Re: Community Network TV Problems

[JacqueyO]

Hi all,

 

I too am having problems with Community Network TV.

 

I paid my deposit, having been very forcibly 'sold' to in my own home, last September 2013. By February 2014, they still had not managed to get the wording of my ad right in order to start showing it (all I wanted was 2 telephone numbers and a web address!).

 

When they eventually got the copy right, the equipment where my ad was to appear was broken, as it had been for a lot of the previous 4 months. It took them another 3 months to get it mended, so my ad eventually appeared some 8 months after my deposit had been taken.

 

I have been trying to get my deposit back from my credit card company, on the grounds that they are not providing a reasonable service, but have had no joy. I've also sent a solicitor's letter, informing them that I want to rescind the contract, but doubt that will get me anywhere either.

 

Three solicitors told me simply to cancel the DD and wait for them to take me to court, as they didn't want to take my case and the CAB and Trading Standards in Bedfordshire don't want to know, as I'm a small sole trader, not a consumer.

 

I've also contacted Watchdog, but got no reply. I spoke to another local business who got tied up about 5 years ago and has eventually got an agreement that he can cease his contract in December 2015, but this means he is no longer entitled to any changes of copy!

 

Please, if you hear of anyone even THINKING of advertising with this lot, try and disuade them!!

Edited June 10, 2014 by slick132
paragraphs added so post is easier to read

[slick132]

Hi JacqueyO and welcome to CAG

 

I've moved your post into your own thread (originally posted here - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?398622-Community-Network-Advertising-Problems&p=4302625&viewfull=1#post4302625 )

 

Can you say where your ad was supposed to be displayed.

 

Has it been displayed properly since then ?

 

[JacqueyO]

Hi slick132,

 

Thanks for your help - I'm not sure how the threads run and thought you just added to what is already here!

 

The ad IS now running, after 8 1/2 months, in a GP surgery in Leighton Buzzard. I saw it twice yesterday, in the 10 minute time frame they offered me, so they are now giving me what I paid for, but I still maintain the service is not reasonable, as surely advertising needs to be 'of the moment', not months later.

 

If you ordered a new kitchen and were told to expect to wait 6 weeks for delivery, you would NOT expect to have to wait over 2 1/2 years, which is how the timings would work out relatively in my case, based on what they tell you about waiting 7 days for a copy change to be effected!

 

The sales tactics employed but this company are heavy handed, to say the least. I would normally never dream of signing anything without looking at the small print, but you are not really given any time to think, let alone read the very small print on the back of the A4 sized contract.

 

The first thing I read on the Ts & Cs was that the contract was not cancellable,so I didn't do anything immediately, even though I was unhappy about the decision I had made, although I was later told that they offer everyone the right to cancel, in writing, within 7 days. Nothing about that on the contract though.....

Edited June 10, 2014 by slick132
Please use paragraph spaces, so text is not a solid, unreadable block

[slick132]

Hi Jacquey,

 

Please use paragraph spaces so your post is not one huge block of text. It makes it much harder to read.

 

How long are you tied into this advert agreement ?

 

You really should have acted more decisively, and sooner. As they now have the ad running, you would find it more difficult to take action against them, compared to taking such action when the ad was still NOT running several months after it should have been.

 

I suggest you put them on notice NOW that you are extremely unhappy about their failure to place your ad in the agreed location in a timely manner.

 

Tell them if they fail to ensure the ad is displayed as agreed, you will consider them to be in clear breach of your agreement, which will be terminated forthwith.

 

I'd check the ad and equipment are running properly as often as you can.

 

[JacqueyO]

Thanks for the reply. Sorry about the format of the text. I thought that others had written in long blocks, so followed suit.

 

I did start to complain after about 8 weeks, first in October 2013 via email then in November by letter. I was told they weren't breaking their contract, as there is no time scale mentioned - true! I wrote again in February 2014, following more email communication, putting them on 2 weeks notice to get the wording right - magically, it was done in a couple of days. That's when the computer equipment broke down, although it had not been working a lot of the time since November and I have details of all the times the surgery emailed to get something done about it.

 

I also got my credit card company involved in February, trying to get my deposit back, as I considered them to not to be offering me a reasonable service. This has just been rejected, again on the grounds that no time is given on the contract and they are still happy to provide the full contract, which is 2 years from the first showing of the advert. I'm challenging this, as this is based only on the grounds that the equipment wasn't working (which I was not even aware of at the time of writing to the credit card company), not my original complaint.

 

The solicitor was involved in May, just a couple of days before the equipment was eventually mended and the ad started running. The letter gave them 14 days to reply,the solicitor is still on holiday, so I don't know how they've replied.

 

Every time I have challenged them, they simply say they have not broken the terms of the contract, which, unfortunately, I beleive to be true.

 

I'm not totally sure how this site works. I wanted to add to the posts already here about this company, as I thought it was about sharing experiences. Are these posts also showing on the thread where all the other complainants about Community Network TV have posted before me?

 

I wonder whether we should consider all writing to the directors of the company, whose details I now have, along with financial information about the company and it's parent, or making a concerted effort to interest one of of the TV programmes, such as 'Rogue Traders', as 'Watchdog' doesn't seem interested. There are surely so many of us now who have a grievance about the appalling service and tactics used by this company......

 

Thanks for your help.

[slick132]

Hi Jacquey,

 

I opened a new thread for you so your case can be looked at in detail without being spread through another thread.

 

Maybe wait for your solicitor to return from hols and let us know what they say.

 

Then follow this with a letter to CNTV telling them you are not happy with their service so far and that any further failures of their equipment will be treated as a breach on their part.

 

[JacqueyO]

Thanks slick132. I'll do that.