Another UPC issue?

PWEI

Apologies for opening another UPC question but I need a bit of advise please.

Back in March when I was coming to the end of my contract with UPC one of their sales reps rang me up. He basically offered my the sun moon & stars and part of the deal included a phone with free calls.
I accepted the offer and was basically tied in to a contract for another 12 months but I never got the phone. I tried ringing a few times but was unable to get through.
Anyway I got through yesterday & told them I wanted to be taken out of their 12 month contract as they had not kept up their end of the agreement.
They said they didn't have the authority to do that but then offered to send me the phone straight away. So I lodged a complaint with their complaints dept who rang me today & offered me a miserable €10 discount & to send me the phone straight away.
I told them I didn't want the phone & I wanted out of the 12 month contract as they didn't keep up their end of the deal.
She said under no circumstances could I do that and then had to cheek to say it was my fault as I never contacted them about the phone. She also tried to tell me if I made a complaint to the Consumers Assocation that it would be thrown out as they (UPC) tried to fix the situation by offering me the phone now.

If I do make a complaint to the consumers Association do I have any leg to stand on? I've never had any problems with UPC before but I couldn't understand their attitude on the phone. All it is doing is making me want to cancel & go back to Sky & Eircom for my broadband.

SweetCaliber

You couldn't get through to them for 4 months?

PWEI

I wasn't trying to get through to them for four months. I tried 3 times & then gave up. If that's all you have to offer please don't reply to my thread.

wmpdd3

The issue is the length of time it took you to raise the issue.

dudara

PWEI wrote: »

I wasn't trying to get through to them for four months. I tried 3 times & then gave up. If that's all you have to offer please don't reply to my thread.

Please stay civil to other posters.

lee3155 has a valid point. You had 4 months in which to get in touch and let them know about the missing phone. As far as they're concerned, this is the first time they've heard about it.

PWEI

It might be a valid point but it was the smart alecky tone of it I didn't like.
I never said I was trying to get through to them for four months.
I came on here looking for genuine replies not smart comments.
If I was looking for such comments I'd go on to the after hours forum.
As far as I'm concerned I shouldn't have to chase UPC for an item that was promised to me & I did make an effort to contact to them.
There's many people out there & on on this website have expressed their frustration on trying go get through to UPC.

hdowney

PWEI wrote: »

It might be a valid point but it was the smart alecky tone of it I didn't like.
I never said I was trying to get through to them for four months.
I came on here looking for genuine replies not smart comments.
If I was looking for such comments I'd go on to the after hours forum.
As far as I'm concerned I shouldn't have to chase UPC for an item that was promised to me & I did make an effort to contact to them.
There's many people out there & on on this website have expressed their frustration on trying go get through to UPC.

I am sorry but how you got any kind of tone conveyed from that sentence I do not know! The person was just asking a question.

No you shouldn't HAVE to chase UPC for the phone, but since they were not forthcoming with it yes you did have to chase them, and honestly I don't think you put much effort into getting it, and that is what people are getting at. If you really wanted the phone you would have pushed more for it when it wasn't forthcoming. So people can understand why UPC are saying no to letting you out of contract. Four months is a long time, and only contacting them a couple times!!!

shinzon

I cant see you getting out of the contract without any penalty which I think is what your basically trying to get at, although stranger things have happened. You can go down the route of making a complaint but you may not get the decision you want.

You said yourself you didnt have a problem with upc before this, so why not take the phone and have 8 months of free calls as promised. Upto yourself really what ye want to do, but i think lifes to short to be getting stressed over these things tbh

Shin

SweetCaliber

PWEI wrote: »

It might be a valid point but it was the smart alecky tone of it I didn't like.
I never said I was trying to get through to them for four months.
I came on here looking for genuine replies not smart comments.
If I was looking for such comments I'd go on to the after hours forum.
As far as I'm concerned I shouldn't have to chase UPC for an item that was promised to me & I did make an effort to contact to them.
There's many people out there & on on this website have expressed their frustration on trying go get through to UPC.

I'm sorry if you don't like the way I ask questions.

The problem is, UPC have many ways to contact them.

Such as:

• Email
• Phone
• Live Chat
• Twitter
• Post

You're telling us that you couldn't get through to them via any of those?


Also, you said you gave up after 3 goes. So you left it for 3 full months and are now demanding you get out of your contract?


You could of tried again each month or so, and if still no avail go to their offices in person.


Other then that you have no comeback. They didn't know you had no phone, only you did and it's only now your alerting them of it.

Chiparus

Actually it is very difficult to get through to their customer service, takes about an half an hour in my experience.

Pity I would love to try out their broadband but the nightmare to get them to finish the service ( that refuse to accept instructions to do the same over the phone) has convinced me never to deal with them.

PWEI

shinzon wrote: »

I cant see you getting out of the contract without any penalty which I think is what your basically trying to get at, although stranger things have happened. You can go down the route of making a complaint but you may not get the decision you want.

You said yourself you didnt have a problem with upc before this, so why not take the phone and have 8 months of free calls as promised. Upto yourself really what ye want to do, but i think lifes to short to be getting stressed over these things tbh

Shin

Thanks for the reply.
I'm not getting stressed about it but it's a matter of principle. These people ring up & get you to sign up for another year under false pretences.
I was out last night with an old friend & was telling him the story & funnily enough the exact same thing happened to him with UPC. He was offered a phone & faster broadband speed & didn't get either. So he rang up after 3 months and he ended up getting €150 off his bill.
The difference was he spoke to a manager when he got through who was very apologetic about it. The girl I spoke to refused to put me through to a manger. I had completely forgotten that part of my deal also included faster broadband speed so as soon as I got home last night I ran a test. My current UPC package is supposed to give me speed of 25mb but I'm only getting 12.70
To be honest even if I did get out of the 12 month contract I'd still probably stay with them as I don't really want the hassle of changing. But it's a mater principle, I hate the way these companies ring up just to get you to sign for another year without giving you what they promised.

dub45

Given the products they can offer its an awful pity that UPC management seem content to allow such poor customer service over such a long period. They have to be aware of what customers have to put up with.

If you really want to get out of your contract you can use the imminent price increase as a reason.