainder of the day for the refund to be issued.

Since then they have not responded to me, or issued the refund as promised.

Today I visited the bank to explain the situation, they agreed this was not right and have under the direct debit guarantee returned the £79.99 charge to me and cancelled the remaining direct debit to POP Telecom.

The remaining balance owing to them for the final month I have paid off via PayPal, I now have no further payments to be made.

If anyone suffers this same fate in the future why not try this template that worked for me below:

Dear Customer Services,

I am raising a formal complaint regarding the £79.99 charge applied to my account for alleged non-return of a router.

This charge is wholly unjustified. I am still within the permitted return period, with approximately four weeks remaining before the router is due to be returned. Charging me in advance on the basis that your “system works this way” is not an acceptable explanation and has no contractual or legal basis.

Having reviewed the terms and conditions in full:

•  There is no clause permitting you to apply a router non-return charge before the return deadline has passed.
•  There is no provision allowing a temporary or refundable charge pending return.
•  The amount charged, £79.99, is not stated anywhere in the contract.
•  Your internal billing processes do not override the written agreement or UK consumer protection law.

Applying a penalty charge before any breach has occurred is unfair, non-transparent, and contrary to the Consumer Rights Act 2015. I do not accept this charge under any circumstances.

I therefore require the following:

1.  Immediate reversal of the £79.99 charge; and
2.  Written confirmation that no further non-return charge will be applied unless and until the router is genuinely overdue and unreturned.

If this charge is not reversed within 24 hours, I will escalate the matter to external dispute resolution. I will also dispute the charge directly with my bank as an unauthorised and incorrectly applied fee.

Please treat this matter with urgency.

I have also reported them to Ofcom at the same time as I really think they are taking this money off people who might be vulnerable and not willing to fight back.

Other posts online have stated people have been waiting months after return of the equipment, while POP Telecom I no doubt gains interest from having the funds sitting in their bank account.

I certainly will not go back to them and will advise all others against it.

On an end note, watch out for other charges they may add such as assurance products, they did slip these onto my account again without notification or explaining to me at the start but that was quickly refunded after complaining.

alamest

Thanks for posting this — that’s really concerning behaviour. Charging for non-return of equipment while you’re still in contract and before the return window has even started doesn’t sound reasonable at all, especially if it isn’t clearly stated in the T&Cs.

Good call going down the Direct Debit Guarantee route, and useful that you’ve shared the template and outcome. Hopefully this helps others challenge it if they get hit with the same charge. Definitely something people nearing the end of a POP contract should keep an eye out for.

idisputeallcharges

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81858541#Comment_81858541

Certainly was not something I was expecting, upon cancelling they stated in a live chat I would be required to return the router within 14 days of contract end and I would need to pay for the return which I accepted.

Interestingly the terms now state in section 16 "A charge will be levied of £79.99 for items not returned within 14 days of the end of the supply of services." this however still does not provide them the right to impose a charge prior, as they seem to be doing quite frequently according to trustpilot reviews.

I am with an equally cheap provider at another property who state they will charge £125 for non-returned routers, although as expected they will provide 14 days and send multiple chaser emails to remind you to return the items to avoid charge.

Should POP Telecom respond to my email or anything else comes of cancelling the DD while having the entire account balance paid off I will share any further information that might be of assistance as I do see other reports of people being cut off as soon as the DD is cancelled.