Yes, judging from the blog link you post, there seem to be quite a few victims of Sunstone's new identity, Unicom (Universal Utilities). Sadly, it also seems that Unicom/Sunstone's campaigns of intimidation work in so far as some people get very worried by their "Notice of Court Proceedings" type letters and pay up. For update on my case with them - They offered to reduce my "bill" from a massive £900 down to £50. What they fail to understand is that I have no contract with them (any supposed contract was with a now defunct company) and I think it's wrong to pay anything. I am also outraged by their over a year campaign against me and a colleague. Hundreds of calls and many threatening letters. Do they think I will give them a penny after putting up with this rubbish...?! I have lodged a formal complaint to OFCOM, along with a claim for damages due to all the time I have spent dealing with their harassment. I doubt much will come of this formal process as it seems by the cowboy actions of Unicom with others that they haven't had their wings clipped by OFCOM or anybody else. I'm thinking of a small claims court case against them for wasting my time. The message for anybody lured by apparently low cost phone services from such operators as Unicom/Sunstone is beware. Their pathetic business model is to trap unwary consumers in their web of supposed contracts and harassment backed claims for huge termination fees.

Thanks for the pointer, Locutus. Yes, we are a very small business. Anything which costs them is good, as they cost others a lot of hassle. Their supposed debt collection letters are headed "UNIVERSAL DEBT COLLECTION" and state in large letter "NOTICE OF COURT SUMMONS". Of course, any court summons would come from the court itself. So, they are masquerading as having authority when they don't. These letters are churned out about once a week, with 1 to 3 calls a day. I guess they work on the basis that most people will be intimidated into paying, even when they don't have to. I read recently that private car park operators, who use similar (if not so intensive) tactics have about 70% of people paying fines when they have absolutely no legal requirement. Their business model stinks. Trick people into absurdly long contracts by claiming they agreed to a (whispered) clause in a long telephone call, slap a massive termination on them, then harass them to hell if they don't pay the silly demands. No way they'll get a penny from us. If by some craziness they did actually take us to court, we'd vigorously defend ourselves and look to gain damages off them to boot. And, importantly, I hope to warn others off making the big mistake of contacting these rogues for telephone services.

Thanks for the pointer, Locutus. Yes, we are a very small business. Anything which costs them is good, as they cost others a lot of hassle. Their supposed debt collection letters are headed "UNIVERSAL DEBT COLLECTION" and state in large letter "NOTICE OF COURT SUMMONS". Of course, any court summons would come from the court itself. So, they are masquerading as having authority when they don't. These letters are churned out about once a week, with 1 to 3 calls a day. I guess they work on the basis that most people will be intimidated into paying, even when they don't have to. I read recently that private car park operators, who use similar (if not so intensive) tactics have about 70% of people paying fines when they have absolutely no legal requirement. Their business model stinks. Trick people into absurdly long contracts by claiming they agreed to a (whispered) clause in a long telephone call, slap a massive termination on them, then harass them to hell if they don't pay the silly demands. No way they'll get a penny from us. If by some craziness they did actually take us to court, we'd vigorously defend ourselves and look to gain damages off them to boot. And, importantly, I hope to warn others off making the big mistake of contacting these rogues for telephone services.

Anyone else had a problem with Sunstone Telecom? They are anything but sunny! About 5 years ago they sold our limited company a contract, which we understood to have been for a period of 2 years. We cancelled the service after 4 1/2 years, as we didn't use the phone much and they have expensive minimum spend clause. Letters demanding huge fees (Like about £800) started arriving, morphing into letters with "Debt Agency" headings talking about court proceedings, baliffs etc. And many phone calls - I mean loads. We don't answer them, at least not after the first few - when we asked for proof of contract and they even admitted they didn't have copy of contract. We realised their tactics are to trap people into verbal agreements on the phone and then threaten them into paying large sums later. In out case, not only is there no contract, but the original agreement was with a limited company that was closed over 2 years ago. They simply put my name in place of the Ltd company, without permission. I've lost count of the phone calls - must be over a 100 and can be outside work hours. I can't imagine how distressing this might be to an elderly person or someone vunerable. Any ideas on how to get rid of them?

Anyone else had a problem with Sunstone Telecom? they are anything but sunny! About 5 years ago they sold our limited company a contract, which we understood to have been for a period of 2 years. We cancelled the service after 4 1/2 years, as we didn't use the phone much and they have expensive minimum spend clause. Letters demanding huge fees (Like about £800) started arriving, morphing into letters with "Debt Agency" headings talking about court proceedings, baliffs etc. And many phone calls - I mean loads. We don't answer them, at least not after the first few - when we asked for proof of contract and they even admitted they didn't have copy of contract. We realised their tactics are to trap people into verbal agreements on the phone and then threaten them into paying large sums later. In out case, not only is there no contract, but the original agreement was with a limited company that was closed over 2 years ago. They simply put my name in place of the Ltd company, without permission. I've lost count of the phone calls - must be over a 100 and can be outside work hours. I can't imagine how distressing this might be to an elderly person or someone vunerable. Any ideas on how to get rid of them?