You Wanadoo Something About It!

When did the process of buying and selling become a war of attrition that required the buyer to be some type of consumer watchdog needing the hawkish eye of a lawyer just to prevent you from losing your marbles?

Just recently I’ve been helping my mother find herself a new car. Now after empowering herself via the internet and various copies of What Car magazine she plumped for something along the lines of a Kia Picanto. It’s a tiny little thing which offers air conditioning, electric windows and an mp3 player for just under six grand. It’s also a decent little drive and overall has some seriously good write ups.

It was simply a case of finding one, driving it and purchasing.

This is where it started to get a bit tricky. We had one guy in Blackburn claiming there was only one pre-reg left in the country and promising that it would be available for a test drive last Friday. Along came Friday and it transpired after an hour of sitting about that it wasn’t even in the country. However, he did stake his reputation on it being there on Monday without fail. Not only did it not appear on Monday, but it had gone elsewhere. Now the good news is that they’ve got a container-load of the beggars coming over towards the end of the week – honest guv’nor. So much for there only being one left in the universe.

In the meantime we took a look at another Kia dealership who had a slightly different model but were willing to match the price of the phantom Kia in Blackburn plus give my mother more for her existing motor. This was fine until he started grumbling about the month end and that it had to be bought by today. It surely isn’t too much to ask to let someone have an hour or two to mull things over. Watching him storm off in a huff however was mightily entertaining.

The final Kia dealership meltdown involved a place in Preston which struggled to even get back to her after several phone calls promising a new Kia at the same price as the pre-reg in Blackburn (they were only making £80 on the deal apparently). They found one then they lost one then they had two and then zip. I’m awfully glad I didn’t see these goons face to face.

Essentially we have a customer who’s willing to buy a product but has been bullshitted, dismissed and bullied by three separate dealerships. Believe me, this was a done deal until the various salesman managed to undo it.

For me, it’s an object lesson in how not to sell something.

My other legal wrangle of sorts has been ongoing with Wanadoo since October-ish. Since I’ve been with them they’ve always managed to make a complete horlicks of my billing situation. Although, I must admit it was always alright when the billing mistakes were in my favour. However, they had a bit of a spasm claiming I owed so much, which I originally disputed and they checked and agreed that there’d been a case of double invoicing. I then had to demand, cajole and threaten one of the customer service monkeys to give me a migration code so that I could move to another provider.

According to Ofcom’s code of practice, all ISPs must allocate you a code irrespective of their whining and groaning about payment disputes – ’tis the law.

My mistake was not to migrate within the 30 day timeframe. Subsequently, when I tried to move to another ISP outside of the timeframe, I started having a problem or two. Wanadoo were asking for something in the region of £130 as opposed to the original £44 adding an extra cancellation charge even though I’d been with them for over 18 months. I managed to speak with various customer enragement monkeys who all gave me different figures and wildly conflicting tales about whether I’d been with them for three years or three months.

I also had a marker placed on my phoneline which stopped me from moving to another provider. In essence they’d hijacked my telephone line and nothing was open to negotitation until I paid an amount they couldn’t even settle on themselves.

I set about investigating what could be done on the internet and found all manner of complaints relating to the high seas antics of Wanadoo. I suggest reading this particular thread where even Wanadoo employees chip in telling you how shit Wanadoo is.

I had no other option than to ring the communications overlord, Ofcom, and see if they could do anything. Thankfully, they could. They put in a complaint to Wanadoo’s inner sanctum and I received a letter the following week reducing the amount and saying that the phoneline was clear of their marker. After another whining phone call from my good self, they reduced the amount owing to £71.96 and promised me a clear line.

Two weeks hence I’m still without s broadband connection although everything should be sorted within the next couple of days (although the ISP I’m currently trying to sign up with is still saying the line is blocked whilst Wanadoo claim it’s clear – time for Ofcom again). All in all I’ve been without broadband for nearly two months.

Should it really be the case that the customer is not only wrong but should be treated mightily shoddily in the process to the point of being blackmailed?

My mother has been turned off the Kia by both the ineptitude and the rudeness of three different Kia dealerships and I’ve spent hours with clueless Wanadoo goons trying to rectify a mistake caused at their end.

Just remember that cheapness always comes at a price.