What an utter mess......

[SimonGTW]

We have been waiting on fibre for years, finally installed, works great...BUT the WiFi range not great...so I went ahead and ordered Complete WiFi Plus on 7th March 2025, this duly arrives (1 disk) the very next day, super.....but for the life of me, I cant get it to connect to my Smart Hub 3....tried time and time again over that weekend

So, Monday 10th (could have been Tuesday) I called up, spoke to a gentleman in India, who could not help, I have to have an engineer to visit, that should be charged, but free "expert set up"...OK waited nearly 2 weeks till the 20th March...

Engineer arrives 20th, bit later than advised, but, no biggie, nice guy, he cant get it to work either, must be dodgy one, so he changes it for one from his van, nope that doesnt work either, so, he changes the router for one out of his van, and finally it connects, he ask how many I want...I say well my previous system (Eeros by Amazon), I had 4...so three more...OK says he, off he goes, sets up another 3...working ! Great!!

Engineer then says to me, this is an older router, been in my van for a while, so it likely needs to update its firmware, leave it alone when it does....Just as he drives off, lo and behold, router starts to update, and I leave it alone (actually I leave the office).

Worth mentioning here Im then left with 5 (including the dodgy one , well supposedly dodgy) Wifi plus disks, and a spare router....

When I return, routers great...BUT all 4 disks, no longer connected, so, the engineer who came, I had his number, he is local, sent him a text saying all 4 disks not working, he calls me back, offers to come back (7pm+ , like I say nice guy), but I declined, not fair on him, nor me that time in the evening, he asked for the firmware number for the router, which I gave him, he confirms, yes thats the most up to date firmware, leave the disks alone overnight, they probably need to update also...I left them alone overnight.

Next day....they are still not connected, so switch them all off, leave them to chill out (as such), switch them back on, nope, not one of them working, no connection to the router, and actually now no WiFi from the router !! Turn them all off, Wifi Back from the router!! So evidently router (Smart Hub 3) and these bits of kit dont like each other do they???

By this point, Ive had enough, I just want to cancel the Wifi Plus....so I call, explain everything above  to the gentleman on the phone (another gentleman from India) tells me there will be an early exit charge, NO WAY says I, firstly I know I can try them, and if they don't improve the WiFi, there is a 6 month guarantee, and secondly, distance selling, you've sent me something that doesn't work, so I want to cancel and send these bits back....OK???

He goes off to qualify my statement, comes back, yes, Im right, cancel, no charge, he will go ahead and do that.... So I say great, send me the bags to send these 6 items back (I.e. 5 WiFi disks and one router), it all goes a tad quiet, 6 items, No there is only the one WiFi disk to come back....having already told him the whole story as above!!

So, I ask him for the serial numbers he has on record, router etc.... start with the router, Nope that matches neither the one to go back, OR the one engineer put in place....So, I said to him, right this is the serial number of the router that is currently working, make sure this is the one on my account, yes says he, he will do that, do I want to raise a complaint....well no, not really, I just want to cancel and send these bits back, but yes, raise a complaint why not ( IMP-146371994 )....send me the bags yes....OK says he...bags duly arrive.

Customer complaints then call me a few days later, guess where from, yes, Indian gentleman...how can I help you, I didn't really want to go through the whole thing again, he should have notes after all, but I did, only to find out the WiFi Plus has not been cancelled !! Now this is something he will need to look into, expect a call Monday 31st March once he has....OK, I says to him, I have the bags, but no way am I sending anything back until I know its all been cancelled, so send me an email to confirm that as you would usually do I guess....

No email, to confirm cancelation ( you send out email willingly for new orders though!) has ever arrived

Monday 31st, no call, Tuesday 1st April (what a most appropriate day), 17.03 a call, yes, gentleman from Indian, I do all that qualify stuff, business address, get a text code etc...so they know its me they are talking to, no problem in doing that ....off he goes....How can I help you????.... No way am I repeating myself again, so I say, "have you read the notes ?????"" (he hadn't fully)...and from there is goes down hill for 27 minutes, seriously down hill....

So, cutting a really long story short, it was an awful call, truly dreadful, he was totally uninformed...but I do "find out" that he thinks there is still an early cancellation charge (after he goes off to find out from another department !) I of course tell him he is incorrect , WiFi plus still not cancelled, they still think there is only 1 bit of kit to go back, but they are not expecting it (because Im still using it, Ummm no it doesnt work), and the serial number of the router is still incorrect... did I get frustrated???, Im afraid I did yes... I wasnt totally pleasant.

Its an utter mess

So, to summarise :

1. You need to ensure that the serial number of the router I retain is the one I have connected
2. I have 6 bits of your kit, 5 WiFi plus things and 1 router....I dont want them, but I wont return them until you resolve this...so that I get charged for not returning goods down the road
3. You need to ensure that a complaints department can actually resolve a complaint, as they currently cant, and they cant cancel stuff either !!
4. I feel that you have wasted way too much of my time, for something that is totally your fault, you should be recompensing me for that.
5. For gods sake, please do not let me speak to, or write to (not that there is an email address for small business to write to, postal address, yes...postal??? nowadays???) another gentleman from Indian

Currently, you intend to charge me £8 a month for something that doesn't work.... do not do that, you will regret it if you do, Im not scared of making my feelings known (evidently)... and if I have to write to you, I will, and or the ombudsman....which in both cases you will pay for

I wait to hear from you, you can get my details from the complaint number... you have 48 hours to do so, this is your last opportunity to do the right thing

[BethM]

Hi SimonGTW

I'm sorry to hear about this - I am happy to get this looked into by my team but I need you to pass security with me via private message first. Please send over a message so we can discuss.

[AliBali]

OMG this is my experience although I have had added issues promising same day deliveries via Royal Mail, we are very rural NEVER going to happen. But to be honest the poor individuals I have spoken to in Indian call centre are being “hoodwinked” by the individuals they are communicating with in the Midlands despatch centre. 
I will be cancelling my complete WiFi and using TP Deco! 

[SimonGTW]

Hello Beth, yes, no issues with that.... ideally by text though, you will have my number via the complaint reference above, it ends 240

[SimonGTW]

Send away beth

[SimonGTW]

Yes, please do