Mis-sold broadband contract - who can I ask for advice ?

[Olizoo]

In Jan this year I was informed by cityfibre that fast fibre broadband was available for my premises and did I want somebody to contact me to order it, I indicated yes. I have been subscribed for updates on this service for almost 2 years.

The following day I was contacted by Meraki communications obo cityfibre and offered super fast broadband and phone line for the same price as my current snail speed with zen so I accepted and was given an install date two weeks later. No mention of surveys or potential non-availability of the service so I was happy to proceed and the call was recorded to prove what I was offered and any disclaimers mentioned.

I wa sent contracts for the broadband, router and handset the following day and hurried up into signing to book the install but no mention that the router/handset was a separate contract with their partner finance co ‘shire leading’.

The engineers attended only to then tell me that actually broadband wasn’t available due to the fact the network had never been connected to my premises.

I informed Meraki and told them I would have to cancel the contract only to be told that they had cancelled the broadband but I would have to lease the equipement I couldn’t use on it for a further 7 years as the agreements for the service and hardware were separate contracts.

Furthermore the phone handset was not a phoneline handset but a WiFi handset that could only be used on the broadband they had not installed. All the hardware was returned to Meraki immediately and unused except one attempt which is how we discovered it wasn’t actually a phone line.

We offered to continue the broadband contract if Meraki could guarantee us a reasonable install date as a compromise but they replied that they now refused to supply us broadband at all, probably because they now realised they couldn’t, and they also refused to cancel the remaining elements of the agreement.

I have since ordered the same broadband from a different supplier who immediately told us that a survey was required before being able to guarantee the service was available and the city fibre website now states that ‘the network is not yet available
In my area’ so it has changed however I have screenshots showing it said available.

I cannot afford a 7 year agreement for services I don’t have and I am also paying my original telecoms provider for snail speed but working broadband.

I have applied to both ombudsman for shire and Meraki but I have 11 employees so I do not qualify for support.

Any suggestions for what I could do to get out of this nightmare please ?

 

[Ozzy]

Was the [finance] contract signed as a sole trader or as a Limited company?

If a sole trader then you are covered/protected under the FCA, but if signed as a Limited company then Ltd Co's get very little (almost no) protection for financial agreement.

 

[Newchodge]

DO they have your money? If not, don't pay them.

 

[Mark T Jones]

There is quite a lot to unravel, but it really boils down to whether you can clearly show that you were mis-sold.

 

[Newchodge]

There is quite a lot to unravel, but it really boils down to whether you can clearly show that you were mis-sold.

Or, don't pay and make them prove the contract was valid.

 

[cjd]

You need to get a solicitor to write to them explaining exactly why the contract is void and requesting a full refund.

 

[Olizoo]

Thanks for these replies, I paid them both for a few months while I considered my options then stopped paying Meraki and invited them to take action to recover which they haven’t done yet, the biggest cost is the lease co and they claim to be separate and unconnected entities even though it was mandatory for us to use them to lease the equipment.

I think I will write to them both with my reasoning and evidence that the core service I originally ordered, that was the bait to sell me the add ons, was not available as sold rendering the entire agreement(s) null and void and see what happens

 

[hikiwari]

I wa sent contracts for the broadband, router and handset the following day and hurried up into signing to book the install but no mention that the router/handset was a separate contract with their partner finance co ‘shire leading’.

You were "sent contracts" (plural) but then you say there was "no mention that the router/handset was a separate contract with their partner finance co ‘shire leading’". Does it not say on the top of each contract who it is with?

And sorry if this sounds a bit patronising, how did you not see that your monthly lease payments would continue for 84 months!!?

 

[japancool]

OT, but I'm surprised they can call themselves "Meraki", given the existence of Cisco Meraki.

 

[cjd]

If you'd like to give me the make and model of the phones I'll see whether they are actually locked or not.

 

[Tomwirral]

In Jan this year I was informed by cityfibre that fast fibre broadband was available for my premises and did I want somebody to contact me to order it, I indicated yes. I have been subscribed for updates on this service for almost 2 years.

The following day I was contacted by Meraki communications obo cityfibre and offered super fast broadband and phone line for the same price as my current snail speed with zen so I accepted and was given an install date two weeks later. No mention of surveys or potential non-availability of the service so I was happy to proceed and the call was recorded to prove what I was offered and any disclaimers mentioned.

I wa sent contracts for the broadband, router and handset the following day and hurried up into signing to book the install but no mention that the router/handset was a separate contract with their partner finance co ‘shire leading’.

The engineers attended only to then tell me that actually broadband wasn’t available due to the fact the network had never been connected to my premises.

I informed Meraki and told them I would have to cancel the contract only to be told that they had cancelled the broadband but I would have to lease the equipement I couldn’t use on it for a further 7 years as the agreements for the service and hardware were separate contracts.

Furthermore the phone handset was not a phoneline handset but a WiFi handset that could only be used on the broadband they had not installed. All the hardware was returned to Meraki immediately and unused except one attempt which is how we discovered it wasn’t actually a phone line.

We offered to continue the broadband contract if Meraki could guarantee us a reasonable install date as a compromise but they replied that they now refused to supply us broadband at all, probably because they now realised they couldn’t, and they also refused to cancel the remaining elements of the agreement.

I have since ordered the same broadband from a different supplier who immediately told us that a survey was required before being able to guarantee the service was available and the city fibre website now states that ‘the network is not yet available
In my area’ so it has changed however I have screenshots showing it said available.

I cannot afford a 7 year agreement for services I don’t have and I am also paying my original telecoms provider for snail speed but working broadband.

I have applied to both ombudsman for shire and Meraki but I have 11 employees so I do not qualify for support.

Any suggestions for what I could do to get out of this nightmare please ?

Are you in the Uk? If so it’s not practice to offer 7 year agreements and the law is 3 years, nevertheless you are not tied into a contract for the first 30 days in these circumstances, you have a right to reject. Am unable to help as am not aware of your jurisdiction

 

[Newchodge]

Are you in the Uk? If so it’s not practice to offer 7 year agreements and the law is 3 years, nevertheless you are not tied into a contract for the first 30 days in these circumstances, you have a right to reject. Am unable to help as am not aware of your jurisdiction

Please do not talk rubbish. There is no such law and there is no 30 day cooling off period for a B2B contract.

 

[japancool]

Are you in the Uk? If so it’s not practice to offer 7 year agreements and the law is 3 years, nevertheless you are not tied into a contract for the first 30 days in these circumstances, you have a right to reject. Am unable to help as am not aware of your jurisdiction

It is far from unheard of in the business telecoms industry.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Are you in the Uk? If so it’s not practice to offer 7 year agreements and the law is 3 years, nevertheless you are not tied into a contract for the first 30 days in these circumstances, you have a right to reject. Am unable to help as am not aware of your jurisdiction

Complete nonsense

 

[cjd]

We used to see a lot of 7 year contracts in telecoms, usually complicated equipment and service leases that were incredibly expensive and almost impossible to get out of. Competition from the new cloud-based VoIP companies eroded them massively as the new technology was a fraction of the cost, provided far better products and reduced maintenance costs to near zero.

We're seeing them return a bit now though by leasing phones - they're always poor deals where the service provider is just selling third party finance and trying to lock that into the actual service which will always just be a re-selling deal from a wholesaler with a soft-switch. They're purely sales operations with no real support. Anybody selling 7 year contracts should be avoided like the plague.

 

[Mark T Jones]

We used to see a lot of 7 year contracts in telecoms, usually complicated equipment and service leases that were incredibly expensive and almost impossible to get out of. Competition from the new cloud-based VoIP companies eroded them massively as the new technology was a fraction of the cost, provided far better products and reduced maintenance costs to near zero.

We're seeing them return a bit now though by leasing phones - they're always poor deals where the service provider is just selling third party finance and trying to lock that into the actual service which will always just be a re-selling deal from a wholesaler with a soft-switch. They're purely sales operations with no real support. Anybody selling 7 year contracts should be avoided like the plague.

Interesting to see it coming back - and the name mentioned is very much a 'usual suspect'. After the last wave of dodgy selling, there was a semi-voluntary code reigning lenders in.

IAgree- 7 years for anything made of plastic and remotely tech is bad news.