Citation ISO Dispute

[ajberti]

I have a dispute with Citation ISO and their contracts. Looking for advice and others who have had similar problems with them.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

It might help if you explained your issue or asked a question????

 

[ajberti]

Ah, ok thanks. My issue is that they have locked my into a 10 year contract and imo are not acting reasonably. I see loads of reviews on trust pilot that all say the same thing about the the company. I wish I had seen that before I did business with them. Anyway, I am looking to chat with any of these people to see how they may have resolved the situation with Citation, or even if they did not.

 

[Newchodge]

Ah, ok thanks. My issue is that they have locked my into a 10 year contract and imo are not acting reasonably. I see loads of reviews on trust pilot that all say the same thing about the the company. I wish I had seen that before I did business with them. Anyway, I am looking to chat with any of these people to see how they may have resolved the situation with Citation, or even if they did not.

Their contracts are usually watertight. You need to talk to a lawyer.

 

[fisicx]

@ajberti - if this was B2B your chances of early release are virtually zero.

Did you read the whole contract before signing? Did you get a solicitor to read the contract before signing?

Have Citation failed to deliver the service detailed in the contract?

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

As mentioned, the devil is in the detail of the contract and if you signed it without reading it, you will probably have to live with it.

However, I would question whether a 10 year contract would be seen as fair and enforceable (even for a business). I would seek legal advice.

 

[The Resolver]

First problem in using Citation ISO is that they are not accredited by UKAS.com.

UKAS website states:-
"The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) operates as the sole National Accreditation Body (NAB) in the UK, responsible for assessing and accrediting organisations that provide conformity assessment services such as certification, testing, inspection, calibration, and verification. enforcement powers."

In other words they check the checkers for compliance with standards

As with all businesses they have to comply with The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 so that terms considered 'unfair' can be made ineffective. However this would be difficult to establish purely in respect of the clause defining the period of time for which you signed up to. Was it mentioned in correspondence leading up to you signing up. Having said that I would be prepared to look at (no charge) your particular contract (email to me at [email protected] ). Given you say there are many others complaining in similar terms there may well be opportunities for resolving out of court on a commercial basis.

 

[Michael Loveridge]

How much are you on the hook for?

 

[ajberti]

Ok so here's the update. I paid them. Yes, i hate myself but i wasn't sleeping and they were actively stopping me from retiring. So i have to give them 16k of my retirement money for services impossible to provide. Makes me sick but at least it's a clean break. Thieves!
Anyway, if people would like to help put pressure on these guys to stop others falling into the same trap as I. Let me know. Thanks all. From a couple of comments and more research it seems that their behaviour seems to be part of their cowboy business. And they are good at it.

 

[P&L]

Sorry to hear.

At the end of the 10 year period they will automatically renew your contract for another 10 years unless you’ve given them the required notice for cancellation and have confirmation in writing that they have accepted your cancellation.

 

[Michael Loveridge]

That’s a shame, and it’s why I asked how much you owed.

I had a client in a similar situation (different company) and we offered a settlement of around 20%, amounting around £4k. We said if they didn’t accept we’d just dissolve the company and set up a new one. We were bluffing, but they accepted - I suspect it’s a scenario they’re faced with regularly.

 

[The Resolver]

An update for anyone locked in unfairly and not buying in the course of a business, trade , profession etc ie a consumer now has the benefit of an unfair lock-in terms section of The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 which came into effect this spring (the rest of the Act came into effect last year (April 2025.). The interesting issue here is that the Competition and Markets Authority now has power to enforce and fine directly without going through the court.

Any business with lock in terms applying to consumers needs therefore to check its systems for compliance. I will upload an article I am writing as to the detail and how to avoid being fined. It might make commercial sense for relevant companies to declare compliance.

 

[HFE Signs]

I think over the last 20yrs or so people have realised that for small to medium businesses these ISO certs are really not worth the money or trouble they bring. These days most successful businesses have standards and trackability that come with more modern systems, software and CRM's. It was much different 20-30yrs ago when we all used a pen!