Kingston Communications

[cymro79]

My husband and i changed address in September - previously all utilities had been in my husbands name but as we bought a house together we wanted all the bills changing into both names. Initially when he rang KC Comms we were told that a name could not be added to the account. When we spoke to them recently they said that we could, but it has cost us £11.75 and i had to be credit checked. If i had any option i would have cancelled my contract with them but as they are a monopoly in my area i had no choice but to accept this..... any advice?

[buzby]

I agree it was better when it was all run by Hull Corporation, but I don't think they're being too unreasonable. They have a policy of anyone taking out a contract with them must be credit checked - this is no different than if you were added to your husband's mobile account, you are BOTH liable for the actions on the account, and in all probability he was never credit checked as an existing customer. Now, it is YOUR choice to change the status quo, so why should you not pay a reasonable admin charge of £10 plus VAT to amend the record? IF you just left it alone there wouldn't be a charge, so it is not as if you are being forced to pay it. I've no problem for paying for work my requests generate - I'd be unhappy if the cost of constant name changes was being met by everyone else!

[cymro79]

I agree the credit check is a reasonable request but i dont agree at being charged to add my name to an account that i pay for - it didn't cost us to change the address (luckily!!). I would have left it as it was but they wouldn't speak to me about the account and meant my husband was constantly having to take time out of his work to speak to them if we had any issues (and believe me there have been a few!). No other utility or billing company have asked us to pay to add my name to a bill surely it doesn't cost £10 to add a name to a computer system? I have worked in local and central government, imagine the response we'd get if we said it would cost £10 to add someone's name to a benefit claim....?
The other problem with KC is that they dont allow you to take your number with you when you move although BT do... as a result were regularly having calls for the previous tennant which can get pretty irritating we get enough sales calls of our own without having to answer other peoples.
It would be nice to have the option to go with a different company as i am totally disatisfied with KC's charges and Customer Service. Isn't there an anti-monopoly law and why are Kc exempt?