Phonewatch contract

jelutong

Good news I'd say at a guess.

KoolKid

Looking forward to the update.

amadablam

It's definitely interesting and I'm just being hesitant to say anything until I get this in writing and I've been promised it's on the way. I think it will come too but I'm going to be careful until I receive it.

amadablam

Well, I got a the letter today.....which was extremely quick.

After I got the previous letter yesterday, I received a phone call from their data protection officer.

The call was reasonably short, incredibly polite and direct.

You may remember from my posts that I was adamant that I had never received an email notice of renewal.

Phonewatch had sworn that it was issued and I asked for a copy of the email they sent, including the Internet headers. After a few days I received a screen grab embedded in an email and I refused to accept it and requested the email and headers again as the only proof that would be acceptable.

I was told that they would be able to prove in court that they had emailed me....I argued that I would go to court and prove otherwise and that I was confident that I would win.

That was why I sent in the data request asking for copies of all electronic correspondence with me, marketing data, call transcripts and most importantly, the electronic emails that show I was notified of the the renewal.

They can lie but they can't hide from the fact that there is legislation to protect our personal data and that this is our right to obtain records pertaining to that data. In this case, I wanted proof that they were lying about the email and if they couldn't provide a copy of it, then it didn't exist.

Anyway...... The data protection officer informed me that he was unable to fulfil my written requests and would return my cheque for 6.35.

Just to put it in perspective, this gentleman was the only phonewatch employee that I spoke in regard to the issue, who was a rational and helpful individual. This is in contrast to the belligerent aggressive manner of the previous employees on this issue .

I asked could he explain and he was hesitant to get drawn into a conversation. He said that he was unable to obtain copies or materials in relation to my requests and that they would like to offer me my cheque and also offer to close off my account in full an waive the €351 they were trying to falsely charge me.

I asked could I have this in writing so I got the letter today, stating that they are returning my cheque and that the letter was confirmation that my account was closed off and that I am not liable for any charges at all.

The letter was very basic and simply worded but I didn't expect a written apology

As you can see, they blatantly lied to me, issued threats to me, based on lies and only for I had went after them on data protection, they would have continued to harass me and insist that I was liable for something that they were completely lying about all along.

I haven't decided whether I'm happy with this in its entirity due to the fact that they are not obviously keeping their digital records in accordance with the relevant legislation.

So for anyone going through what I went through, stick to your guns if you firmly believe you are right.

mugsymugsy

Congrats and fair play. Is there someone you can complain to I did a quick Google but couldn't.

Thanks for the update and a reminder to all of those thinking of using phone watch! Have a read of this and then make an informed decision.

van_beano

Congrats, fair play sticking to your guns! That last post of yours should be shown to anyone else that comes on Boards with the same issue.

I can only imagine the amount of people who don’t fight these threats or have no one to give them advice on it and are constantly being rolled into a new contract whether they like it or not. This kind of carry on can’t go on but who do you go to to complain? I don’t know.

DesperateDan

Jaysus. Imagine if you were any way un-tech-savvy and didn't know anything about these tactics, I'm sure the vast majority wouldn't know what to do.

Going to court is surely the very last thing Phonewatch would do, even if they actually had proof they had sent you the mail. They will probably endeavor to make sure now they send these renewal confirmation emails when they should, which is something.

Even still it's incredibly shady business practice. Similar thing happened my car insurance with BoI the other day, they sent me a new disc and told me my direct debit was X per-month. If I didn't do anything about it in time (including posting the disc back to them) I would have been locked in for the year.

jimmycrackcorm

amadablam wrote:

Anyway...... The data protection officer informed me that he was unable to fulfil my written requests and would return my cheque for 6.35.

Now you have been sorted, you should now make a complaint to the data protection commissioner about this just to get back at them.

For whatever reason, simply not complying with your request is illegal and they should be taught a lesson about their shady practices.

KoolKid

I agree. And they have nothing to threaten you with now.

kub

I have to wonder how comfortable the NSAI and PSA are with this.

KoolKid

If anyone wants to ask them

https://www.psa.gov.ie/en/PSA/Pages/contact_us

amadablam

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Now you have been sorted, you should now make a complaint to the data protection commissioner about this just to get back at them.

For whatever reason, simply not complying with your request is illegal and they should be taught a lesson about their shady practices.

That's what I was hinting as they are not just entitled to close off the matter to suit themselves. Ironically, they were unwilling to close off my account until I went down this route.

But I 'm actually away from home for the past week and want to see the letter properly and check out the commissioner process in detail when I am home.

KoolKid

Well at least the worst part in over. Thanks for all your input. I'm sure it will help many others.Keep us updated.

joe_99

Phonewatch tried to pull the same trick with me after a year. I cancelled straight away during the cooling off period. Awful company. Terrible practice of auto renewing contracts.

amadablam

KoolKid wrote: »

Well at least the worst part in over. Thanks for all your input. I'm sure it will help many others.Keep us updated.

I'm glad I waited until I got home and read the letter.

Turns out that the data protection officer is also the customer care manager....... Which means he was the manager that was directing the staff member that I was having the trouble with.

Seriously, you couldn't make this up.

Now that I've managed to call them out on their bull..... It's all ok with them

I'll be checking out the commissioner process in detail on Monday.

KoolKid

amadablam wrote: »

I'm glad I waited until I got home and read the letter.

Turns out that the data protection officer is also the customer care manager....... Which means he was the manager that was directing the staff member that I was having the trouble with.

Seriously, you couldn't make this up.

Now that I've managed to call them out on their bull..... It's all ok with them

I'll be checking out the commissioner process in detail on Monday.

He could be waffling you on his title. What position did he sign that letter under.?

amadablam

KoolKid wrote: »

He could be waffling you on his title. What position did he sign that letter under.?

I doubt it, I'd say his title is genuine, first piece of genuine information from them in this instance

Previous guy was customer care team and this guy is obviously his direct manager

Title is 'customer care and data protection manager'

KoolKid

Maybe I'm too suspicious.

Ciaraki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/104648316#Comment_104648316

I just wanted to thank you amadablam. Your experience is identical to what I have just gone through (imagine 5 years later!!). I followed your advice and have just received a email to say it is resolved. Thank you.

Rattlehead_ie

I have to say Im surprised at this attitude from PhoneWatch. I am in the process of moving provider and by chance came across this thread.

Slightly different situation where I have recieved a email about "auto renew" which went into my spam account, along with the rest of their marketting rubish. Im wondering if Im in the same situation or locked in? This seems like a very sneaky tactic. Its very much an auto opt in which I thought was illegal

fritzelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119826623#Comment_119826623

It's not possible to auto renew a contract without your express permission no matter what it might say in the initial contract e.g. mobile contract defaults to a monthly contract after it ends

Guide to Unfair Terms in Contracts - CCPC Business

Rattlehead_ie

@fritzelly I just got off the phone/email with CPCC and they are aware of PhoneWatches practice, but they have even said that the onus is on the consumer/customer when signing up etc. It pains me to have to pay the remainder of the contract (its only 3 months) but for the sake of just getting away from PhoneWatch Im happy.

Im even happier to be rid of them after the call I had with PhoneWatch Customer Service, just not getting I want to cancel and pushing their product, highly aggresive sales/cs and I do not want to deal with them again.

kevgaa

Hi Folks,

Im currently looking to move house and cancel my Eircom phonewatch contract. Had a very angry call with an advisor saying I’m tied into a contract till December.

Told them I don’t have a contract with them which she argued with. So what approach do people advise I should take?

Ask for all correspondence as the email address they have is an old eircom address that hasn’t existed in years.

she argued it was up to me to inform them of my new email. Also I have a note from sales agent when the alarm agreed which is surely mid-selling

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