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Avoid POP Telecom at all costs!

I was mis-sold an internet package by a sales agent at Carphone Warehouse, and I've been complaining to POP Telecom since early January, but they keep giving me the runaround, always changing their story and never calling me back when they say they will. I've asked them multiple times to end the contract, and have requested that they refund my money.

After over 3 months of trying to resolve this dispute, they are still debiting money from my bank account each month, even though I've asked them several times to stop until this dispute is resolved. They claim their automated system can only stop the direct debit if I cancel the contract and pay an early termination fee of >£200; but if I terminate the contract, they say they can no longer investigate my claim for a refund. They say if I cancel the direct debit myself while the account is still open, they will report it as delinquent to a collection agency. Following months of dealing with obtuse and misinformed customer service reps and technical support agents, I sent a stern email to them yesterday, explaining that if they didn't cease debiting my bank account without my permission immediately, and if they don't resolve my dispute right away to my satisfaction, I am going to sue them in court.

I received a voice message today from a customer service rep, and when I got him on the line, he said the only reason he'd reached out was to ask if they could look into whether they might be able to resolve some technical issues they'd been having, so that maybe they could possibly get me the download speeds that I was expecting. I cut him off to say that I had already stated very clearly what it is that I want, which is to completely terminate our business relationship. His response was: "So, no service at all?"

Naturally, he was not authorised to grant me anything that I'd actually requested, but he promised to have someone look into it, and that he would call me back! I said that I was going to follow through with my threat to sue, and ended the conversation.

They have established a pattern of constantly promising to fix the situation, and then never following through. Their own customer service rep agreed that I was mis-sold, but they still claim it's me who owes them money, not the other way around. I have all documentation and a string of emails to and from them as a record of the dispute. It doesn't matter what I say or do, they refuse to resolve the issue and continue to take my money.
 
Have you follwed this on their website https://www.poptelecom.co.uk/page/code-of-practice
At POP Telecom we pride ourselves on customer satisfaction which is why we operate a ‘happy customer scheme’.

Our policy is:

Treat every customer as an individual
Ensure our representatives promote the company in a professional way
Afford them the courtesy and respect they deserve as a paying customer
Take our time to handle each case with care
Try to resolve all issues on the first point of contact
Update the customer regularly to ensure you always know what is happening
Always try to ensure we reach a mutual agreement which benefits the customer
Never abuse the trust of vulnerable persons, e.g. who appear to be unsure of what we are selling, or whose first language is not English.

If you do not feel that any of these policies have been adhered to or you have other reason to complain then please raise this immediately following our complaints procedure below. When we receive your complaint we will always try to deal with it immediately. We have a UK based customer service centre that can help you over the phone or by e-mail. If you would prefer a specific representative to deal with your complaint then ask for them when calling in or attention the e-mail to them.

Please do not send individual e-mails to representatives as these are unmonitored and may cause a delay in response unless arranged prior.

If the first point of contact cannot help you or you feel they have not done enough then we will escalate your complaint.

A senior member of the customer service team will then work with you to resolve it.
If in the unlikely case you are still dissatisfied, your complaint will be escalated to Senior Management who will contact you at an appropriate time.
We will aim to settle most complaints by this stage, but if not we will explain POP Telecom final position. In some cases POP Telecom will issue a deadlock letter. This means there is nothing more we can do for your complaint.

If you are still not happy having followed the complaints procedure above and we have either sent you a deadlock letter or eight weeks have passed since the complaint was logged you can refer your complaint to our ADR (Alternative Disputes Resolution)

If you have and are at the end then ask for the dealock letter to take it up with the ADR who is CISAS
 
I joined POPTELECOM earlier in May 2021. I am afraid I did NOT do a good job researching this ISP before.

From Day 1 I had constant disconnections and poor service. So much that in the middle of an online session the call or service would cut off.

Of course POPTELECOM said “give it a few days”.
When a few days passed, they said it was a fault within my home and it was forced to change my existing cabling. Still no joy.

POPTELECOM then sent BTOPENREACH to my home after which they found no issues at my home. They problems existed - poor speed and endless disconnections.

I was promised returned phone calls but none came through.

After complaints via emails, POPTELECOM then because very abusive and threatening. June and July came and still the issue could not be resolved.

I had to leave my home and got a sit in Tesco’s car park to be able to “Work From Home”

Anyway - short story:
I decided to move to another provide and that when POPTELECOM became even more threatening and obstructive. They refused to release the phone line on two occasions but in the interim kept taking their DD payments and further threatened me when I stopped the DD mandate.

In the end they withdrew the full 18 months from my bank account before the Stop DD was activated.

And I have since moved to another provider after changing land line number and since activation early September 2021. I had had not issues.

Please please please - stay away from POPTELECOM.
 
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I joined POPTELECOM earlier in May 2021. I am afraid I did NOT do a good job researching this ISP before.

From Day 1 I had constant disconnections and poor service. So much that in the middle of an online session the call or service would cut off.

Of course POPTELECOM said “give it a few days”.
When a few days passed, they said it was a fault within my home and it was forced to change my existing cabling. Still no joy.

POPTELECOM then sent BTOPENREACH to my home after which they found no issues at my home. They problems existed - poor speed and endless disconnections.

I was promised returned phone calls but none came through.

After complaints via emails, POPTELECOM then because very abusive and threatening. June and July came and still the issue could not be resolved.

I had to leave my home and got a sit in Tesco’s car park to be able to “Work From Home”

Anyway - short story:
I decided to move to another provide and that when POPTELECOM became even more threatening and obstructive. They refused to release the phone line on two occasions but in the interim kept taking their DD payments and further threatened me when I stopped the DD mandate.

In the end they withdrew the full 18 months from my bank account before the Stop DD was activated.

And I have since moved to another provider after changing land line number and since activation early September 2021. I had had not issues.

Please please please - stay away from POPTELECOM.
In this situation you should raise a formal complaint, times of drop outs and all communication and take them to Ofcom on receipt of your final response/deadlock letter.
 
I had a similar experience with an energy company who tried to rip me off when I moved to a new supplier.
I emailed (never phone, you will have no record unless you record it yourself, and its too easy to get angry!!), and got the run around.
I then raised a formal complaint, and after the four weeks (i believe), they did not even respond, so I escalated it to their next level, four week later, nothing.
Now I was in the position to contact the Ombudsman and make a complaint, all done on line.
Got my money back pretty quickly.
Not long after they went bust, made my day!!!

In conclusion, never call, use written evidence, ie recorded mail etc.
Use the system, many don't because it requires some effort, but you do have the law behind you.
 
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