Elite Calls - Termnination Fee

[lawman789]

Hi,

 

I have been with Elite Calls for 2 years now & have recently decided to change my telephone provider to be with The Utility Warehouse.

 

I have just had a telephone call from Elite Calls telling me that they will cut my phone line off on Wednesday & that I must pay £400 (can't remember the exact figure) as I am terminating the contract early. After looking at the terms & conditions on my contract it states that I am required to pay £82 if I terminate the contract early & there is no mention of £400.

 

The guy on the phone said that as they record telephone conversations he has proof of me verbally agreeing to the new fee of termination. Surely a verbal contract means nothing? I'm certain I didn't agree to this anyway !

 

Does anyone have any advice of how I should handle this matter?

 

Many thanks,

[andydd]

Hi,

 

I have been with Elite Calls for 2 years now & have recently decided to change my telephone provider to be with The Utility Warehouse.

 

I have just had a telephone call from Elite Calls telling me that they will cut my phone line off on Wednesday & that I must pay £400 (can't remember the exact figure) as I am terminating the contract early. After looking at the terms & conditions on my contract it states that I am required to pay £82 if I terminate the contract early & there is no mention of £400.

 

The guy on the phone said that as they record telephone conversations he has proof of me verbally agreeing to the new fee of termination. Surely a verbal contract means nothing? I'm certain I didn't agree to this anyway !

 

Does anyone have any advice of how I should handle this matter?

 

Many thanks,

 

 

Firstly it is highly unlikely that they would have recorded and still kept) details of this call, it may be possible using Data Protection/SAR or CPR (if they threaten legal action) rules to obtain any correspondence between you (including calls) so you can dispute this.

 

Secondly Im unsure as to wether 'new' terms and agreements can just be added over the original contract, especially if its just done verbally over the phone..Hopefully someone wiser will know more about this.

 

I guess the next step is that they may chase you for the £400, although I doubt it.

 

Make sure you close and Direct Debits's to them !

 

Andy

[lawman789]

Hi Andy,

 

Thanks for your quick response.

 

After speaking with Trading Standards they have confirmed that what Elite Calls are doing is Illegal.

 

Don't know what my next move is but wanted to post the statement below asap so others do not make the same mistake:

 

After speaking with Trading Standards: DO NOT DEAL WITH ELITE CALLS.

Edited April 28, 2009 by 42man

[unhappyphone]

we have had major promblems with elite we were advised to obtain contract info from them, they have to provide this within 40 days of being requested by law in our case they confirmed receipt of request but after 40 days denied it .dont trust themthey only cash money and loose everything they dont like.

[gyzmo]

You may find this of interest:

Elite Calls - Any use? - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums

 

In fact, just do a search on elite calls and the results will speak for themselves.

[unhappyphone]

tried to get info under freedom of info act gave them 40 days which is law they just told me where to go lodging offical complaint

[ElizabethAdams]

This is the last post on MoneySavingExpert from damocoleman.

 

"I used to work for their company, they were before platinum called lo-rate. recently they changed from elite to talk plus telecom and have again changed from talk plus to optimum telecom!!!"

 

Guess that's not suprising that they've changed their name again seeing that Talk Plus are being investigated by Ofcom:

Own-initiative investigation into Talk Plus Telecom Limited - adherence with its Code of Practice for sales and marketing and conduct relating to the transfer of customers between communications providers. | Ofcom

 

Guess it would be best for everyone to avoid this company as even Lo-rate and Platinum were done by Ofcom too.

[buzby]

tried to get info under freedom of info act gave them 40 days which is law they just told me where to go lodging offical complaint

 

And I have to ask, what has the FoI got to do with anything? This only covers statutory bodies, not commercial enterprises, so you would have come over to them as a bluffer without a cause.

 

So unless you get your requests mixed up, you could have asked them for your SAR, and then complained for non-compliance, but you couldn;t take them to court for it, that's the job of the ICO alone.

[ElizabethAdams]

And I have to ask, what has the FoI got to do with anything? This only covers statutory bodies, not commercial enterprises, so you would have come over to them as a bluffer without a cause.

 

So unless you get your requests mixed up, you could have asked them for your SAR, and then complained for non-compliance, but you couldn;t take them to court for it, that's the job of the ICO alone.

 

Agree with the above, there's a maximum £10 charge for the Subject Access Request. It might be worth it to see all their internal comments about you. They HAVE to provide every bit of data that relates to you. This includes if they've written anything derogatory about you, which will undoubtedly help in any complaint against them.

[Crosscat]

Have just had to deal with this problem with my pensioner parents who were originally signed up to a contract with Lo-Rate, who then changed name to Chess Telecom, then Platinum Telecom and now Elite Calls (Although their e-mail is now @switchingon.com).

It seems that several of these companies have been investigated by OfCom and it depends at which stage you started your contract as to which part of their Ofcom rulings that the company is contravening.

This is the reference to Lo-Rate CW/00857/08/05, and this is the reference to Platinum Calls CW/00896/03/06. It seems that the company is also currently under investigation.

Basically, they should have informed you of the minimum period of supply and the termination fees. If they did not they are in breach of the Ofcom ruling against them. Also any charges that were levied can be reclaimed.

I have written to them today and hope that my elderly parents will be allowed to go without a fuss.

 

Lodge a complaint with Ofcom on 0300123 3333. It's really easy. The more complaints they get, the more likely they are to investigate the current company.

[johnray]

Re Elite calls- Termination Fee

 

If the Elite calls Email address is @swithchingon it now belongs to the most villified telecoms company in the UK, Unicom Telecom of Manchester, which is a part of the Universal Utilities Plc group and is situated at Universal House,Longley Lane, Manchester, M22 4SY. Tel. No. 0116 946440. This company makes its money by holding vunerable people to ransom with high termination fees caused by inserting a ROLL-OVER clause in there telecom contracts. In short these contracts appear cheap initially but can be ultra expensive when the unsuspecting customer is caught out by the high ROLL-OVER fees.

 

There is another company called Universal Debt Collect, Sharston Road, Northenden, Manchester M22 4RX. Have look at this company's threatening Website it belongs to Universal Utilities Plc

 

It is no good appealing the this company's better nature because they have a swinging brick for a heart

Edited December 16, 2011 by johnray

[RMJ]

There's a thing! Elite Calls share the same postal address as Unicom as well as email address and are almost certainly the same company under another name.

I can't leave a link but Google will find another link worth looking at by typing 'Unicom Unfair Contracts and Scams'

Dreadful dreadful company - advise don't touch with a bargepole.

[johnray]

I have just found this statement on the OFCOM website under the search term ARC

 

Automatically Renewable Contracts (ARCs) – or ‘rollover contracts' – automatically roll forward into a new minimum contract period – with penalties for leaving – unless you actively opt out of the renewal.

Ofcom confirmed in September 2011 that rollover contracts will be banned from December 2011.

The ban will apply to ARCs for fixed voice and fixed broadband services sold to residential and small business customers.

Ofcom has set out a timetable for the removal of rollover contracts from the telecoms market which takes account of systems changes that will need to be made by communications providers.

The sale of new automatically renewable contracts to residential and small business customers will be prohibited from 31 December 2011.

Ofcom will also require communications providers to move all residential and small business customers currently on rollover contracts to alternative deals, and to completely remove rollover contracts from the market by 31 December 2012.

Any customer who has a rollover contract and has concerns or wants to understand how the removal will apply to them should contact their provider.

Providers who continue to offer this type of contract to new customers beyond 31 December 2011, or those who continue to have customers on ARCs beyond 31 December 2012 could face enforcement action including a financial penalty of up to ten per cent of turnover.

 

This could good news for all those people who suffered at the grasping hands of Telecoms providers

 

Read the full OFCOM statement carefully