Ritesh Rai got in touch from Friends Choice Ltd, his store in Weston-super-Mare, to request that we publish his saga with Shire Leasing “so that other retailers could get educated and would not fall in same trap”.
It was an extremely long story but Ritesh has summarised it: “I signed a telephone and broadband contract with UP Telecom in 2019 for three years. It was later acquired by Reach Telecom in Feb 2022. They forced me to sign a new contract else I would lose out on internet speed and services. I signed another contract. I didn’t realise it was for seven years as I was in India taking care of my dad who was suffering from blood cancer and he could not survive for long.
“Later Reach Telecom was acquired by 4Com and they started chasing me to sign a new contract again for another seven years as they could not support my current system.”
He says it seemed like a vicious circle he was stuck in. So this time he refused and they started charging more and more by adding various charges on top of his invoice “like safe Web charges etc”. When he complained they would remove it but then apply it again on the next invoice.
After waiting almost a year he terminated his DD and asked them to reimburse all the overpayments before he could reinstate the DD. Instead they terminated his services.
He adds: “I had to find another Broadband provider but the equipment (handsets) was leased by Shire Leasing. I kept paying. They (4Com) say the equipment is on a separate lease and I have no choice but to pay for the entire seven years or face early termination. I tried to get it resolved by offering £2,000 but they refused and wanted the full amount to be paid.”
He says that regarding the equipment leased by Shire Leasing, he later realised, cost only £300 in total for two businesses yet they were charging him £147 each month for the entire seven years.
He says: “I made a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman and the FCA but they could not help as it was a limited company. The Financial Ombudsman told me they can’t share the action taken.
“For your reference, the new contract I recently signed with Zappie Telecom for two businesses for four years are charging me £210 including equipment and broadband services. Another provider called SIRUS Telecom offered even less for same services but could not provide quicker so I went with Zappie.
“Now Shire Leasing is again threatening to drag me to court to recover the full amount and legal fees.”
Once again: if it’s gone legal, he needs legal advice. I put him in touch with Lawyers for your Business which will give him free advice on the telephone.
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