Square Mile cancellation charges

Moonshining

Moonshining

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11 May 2005
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Location
Surrey, UK
picnicsintheharbour.blogspot.com
There was a thread on the lounge a few days ago about Premier switching from Squaremile for Wi-fi access in the marinas.

I rashly took out the £10 a month unlimited usage option last year, although it's never worked very well, so I've hardly bothered with it.

Anyway, I belatedly took a look at their terms and conditions to see about cancelling it with a view to switching providers if Premier kick em out, only to find that they state a £100 "administration" charge if you cancel early.

Soooo. If you intend to use Squaremile, make sure that you can get decent coverage from your boat and be aware that if you sign up you can't get out of the contract inside the initial 12 months.

One wonders why, if they're confident of the quality of their product, they feel the need to impose such a draconian fee to get out of it.
 
I considered Square Mile but the signal is v poor where I am so I haven't signed up. Surely you have recourse to the Sale of Goods Act (it must cover services?) where the goods (services) are unfit for the purpose? (I.e. you can't get a satisfactory connection) and therefore you can defeat the cancellation charge?

rob
 
Most discussions regarding Square Mile seem to involve the poor quality of their service, both the supply of the product, and customer service.

I cant believe this bunch are prepared to continue to offer such an apparently crappy service.... there seems to be no doubt that they will be more likely to lose business than to gain it.

Given the cost of providing decent coverage to the whole of any marina, versus the potential income, I dont understand why they dont just plug in a few more access points.
 
After nearly tearing my hair out in frustration with this two bit company for about two months of NO SERVICE AT ALL for which I was paying £10 a month and which they never offered a refund, their server has now gone down AGAIN. Yet again their tech support say it's not their fault and have no effing idea when they'll be back on line. This company seems to be run by mickey mouse and pluto. In the past they blamed everything on BT, but of course still never offered any kind of compensation after taking my money and then offering NO SERVICE AT ALL. Even when their server was briefly back up again, they were not controlling access by password, so every man and his dog was logging on for free, which means that registered users get no benefit at all for signing up and the fast speeds we were expecting were trampled on by every livaboard in the area downloading whatever they wanted for free. I tell you, I have come close to cancelling a number of times. If they tried to charge me £100 I would be after someone's blood.
 
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I tell you, I have come close to cancelling a number of times.

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After all that you still pay these people money? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif I'd say they must love customers like you...
 
Probably a bit like broadband.... once you're in, you're in for 12 months.... so those that are unhappy will dump them at the end. Hopefully they will get dumped and go bust.

Similarly, there might be a number of people who know no better, which could keep them going for a few years, like Orange broadband.
 
Not all broadband contracts are 12 months though. Mine is one month notice from the beginning (ie. no minimum period over the 1 month notice).

Likewise the MDL chosen wifi supplier charges £9 for 31 days of access. Don't need it for a few months, don't buy. Next time you need it, buy another 31 days (which will work in all MDL marinas). Much better than having to pay up for a year, especially if you're out over winter, or on long summer trips.

Rick
 
Dragons Dens' peter jones is the backer of Square Mile and they work out of his offices.

I've just been to his web site, but there doesnt seem to be a way of getting an e.mail to him, or one of his advisors, (I'm sure he doesnt read all of his own emails).

So... does anyone know Peter Jones email address so we can let the guy holding the purse strings know what is going on?

Having said that, he may be fully aware but, because the numbers stack up, he doesnt feel a need to interfere.
 
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Just cancel the DD

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Either you jest or you have not yet encountered the legal conditions that apply to "continuous authority" credit card agreements. These things are stacked in favour of the company robbing your bank account, the banks claim they have no right to block such payments no matter how much fuss you make.

I resorted to closing down an account with the Halifax to escape one of these CA arrangements. Then the Halifax opened a new account and kept servicing the CA debits.

Continuous Authority agreements must be one of the glaring omissions in consumer retail protection in the UK today. If the monster raving loony party promised to ban CA agreements they would get my vote.
 
Yes, but a direct debit specifically isn't a Continuous Authority type agreement - and you are in a much stronger position with a DD. However, you are right - CAs should be banned as they are notoriously difficult to cancel.

Rick
 
Well - all I can say is you should have better Bankers ... I have had 2 occaisions to cancel a DD ... once when British Gas took far more money than they said they would (at the begining of an agreement) and once when I was moving Mobile phone provider away from Orange.

By cancelling a DD you effectively force the company to contact you and speak to you direct (which is what you want) and at that point you can discuss what is reasonable and what is going to happen.

I would be very supprised and furious if I found that my bank kept on servicing a DD once I'd cancelled it (in fact I know RBS don't).

No - the suggestion was not in Jest, but more a last resort when you cannot contact the company concerned.
 
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Well - all I can say is you should have better Bankers ... I have had 2 occasions to cancel a DD

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I say again, a continuous payment authority set up on a credit card is not the same as a DD setup on a current account.

Many people think they have set up a DD when in fact it is a CA. These things are heinous when the contract falls into dispute.
 
Yep, Square Mile are arrogant in the extreme, and their service is rubbish.

Perhaps a blockade is in order..?
 
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If you can't get the coverage they can't charge you for it

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Oh, but they can and do!! We foolishly took out an annual contract with them, but the service has never worked. We have spent hours on the phone trying to get them to fix it, as have many others in the marina, but to no avail. We tried to cancel the contract, but they would not play ball, sending us a letter explaining we had a contract that had to be honoured, but we could buy ourselves out of it for a one off payment (£100 I think).

We still have a few months left (£10 per month), and to be honest, I can't be arsed to fight it, though frankly I should. I sincerely hope the next lot are better, 'cos we really do need the service.
 
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