Complaints Raised Over UK Broadband ISP Onestream’s NordVPN Offer UPDATE
Customers of Hampshire-based UK ISP Onestream, which sells broadband packages using Openreach’s national full fibre network, have criticised the provider after they claim to have been automatically opted-in to take a service from VPN firm NordVPN that indicated they could be charged an extra £4.95 per month if they don’t opt out.
ISPreview’s readers will note that we covered this announcement last week (here), although the press release didn’t include any solid details on either the “discounted rate” that customers were to be offered for NordVPN or how its implementation would be handled. But Onestream soon began emailing customers with more information, and that’s when the complaints started.
The email revealed that Onestream’s partnership with NordVPN would form part of a “30-day free trial” that had already “started“, after which the service would be charged at £4.95 per month. Customers were then invited to click the ‘Get Started‘ button in the email in order to setup the service.
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The bottom of the email also included a cancellation link for those who “want to end your free trial“. Suffice to say that the language seemed to suggest that those contacted had already “started” the trial and would need to specifically select to cancel it in order to avoid being charged, after 30-days had passed. Hard luck if you overlooked or skipped the email, assuming it to be just another one of those ignorable upsell promotions that ISPs often run.
Partial Copy of the Email (Credits to Daniel)
Some customers who went on to query all this with Onestream’s support staff via Live Chat were again informed that they’d been automatically opted-in to the trial (i.e. suggesting they’ll face that extra £4.95 charge at the end of the trial period) and, if you want out, then you’ll have to specifically select to cancel the service (see here and here).
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This also appears to be echoed via the related NordVPN support page on their website (emphasis on the “do not activate” below):
Extract from Onestream’s Support Page (NordVPN)
What happens if I do not activate my trial?
At the end of your free trial, you will be charged £4.95 per month. This will show on your bill each month and can be cancelled anytime in the services area of your MyAccount portal.
In addition, the bottom of the original email states: “NordVPN is not tied to your broadband services with Onestream, should you ever leave Onestream for your broadband service, we will continue to provide you with your NordVPN service until such time as you instruct us to cancel it.” Related complaints about all this soon arrived in our inbox, as well as via social media (examples here, here, here and here).
Sample Customer Complaint 1
“Just got the email and it infers that they have signed you up automatically and will also automatically start charging you every month on your bill unless you unsubscribe.
Surely this is illegal? Things like this should be opt-in not opt-out right?
Even if it’s not setup that way, the email and the help pages certainly make it seem that way.”
Sample Customer Complaint 2
“I contacted customer services and it seems that customers are opted in. When I queried it they said I had to opt out (even though I hadn’t clicked the button in the e-mail). They directed me to cancel NordVPN in ‘My Account’. Very concerning.”
Sample Customer Complaint 3
“Just had the same email from onestream. Signed me up for a free one month trial of NordVPN without asking and then charge me £4.95 a month if I don;t cancel. Surely this is against the rules.”
Sample Customer Complaint 4
“WTH! The company that provides my friend’s internet just signed up every customer of theirs for a recurring subscription to NordVPN for [£4.95 per month]. EVEN IF you cancel your internet, you separately need to cancel this NordVPN subscription you never consented to.”
In the UK, telecoms providers generally cannot just opt residential consumers into an extra service at a cost without your explicit consent (note: the rules for business services are a bit more.. flexible). Doing so could potentially violate consumer protection laws, specifically the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which specifies that any additional charges must be clearly communicated and agreed upon by the customer.
If you find that you’ve been opted into a service without your consent, you have the right to dispute the charge and request a refund. Should the provider decline, then the case can be elevated to their Ofcom approved Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) provider (i.e. the Communications Ombudsman) – see Onestream’s Complaints Policy. Sending a complaint to Trading Standards is another option.
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In this case, there is an ability to cancel, so the above is seemingly more applicable to those who might find they’ve been charged in the future, such as after ignoring or overlooking the original email. This is why it’s always a good idea to review your bills regularly and contact your provider if you notice any unexpected charges.
Naturally, we attempted to query these concerns with Onestream and received the following response, which stated that the offer was “initially made … exclusively to a limited number of qualifying customers” and that no customer data has been shared with NordVPN. The ISP added that the customer then has to “choose to activate the offer” by clicking the link in their email.
A Spokesperson for Onestream told ISPreview:
“This offer is designed to give Onestream customers the opportunity to benefit from additional security and protection from cyber threats.
Onestream have initially made the offer exclusively to a limited number of qualifying customers, before the service goes fully live on September 1.
No Onestream customer data has been shared with NordVPN. Onestream provides a single click link for customers to choose to activate the offer, at which point they agree to send their email address to NordVPN so they can receive their licence key.
There is no contracted period, and Onestream pay the full costs of the free trial.
Customers can call, email, chat or login to their Onestream account at any time to cancel.
Onestream is committed to compliance with all relevant consumer protection and data protection legislation. If any customer feels they have been unfairly charged, we would encourage them to contact us.”
As the language in Onestream’s official response doesn’t completely clear up some of the confusion, we then asked the provider to clarify – twice – whether customers who see the email but do nothing (i.e. ignore or overlook it) will ever face any charge(s) for the service after the first 30-days have passed. The provider did not give a simple Yes or No response and instead reiterated the following.
A Spokesperson for Onestream added:
“Customers are informed that the service is free for the first month and given an activation link so they can enjoy the benefits of the VPN. There is also a clear invitation to cancel if they do not wish to receive the service.
Onestream pays for the first month for the customer and there is no obligation for them to keep the service – they can cancel at any time. There is no contract.
Onestream is committed to meeting its obligations under the Consumer Rights Act and any customer who has a billing query is invited to contact Onestream directly.”
Some of those who complained have also raised their concerns with NordVPN directly. A support agent for the VPN provider has since told them: “We wanted to let you know that we are in contact with Onestream and collecting additional details to understand the issue better. All of our resell partners must rely on lawful and ethical means to sell Nord products. If that is not the case here, we will make sure to get it right.”
Finally, Ofcom said they would investigate the complaints. The regulator does have relevant enforcement powers under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs) and the related Digital Markets Competition and Consumer (DMCC) Act (which will repeal and replace the CPRs) to examine and stop any offending practice, although it’s not yet clear if that will be needed.
A Spokesperson for Ofcom told ISPreview:
“These reports are concerning, and we will be raising this with Onestream. The practice of automatically opting customers into a service without their agreement and later charging for it if they do not cancel is known as inertia selling, and consumer legislation expressly prohibits this.”
UPDATE 9:31am
Onestream has now informed ISPreview that “nobody has been charged and nobody will be charged unless they opt in“, which is hopefully something that any future emails and customer support agents will now similarly be reflecting to those who contact them about it. The ISP has acknowledged that they could have done a better job of their communications and also plans to contact those who received the original email.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Hmm. Given this isn’t the first time that OneStream has attempted inertia selling (see https://x.com/HAJBlack/status/1826343378734514348) I’m a little skeptical of their claim that “nobody has been charged and nobody will be charged unless they opt in” — but perhaps they’ve changed their business practices. If they have changed then I strongly suspect it’s partly due to this article, so thank you Mark for your hard work 🙂
Indeed, Ben, Mark is to be commended for this thorough and well researched article.
It certainly feels like Onestream’s compliance with law followed shortly after Mark published the article.
I would question why the average customer requires a VPN service anyway, and this provider is aimed at the average customer I think?
In current regime, having a VPN is an absolute necessity
Yes. Brings all your data together in one place for collection and marks you as someone wanting to hide things.
Not only does using something like NordVPN make it easier to spy on you since your trafic is now collected together no matter where you might be using the internet, but it also marks you out as a bit of a sucker to companies like Onestream. 🙂
Average customer not necessarily. But if you an expat then you might need VPN to watch somehow legally foreign linear tv, streaming services that are not available in the UK including Max(HBO), Sky Showtime, Canal+, Via Play offering Champions League, F1, Premier League for much less than BT/Sky UK are charging.
Like others have said some use VPNs for a privacy (highly debated) or for getting around blocks on sites.
And to reply to Old Blue Shirt Guy and Witcher, No most VPNs do not brings all your data together and make it easier to spy on you. Feel like that become a big misconception, For free VPNs sure but paid ones not so much.
Even Nord has proven they do not keep logs and have had 4 security audits (https://www.techradar.com/computing/cyber-security/nordvpn-confirms-its-no-logs-claims-for-the-fourth-time-with-security-audit)
Of course its up to you to know which to trust, Heard Nord is good (they just stuck when it come to marketing and customer service) but Mullvad and Proton are better.
Some people don’t understand how a VPN works. Good luck trying to crack nordvpn or expressvpn when they have any logs, unlike your ISP and every website you go to
This was inevitably going to end in tears and damage to OneStream.
If they were planning to charge people, it was inevitable that the regulator would get involved and the charges would have to be reversed. If it’s just bad communication then they’ve taken a reputational hit and their customer service team is going to be sorting the mess out for weeks. They don’t win either way.
Fantastic journalism and has definitely solidified my distrust in OneStream as an ISP. These kinds of tactics should be illegal. I’ve seen before when I considered joining them (a few months ago) they bundled stuff in that you couldn’t cancel or opt out of before joining, that to me is unfair on the consumer. This has just made it worse.
“Onestream pays for the first month for the customer”
Really ? More like NordVPN gives one month free and pays Onestream for every new customer. The chances of Onestream paying NordVPN are IMHO nill
Just a storm in a teacup, if users dont want vpn (a questionable decision anyway for anyone that want a bit more i’net privacy), just opt out, just like anything alse read the small print / options selections before hitting the button. Mich as well ague about all the dodgy cookies and ambiguous tracking that goes on with user ignorace.
For soem reason I allways do a internet price check on so called ‘offeres’, I dont pay £4+, as it happens for 9Nord)vpn, more like £2, but each to their own ‘recognisance’.
In my mind it’s not okay to automatically enroll broadband customers in a “free trial” and force them to pay if they don’t notice the email and cancel within a certain time… If you think it’s fine then let me know your email address and I’ll offer you various services on a free trial basis, with automatic liability to pay if you fail to notice the email and cancel within the trial period 🙂
Hi mark love what you do been reading for a good while now but with trading standards we can’t go to them directly now we have to do it through cab I’m not sure of you can refer to others but I know cab you got to file through them
I’m a Onestream customer and have always found their practises to be a little shady. On sign up you’re automatically enrolled onto “free” extras, that you can’t even remove and unless you remember to cancel them, you will be charged. They then make it incredibly difficult to cancel them as you can never get through to customer service. When do you do get through, their billing system is so outdated that everything goes to a separate department to deal with. It took me 3 months to get the money back even though I’d cancelled these extras before the deadline. Read the Trustpilot reviews – but only the negative ones. The positive ones are because they ask after every interaction with them to leave a positive review to boost that score when in reality, they haven’t helped you but you’ve left a glorious review and the chances are you’ll have to call or email again and again and again to resolve your initial query.
The only reason I’ve stayed with them is price and internet service. Customer service is shocking at best.
On a different note but related to gdpr and anti patterns, do you think you can change your cookie popup to give a single reject all to go with the single accept all instead of one accept all and and 10 separate reject options?
Yes please to this!
Just had a look at their website, and there prices are attractive… £33.95 pm for Hyperstream Full Fibre 1000 – 24 month contract.
While I did not see the NordVPN offer, they have “McAfee 1 month free trial included First 1 month free then £34.95 for one year. £79.95 per year thereafter. Cancel anytime” and “Onestream Assured 2 month trial”… which is £4.95
Wow!
Now while they say you can cancel “anytime” I suspect that this cannot be done online so requiring a phone call.
They have 22% one star reviews on Trustpilot which make for an interesting read.
I could save a lot of money over Aquiss who I am using but… Nah not for me.
Gave them a country mile when I was investigating a new (first time fibre) supplier for my parents (the ‘usual’ situation where a rural customer has the choice of TWO physically separate competing fibre networks vs. my city ‘fibre coming soon by 2028’ situation natch!).
Just for investigating the supply we were bombarded with salesey emails which took ages to stop after unsubscribing. And before the VPN affair we were told we HAD to sign up for customer service or some guff at £5 a month which you could ONLY cancel after you’d signed up, by phone. I could see what a bunch of twunts they were then, and the reports of poor CS sealed it.
That said having just been shunted from Shell to ‘lend us £400 mil guvnor’ TT, their incompetence at my asking to upgrade to g.fast (one of the few options open to me) has just made me happy to pay to leave and go with, well, SKY seem to be the only option! Now someone is going to tell me SKY use TT as wholesaler?
They may be in breach of the Consumer rights act 2015, IT may depend on how exactly their T&C’s are worded. Any key terms have to ne made clear and anything financial would be a key term. Generally the regulate frowns on people being defaulted into optional extras
This sounds like the same tactic Onestream did a few years back with the digital security software. They gave a 30 day trial of the software and if you forgot to cancel (which they are relying on you not doing) they charge you extra. They should be investigated for doing this again and not thinking about their customers. They just want extra revenue!