Charged by Setanta even though I have no viewing equipment

Det Somerset

Back in February my satellite dish came off in a storm and when sky wouldn't replace it, I cancelled my subscription to save money. All was fine until I noticed that Setanta Sports charged me for a years subscription this month.

I honestly thought I cancelled Setanta a year ago, so I had never thought to consider that at the time I was cancelling sky. I rang Setanta to explain the situation arguing that they shouldn't have charged me for a service I cannot receive. In fairness, the customer service girl was very nice and appreciative of the situation. She advised that if I could send them proof that my equipment had failed when I cancelled sky, then there would be a chance I could get a refund. She suggested I get sky to send a letter confirming this but I have been on to sky and they won't do this for me.

Can anyone suggest a way to get around this? Surely Setanta have a way of seeing whether I'm viewing their channels?

I have a poor track record in getting a satisfactory result when it comes to consumer rights issues, so I don't want to waste my time if this is just one of these situations where I won't be able to get my money back. But if someone can advise of some way I can prove to Setanta that I have had no way of receiving their service since February, I'd see if I could continue the fight further

Thanks

Setanta Sports: Niall

Det Somerset wrote: »

Back in February my satellite dish came off in a storm and when sky wouldn't replace it, I cancelled my subscription to save money. All was fine until I noticed that Setanta Sports charged me for a years subscription this month.

I honestly thought I cancelled Setanta a year ago, so I had never thought to consider that at the time I was cancelling sky. I rang Setanta to explain the situation arguing that they shouldn't have charged me for a service I cannot receive. In fairness, the customer service girl was very nice and appreciative of the situation. She advised that if I could send them proof that my equipment had failed when I cancelled sky, then there would be a chance I could get a refund. She suggested I get sky to send a letter confirming this but I have been on to sky and they won't do this for me.

Can anyone suggest a way to get around this? Surely Setanta have a way of seeing whether I'm viewing their channels?

I have a poor track record in getting a satisfactory result when it comes to consumer rights issues, so I don't want to waste my time if this is just one of these situations where I won't be able to get my money back. But if someone can advise of some way I can prove to Setanta that I have had no way of receiving their service since February, I'd see if I could continue the fight further

Thanks

Hi,

I can't access your account details from here, but if you send me a private message with your details, I'll ask customer service to contact you.

Thanks,

Niall

Det Somerset

PM sent

Thanks Niall. I hope this can be sorted out.

mickko

Det Somerset wrote: »

Can anyone suggest a way to get around this? Surely Setanta have a way of seeing whether I'm viewing their channels?

Setanta, or any other provider, cannot see what you're viewing and it's no real concern to them either. Their only interest is that you've an account, you're within the terms of your contract, and you're paying. Whilst your Sky service may not have been active, your viewing card would have been active for the Setanta services.

I would assume that the annual payment is for the year ahead. You would not be entitled to a refund for the period from February to now, and I would assume their small print says that you should give them a months notice, one full month prior to the date this annual payment was debited.

So technically, you're probably not entitled to a refund, but, considering it's for the entire year in advance, and you've a genuine case, they should disregard the terms, and do the decent thing and return it to you.

However, you're probably into the first month now, and normally they would expect 30 days notification, so don't be surprised if they offered a reduced amount. In the worst case scenario, you should really receive refund for 10 months.

Det Somerset

Thanks for the reply, Mickko

It's good to at least understand that Setanta can't check if I'm viewing, as it's one avenue I can't look to explore further. I wasn't looking for a refund on the fees since February, but just the charge for the year ahead that I incurred unexpectedly at the start of this month.

In fairness to Setanta, the first and only communication I've had with them so far has suggested they were willing to work with me towards a refund (of some kind), however they suggested I get Sky to assist me in obtaining the evidence they were looking for, and that hasn't proven possible. Niall suggested he was going to get someone to call me, but I haven't had anyone make contact with me yet.

Niall, if you are still reading this thread, can you advise whether someone will be calling me, or if I should continue to make my own case?

Thanks

Det Somerset

Just to give an update here, I got a call from a more senior Setanta CS rep (most likely prompted by Niall, so thanks go to him) on the way home yesterday. The call was quite brief and to the point which was they appreciated the situation I was in and wanted to be flexible with their terms and conditions and offer me a refund from the time that I contacted them this month. As the subscription had only begun a couple of week previous, this means I'm getting almost the full amount back which I'm very happy with.

I'll have to wait a month or so for a cheque to clear but that's not a major issue. I have to again confirm that I've been impressed with Setanta's customer support overall here. Obviously achieving a favourable outcome makes a difference, but despite the terms and conditions being clearly on their side, all three reps I had contact with wanted to try and assist me instead of hiding behind the T&Cs like they could have done (and what Sky have done to me multiple times). So Kudos to Niall and the other two ladies I spoke to on the phone. Also thanks to Mickko for his appraisal which proved to be spot on.

Andy454

Good luck to ya,

I had setanta on my credit card for two years running - without so much as a viewing card from them - I didn't get refunded and they didn't even bother to send me a viewing card when I phoned them!

I will never subscribe to that service again!