FUTURE COMMS - joseph Stickler

[Mark Edwards]

This is a bit of a lengthy one but I’ll summerise best as possible.

 

THIS IS HOW THE PHONECALL WENT 

 

I was contacted by future comms by phone, they stated that they could beat any phone contract I have , (I am a limited company but just myself that needs a business phone and I am the only worker) 

I told future comms my deal, £110 per month with a phone and a virtual landline, they confirmed that they could beat that, £90 per month with a phone , virtual landline  they also confirmed they would pay Vodafone (previous provider) the termination fee. As I am in business, naturally I was open to making a deal. So we proceeded. 

Future comms then revealed that the contract would be with PLAN.COM and the airtime would be provided by 02, I instantly told them that this would break the deal as I have poor 02 signal in the house where I live as my partner is on 02 and constantly complaining about bad signal

the salesman assured me he would send a signal booster box out with the phone so I would have perfect signal.

so far so good.....

i then explained this is the only mobile phone I use for business and pleasure, so therefore I didn’t want any disconnection time in the slightest between the switchover from Vodafone to 02

the salesman then confirmed that the existing phone would only be disconnected once the new phone was switched on.

so far so good....

we then proceeded to confirm the termination fee with Vodafone, and signed a virtual contact ( I think )

ONE WEEK LATER

before my new phone even turns up VODAFONE existing phone gets cut off , frantically call future comms on a friends phone to find out what’s gone on , they told me they have activated my new phone, even though it hasn’t been delivered, i asked them the whereabouts  of the phone, they told me it was at a depot 30 miles away, of course I frantically cancelled my jobs for the day and headed up to the depot

 

PHONE NOW COLLECTED AND ACTIVATED 

 

i was left without a working phone for 10 hours , and they didn’t connect my data hotspot (as I have no router /landline) for 3 days , so I’ve incurrdd loss of earnings.

EVERYTHING IS NOW UP AND RUNNING 

 

BUT THESE ARE THE PROBLEMS 

1. sent a lengthy letter of complaint to future comms who to this day have still not responded . 

2. Signal booster box took 4 months to arrive 

3 . Virtual landline has never worked 

4. Termination fee has not been paid , or even a pay date 

5. No help or resolution on any of these matters 

 

NOW I HAVE SOUGHT HELP ELSEWHERE, 

 

1. Financial ombudsman refered me to offcom

2. Offcom refered me to trading standards

3.trading standards told me to write a final letter of response , demanding a decision on all listed complaints within 10 days or I will start legal proceedings 

 

LETTER WAS SENT RECORDED DELIVERY TO FUTURE COMMS 28/2/2019

 

I await their response

 

I have written proof of all offerings , non of which has been fulfilled.

i have 40 documented phone calls /emails with little or no help whatsoever from future comms 90%of emails ignored 

 

any help or advice would be superb 

 

hope this his isn’t too much info

 

mark 

 

[BankFodder]

You haven't told us when you first started this contract.

Also, have you any evidence of the agreements you made and that you made it clear to them that you didn't want any break in the telephone service?

I suspect that you have done all of this on the telephone – which of course is the normal modus operandi and should usually be perfectly reasonable thing to do.
However it does mean that you won't have any evidence. Because of that it would be very difficult to make any meaningful complaint about the breach that you have suffered – and that seems to be a problem that everybody has with this company.

I think you should begin by reading our customer services guide and implementing the advice that we give you there.

Maybe you already do record your calls – but it would be quite unusual.

You should be doing this as a matter of routine.

 

In addition to the inconvenience and any losses that you have suffered as a result of the break in service, can you tell us what else you have been promised?

From what I gather, Future Comms generally promised to cover the termination fee – and also to provide a cashback at regular intervals.

They don't seem to be very good at fulfilling these promises on time – or at all.

Please can you outline your losses here – including due dates

[workaholic duck]

I thought Plan.com was another, separate, third party? If so, that's 3 parties involved.

Did you sign the 'contract' on your phone (as I did) and not even see it? Did they send you a copy after and then refer to it every time you complain?

The termination fee should have been repaid by now. Even their t&c's say up to 180 days! You're past that now.

BF is the one to answer legals and how to proceed.

It sounds like you have got call recordings but if not, you can demand them from FC. They sent me a partial recording by email when I complained about no cooling off period. They did say that but it was gone through so quickly that even on the recording I had to listen twice!

[Mark Edwards]

Hi

 

bankfodder

 

1. contract started on the 15/10/18

2. I have an email confirming the amount offered , which is less than the termination fee it’s self (see attached)

3. The break of mobile service during switch over was a verbal aggreement , no proof

4. I have attached copy of the future comms agreement 

5. I haven’t recorded any of these calls but will do every time from now on 

 

 

Workaholic duck 

 

no I haven’t requested any recorded  phone calls , but I will now!!

 

yes I have a contract with plan.com also I remember doing some signing on the phone, but they don’t have my signature on any of the paperwork 

 

 

This is the final response letter that I sent 

 

 

FINAL RESPONSE LETTER.pdf

[workaholic duck]

You should remove/hide personal details!

Your contract is a bit different from mine. I have a SIM only but I did sign a contract on the phone. Quite honestly, the only part I saw and signed was the DD agreement with O2. They insist I saw the rest but I don't remember. Then they copied my signature on to 3 more places. Again, they insisted it was with my consent???

You should have a contract, though. It doesn't look like you have one. Those are the t&c's and confirmation of your tariff and early termination fee they promised to pay. It looks a bit vague!.....up to that figure!

Where did you sign? Also I'm still confused about Plan.com and why they're involved?

 

[BankFodder]

Sorry but I haven't kept up with this thread because I've been extremely busy with the forum upgrade.

I'll try and get a look at it tomorrow.

[BankFodder]

There are three more people who have joined the Facebook group which I set up – you might like to go over to them and suggest that they come over to this forum https://www.facebook.com/groups/FutureCommsMobileProblems/

 

[Louie2015]

Hey all, new to the thread. 

I also have had a nightmare with this company. I’ve been with them for about 3 years now. At the start they were great but since I have upgraded in November they haven’t paid the £20 plus manual discount. When I first agreed the contract I ask for this in writing which I got. Over the months of complaining I have also had it in writing from another member of staff there. I have also complained to plan.com about this matter and they also have confirmed that I should get the manual discount and again I have that in writing. 

Over the months I have requested a copy of my phone call where I agreed the contract over the phone. This was because I made sure the member of staff would state that I got the manual discount. They have ignored my request on numerous occasions. I have sought advice from the ICO and I will be looking to complain through them in order to obtain this. I am currently waiting another 2 weeks when it will have been 8 weeks in total from when I first complained in order to raise a complaint through CISAS. 

To add I have a business contract with them when I don’t even have a business, I explained this to them and they stated that it didn’t matter. (This was years ago as the offer back then was such a good deal)  I also reiterated this to them when I renewed my contract.

plan.com stated they would get back to me with regards to my complaint and make it there priority which we will see but I’m not holding my breath. (That was last week)

I just wondered if it would be best to complain to CISAS or another route? 

 

 

 

[workaholic duck]

Of course it matters that you don't have a business! As a consumer you are protected by laws/rights that don't apply to businesses. And they know that! Ofcom confirms it.

We know how questionable their company ethos is but they do seem to be operating just within the boundaries of the law. Except, of course, when it comes to not paying. That must be through the courts, small claims court. It's the only thing that makes them respond. You've tried the polite, normal, gentle pressure route (same as me) but all you get are false promises and lies......maybe one months payment if you're lucky, then back to status quo.

Even the big service providers don't want to know. Sure, they can and will exert pressure but only once it seems. I tried the O2 route and very quickly exhausted their powers. I received a final response after a very short intervention and was directed to the ombudsman due to 'deadlock'.

As individual small businesses we simply don't have the time to waste on these tiresome predators. Together, we can make a difference. We need lots of threads to spread the experiences and encourage more (of which there must be thousands) to come forward. I am shocked there is so little information about them online. They have to be exposed.

[workaholic duck]

Oh, and I forgot to say that the way they keep you hooked is to 'review' your contract every 12 months. Any slight change to the original generates another 36 month contract! Clever, aren't they????

I have yet to face this predicament but I have failed, so far, to get in writing a confirmation that it won't happen. Even though O2 told me that as long as nothing is changed, the 36 month contract will continue as before. Well, that's how a normal company would behave! There is nothing 'normal' about FC!

[Louie2015]

Anyone had any luck with either legal action, CISAS or complaints to FC or plan.com? 

[BankFodder]

12 hours ago, Louie2015 said:

Anyone had any luck with either legal action, CISAS or complaints to FC or plan.com? 

It will be best if you start your own thread and letters here your story there.

The only way forward on this is to bring your own county court action. Please start up your own story and we will try to help you resolve the matter

[BankFodder]

On 02/03/2019 at 20:04, Mark Edwards said:

This is the final response letter that I sent 

 

 

FINAL RESPONSE LETTER.pdf

you lay things out well, but this is not a letter before claim.

In order to resolve this, you will have to bring a legal action in the County Court.

You should issue a letter before claim – give 14 days – and then sue. Of course you should not make the threat if you are not prepared to carried out. There is no point in bluffing. Future Comms seem to get away with things because nobody wants to take that final step.

 

[BankFodder]

On 02/03/2019 at 19:57, Mark Edwards said:

Hi

 

bankfodder

 

1. contract started on the 15/10/18

2. I have an email confirming the amount offered , which is less than the termination fee it’s self (see attached)

3. The break of mobile service during switch over was a verbal aggreement , no proof

4. I have attached copy of the future comms agreement 

5. I haven’t recorded any of these calls but will do every time from now on 

 

 

 

 

I'm afraid that is extremely difficult to deal with these photographs. You need to put the documents up in a scanned PDF format. A multipage single file PDF document is ideal.

You can get a scanner very cheaply for about 49 quid from PC World. It helps us to help you

[BankFodder]