Utilities and Telecoms
Bills for services never supplied, out-of-contract tariffs after no notification, and exit fees for connections that never worked.
Utilities and telecoms have their own regulators and their own free complaint routes, which are often the fastest way to a resolution. Where that applies we will point you at it rather than charging you for something you can get for nothing.
Ofcom requires broadband and mobile providers to notify you before your contract ends and to tell you about better deals available. Where that notification did not happen and you rolled onto an expensive out-of-contract tariff, the difference is recoverable. Energy suppliers have their own back-billing rules limiting how far back they can bill for unbilled energy.
Card claims come in where payments continued by continuous payment authority after a valid cancellation, or where a service was charged for but never actually supplied. The sector ADR schemes are free to you, and we will say when going that route alone makes more sense than instructing us.
The problems that come up most
Drawn from the claims we actually run in this area, not from a generic list of consumer complaints.
Rolling onto an expensive out-of-contract tariff with no end-of-contract notice
Exit fees charged for a service that never worked properly
Billing for a period after the account was closed
Back-billing further back than the rules permit
Continuous payment authorities that continue after cancellation
What clients in this sector achieve
These are the outcomes engagements in this sector are scoped to produce. They are written into the proposal so success is defined before the work starts, not assessed afterwards.
- Overpayments recovered on out-of-contract tariffs
- Exit fees cancelled where the service was never delivered as contracted
- Post-cancellation card payments refunded by the bank
- Free sector ADR used where it was genuinely the better route
Where sector programmes usually start
Gym, Telecoms and Rolling Contracts
Minimum terms that auto-renewed, cancellations that were never actioned, and exit fees for a service that stopped working.
Subscription Traps and Recurring Payments
Free trials that quietly became paid plans, cancellations the company says it never received, and payments that keep coming after you cancelled.
Services Not Provided
Work paid for and never done, or done so badly it has to be redone. Builders, installers, courses, memberships and professional services.