Unicom/United Utilities - Suspension

[Bluefairy]

Hi all is ther any one who can advise please? I have a coulpe of isses wiht Unicom.

 

Firstly, some months ago, I missed a DD payment. The next 2 or 3 months I paid by credit card as I udnerstood the DD had been cancelled by them. They even sent m,e a new DD madate whihc I didnt fill out or send back. The month 4 they suddenly took it out of my account again.

 

When I rang them they said that they hadnt canx the DD and they only sent me the madate as a reminder! Surely this is not right?

 

However, the more worrying dispute is this.

 

I had two accounts with them, one business and one home, separate agreements for each.

 

My business ceased trading about 2 years ago. Currently there is a dispute because I say I canx the agreement and they say I didnt. They also then pionted out the contract was for 3 years - its in the small print apparenlty, so I have to accept that I suppose.

 

However, as they say I didnt cancel the agreement, it is still incurring charges - up to £300 odd by now. I have told them it is disputed and if they dont agree - sue me, I have no problem wiht aruingmy case in court, but to date they havent. This has been going on for ever.

 

Sadly my briother died on Friday - we havnt even had the funeral yet. I went to use the phone at home and it direverted straight to Unicom! They have suspended the service on my home line as a result of the dispute on my business line!

 

I asked them to point out in the T&C's where it says they can do that and she said it doesnt, but they can, as I was a sole trader at the time I took out the contracts and that applies to both contracts.

 

They will not revert the suspension until I pay them!

 

Yes, I do have a mobile I can use to liaise with family re funerals etc - but its going to mess up my internet connection too. It is just so incovenient & costly and I am so angry.

 

Can anyone advise what I can do please?

 

Thanks

 

BlueX

[buzby]

Sorry to hear of your loss. It must be a real pain to have this ongoing as well.

 

They are right - as a sole trader it makes no difference what you did with your business, your private account can be treated with the same disrespect should they wish as you are the same legal entity, yourself. If your firm was Ltd, then they could not.

 

The suspension probably happned when the accounts were linked, and only when this was done did the system arrange to suspend services based on the earlier non-payment. These days, firms don;t give a hoot about personal circumstances, and I dislike them because of their unrealistic burden of notice and minimum terms - which I noticed before signing up.

 

Sorry, I can;t wave a magic wand - your only course of action would be to write, putting forward a repayment plan you can keep to, and ask for your existing services to be reprovided, as you are finding it difficult to cope otherwise. It might just do the trick, but there are no guarantees.