Unicom missled us about the period of the contract x 2

[groovycaz]

Hi,
Around 12 months ago we fad a visit from a Unicom sales person who had called saying he was in the area on such and such a date and offered free web site design. When the salesman arrived he showed us some proofs of other web designs his company had done which looked quite good, so for £20 a month they offered to design an host our website, which both my hubby and I thought was great value for money, however, both being novices with computors and websites etc, what the sales person failed to inform us was that no one wil be able to find us through any search engines such as yahoo, google etc, only through the http:/ browser. also he told us that we would have to sign up for a 12 month contract which we believed we did x 2, 1 for my hubbys embroidery and printing business and the other for my clothing manufacturing business (very small), wel the web sites have been no use to us whatsoever as most people use search engines, so I wrote to Unicom 2 weeks ago giving 1 months notice to terminate both contracts, the sales person left us with no copies of the contracts I signed and ive discovered that its 3 months notice. not only that but they also stated that we are contracted to them for 3 years, I asked for a copy of the contract showing this and a photocopy arrived yesterday, I signed it on the 12-02-07 but the rest of the form was filed in by the salesman who said sign there, and in small writing it does state that its for a period of 36 months, He missled us, I would never have signed had he said 3 years, and im certain as is my husband that he said 12 months. ive looked on their website and it says web design from £200, ive also looked at their T&C and it does not say anywhere how many months you would be contracted to them. I want to get out of this contract, Im paying £45 each month for zero, I dont even think this copy contract is the original as although it is my signature, the print name is not my writing, the Position ie owner is my writing but the date underneath is not my writing, they've conned us big time, I wil write asking for the original copy of the agreement and not a photocopy, also they have not sent a copy of my husbands contract..Gc

[Conniff]

no one wil be able to find us through any search engines such as yahoo, google etc, only through the http:/

Hi Caz

Not sure what the above means and how you came to that conclusion.

Websites are usually found by using 'Meta tabs' of words that people usually search on (I believe that Google has given up detecting those now as they were being abused).
The search engines use what they call spiders to crawl the web looking for websites and any site that is on an open server will eventually be found.
These search engines also have a submission account where anyone can submit their website for inclusion and after a couple of months you should show up even if the spider has not yet found you.

It does take time however.

What are your website url's so I can take a look at them.

[groovycaz]

Hi conif, thanks for answering, if you were to google .:Rossi:. SportSwear, or www.rossilogos.co.uk we wont be listed, yet if you searched through the browser thats the only way anyone can find us..Gc

[groovycaz]

sorry connif, thats www.rossisportswear,co.uk

ive just looked again and were nor there!!..Gc

[groovycaz]

Qiuck update,
Unicom agreed that the salesperson had not followed normal sales practice and agreed to allow us to cancel without penalty, its taken a long time and i've had to resort to issue data protection notices to both Unicom and their internal DCA however it was worth the fight, now we can concentrate on having a decent web site designed for our business..Gc

	Debt collection library Follow this link to our debt collection library. This library contains templates and advice for dealing with debt collectors who act oppressively or unfairly. This library is work in progress and will be built up over the next few weeks. 17.03.09

[jordan0191]

Hi caz. my family have a business and had a website designed by unicom a year ago and now we've tried to cancel it they've told us we're tied into a 3 year contract with a large termination fee. the situation is pretty much exactly the same as yours, so i was just wondering if you could tell me exactly what you have done to end the contract without paying the fees so we can try it too. any help would be much appreciated.

thanks
Jordan

[groovycaz]

sorry Jordan, just noticed your post,

I had a very long fight with UNICOM but basicaly, because I was called by them informing me there would be 1 of their reps in our area at a time when we were looking to have a new web site, their salesman talked his way through the sale, took our details including bank account for DD but told us the contract was for 12 months, he filled in all our details and put the form under our noses and said sign there, we signed for 2 web sites which we believed were for 12 months each, the salesman then took all the paperwork away and didnt leave us with a copy of any Ts&Cs or contracts or anything, then after no-one could find us through any search engines such as google, yahoo etc, at month 11 I wrote to Unicom and informed them that I was giving 1 months notice to cancel both contracts, it was then that they said the contracts we signed were for a period of 36 months, I argued that the salesman stated the contract period was 12 months and because he did not leave us with any documents he took away our rights to cancel with 14 days because if he had left docs we would have read through them and realised that we had in fact signed in the box next to very small print that the contract was for a period of 36 months, we exchanged letteres for around 10 months, I issued them with s10 Data Protection Notice putting both accounts into dispute, preventing them from adding any defaults on our credit files, it ended with me refusing to speak on the phone to them and issueing an anti harassment notice and stated that we had reached a stalemate and that they should consider taking the matter before the courts to let a Judge decide the matter, they then caved in and credited back to our account the cancelation charges of £1100 for both accounts, if like me they sold your parents a website at their own place and left no docs, they have'nt got a leg to stand on, if you need any help let me know..Gc

[jordan0191]

Thanks a lot for that its much appreciated. like i said we are in pretty much the exact same position. they took the paperwork away, and the only reason we have it now is because we asked for it to prove we had signed what they were saying. i think i'l just get my parents to try the same stuff as you and see how it goes. surely with you getting what you wanted they'll have to do the same with us as the circumstances are the same.

many thanks
Jordan

[groovycaz]

I believe this is something they do to disguise the fact that you are signing a 36 month contract, or why take the paperwork away, we were tied into 2 contracts for around £50 a month, being a small business we would never have committed ourselves to 2 contracts lasting 3 years, I stood my ground because I was 100% certain that their rep stated clearly that the contract was for 12 months, They failed in taking away all paperwork and leaving no option for you to cancel within 14 days should you wish, I stated this all the way, I had letters from 2 of their internal debt collection agencies and issued them both including unicom with the s10 DPN and they did'nt put any adverse remarks on our credit files, they called every day, even after I wrote informing them that I would not speak to them, even on a sat and sun, 1 woman told me that she was going to keep calling every day until I reinstated the DD so I had to send them an anti harassment letter, if they took all the paper work away, stick to your guns, give them 1 months notice in writing and cancel the DD and tell them they have'nt followed procedures, I still have a letter ( i think) where they state that they have now changed the policies when customers sign in their own home, which to me is an admission that they got it wrong,
let me know how you get on...Gc

	Debt collection library Follow this link to our debt collection library. This library contains templates and advice for dealing with debt collectors who act oppressively or unfairly. This library is work in progress and will be built up over the next few weeks. 17.03.09

[jordan0191]

they are a really bad company. luckily my dad hates direct debits as he has regular hassle with companies taking random amounts out of his account when errors occur, so he made sure he paid by cheque. at least they cant actually get the money off us that theyre asking for. its got my mam n dad stressed quite a bit with our diy business not doing so great with the way the country is at the mo and they really dont wanna have to fork out all this stuff for unicom when they just robbing us. just glad i found this forum, cos with you getting dsomewhere with it its made them relax a bit knowing we do have a chance if it ever went to court.

Jordan

[strathturret]

I have just sorted out Unicom.

Like many I was conned into a three year rolling phone contract by one of their salesman in 2004. In January of this year I decided to tidy up my phones and leave Unicom.

First step cancel your direct debit - that puts you in control!

I got the usual lippy staff threatening me with £500 bills and accompanying letters. I was getting fed up with weekly call from their Credit Control Dept.

I wrote a registered letter to their chief executive explaining why my 'contract' was illegal. A week later they capitulated and sent me a credit for their unfair charges (which I had not paid) and a letter of apology.

I argued that the contract was illegal because of the way I was sold their service (two min call with no mention of nasty conditions) and Unicom's failure to deliver a satisfactory contract with my name and theirs on it.

Moral is stand up for yourself and don't let this nasty company win!

	The Direct Debit Guarantee • The Guarantee is offered by all Banks and Building Societies that take part in the Direct Debit Scheme. The efficiency and security of the Scheme is monitored and protected by your own Bank or Building Society. • If the amounts to be paid or the payment dates change, we will notify you three working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. • If an error is made by us or by your Bank or Building Society, you are guaranteed a full and immediate refund from your branch of the amount paid. • You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by writing your Bank or Building Society. Please also send a copy of your letter to us. This is a term of your banking contract and you can sue on it.

	Bank Charges You should have started your claim for your bank charges by now. Don't wait. You should send your bank a Subject Acess Request asking for all personal data they hold on you - not just statements. You should calculate all of your bank charges and related interest as far back as 1995. You should send your bank a demand for a refund giving them 7 days. You should commence your legal action adding 8% statutory interest. If you wait for the outcome of the test case, you may not be able to claim like this. you may not be able to claim interest. You may only be offered the difference between the charge and the OFT "fair charge". The repayment scheme will try to limit you to refinds from 2001 only. A repayment scheme will not deal with any bank charges related defaults on the credit register whereas in a court action you can ask for these to be removed and to be compensated for the damage caused to you and your family by them. You should also write to the bank and to the CRA and put all charges related credit entries in disupte and warn them that you will want them removed from the Register when the test case is over. Warn them also that you are likely to be seeking compensation for these wrongful data entries. Full and final settlement Have you previously accepted a partial repayment of your bank charges in full settlement? You will still be able to claim the rest of your money back after the Test case is decided. Get all your information back to 1995 and put in your claim now.

[groovycaz]

Another one standing up to these service providers...well done

you say you took out your contract in 2004..a rolling contract eh..another on of their ploys to keep your business..

makes me wonder how many other customer's they "keep" with the wording of such contracts..

stand up and be counted..thats 3 of us up to now on CAG