we moved home in December and decided NOT to take Homechoice with us. The engineer came on 1st December to collect set top box and remotes. He was late and we had to call several times to see where he was. Our tenancy ended on 3rd December. The engineer told my husband he did not need to sign anything. THEN we received a bill in January for £115!! This was for a set top box!! The one collected on 1st december. We called them up on their 0845 number and were told that the account would be amended to reflect the return of the box. Then in February we got ANOTHER bill demanding £115 for a set top box. We called back AGAIN!! Again we were told we would have the account amended. Then on 28th February we received a FINAL demand. We called AGAIN and were told that a manager would call us back by 8pm. No phone call. We called back the following day and were told we would get a call at 12.15. No call. So we called again at 2pm and INSISTED we spoke to the manager and we would wait. Eventually the manager, Chris, spoke to us and told us he had never been given the message even though it was recorded on our account. he said that the engineer had called on december 5TH and no one was there. We pointed out that we had phone records that PROVED we had called cusotmer services at 6.27pm for 7 minutes and that their records would prove that we had the box collected on the 1st. We also pointed out that we had no tenancy on the property on the 5th so we would be unlikely to have arranged a visit for that day.

Eventually, he agreed to credit our account with £115 to stop further action.

So after having broadband that ran at slower than dialup, was incompatible with XBOX Live on the 360 (we had major problems with it!) and after putting up with this for 15 months, we were rewarded with them trying to extort £115 from us, falsifying engineer visit dates and no one bothering to sort the issue out for 3 MONTHS!!

Good luck all you guys who are with them and choose to leave. the moral? Force the engineer to sign something to say he is collecting your quipment even if you have to write it out yourself, make sure you ring customer services AFTER the engineer has visited to let them know he has collected the box, and even take a photo of him at your house.

we'll wait till next month to see if we get any more threats.

homechoice? yeah my choice is to use someone else in MY house!!

I have had their broadband for years and its been perfecto.

So your story is totally the opposite of mine.

Erm.. I had a box collected when I moved house and the engineer gave me a signed declaration without me prompting. Granted, he did try and collect it from the wrong house initally though

I guess you've just been unlucky - if the paperwork wasn't done by the engineer I can see why they'd be chasing you.

My guess is you've got to much time on your hands, mistakes happen GET OVER IT, you've got your money back

Have you posted this on the HUG (Homechoice User Group)?

Used to have HC -what a load of S***.....

BBC Re-Runs and a few VOD movies.....and an uplink slower that Rigor Mortis..... might as well have had freeview and proper ADSL......Oh yea thats right I canceled and did just that......

Sounds like you left a while back. HC has been proper ADSL for a couple of years.

What I find odd is how come some peoples experience is completely the opposite.

I have been with HC since they started and have only ever had one problem. Greta service, fantastic broadband, never a problem. Fantastic customer service, really nice engineers. My only issue was the lack of content but 40d is great.

Im pleased to say that after considering a change I am firmly staying put with them and I highly recommend them.

Same here Polly... Ive been with HC sinve the beginning when we used to get a 115Kbit connection lol

I have had a few issues with my service over the years but they always sorted it out and compensated me. Once when the HC remote managed to mess up my TV they gave me a new one whilst they fixed it and gave me 3 months free.

Currently I have been on the max speed big back free for 9 months! I feel like a valued customer and have recommended them to all my friends and family.

There's my 2 pence worth anyway.

Whilst i was fairly happy with the service HC gave me i have to say their administration leaves a lot to be desired.
Since i left their service i have been sent demands for over £170 as i had not returned their set top box.

Depsite me reminding them that their engineer failed to attend his appointment to pick up the box they have now sent me a final demand (pre legal action).

I am sure it will not come to this but it is hassle that one can do without!

Also they have added on a number of other charges that suggest that i left before the end of my 12 month contract despite the fact that i had been with them for 2 years. Again their administration had failed to recognise that they had incorrectly terminated ny acccount and reinstated it.

as previous posts indicate mistakes do happen though and hopefully they will get their beloved box and i will get an accurate invoice.

Well, twice now, Homechoice/Tiscali haven't picked up my box. That's 4 hours I've waited in.

I've cancelled my direct debit. Does that make me safe from the charges? I don't want to waste a few quid calling the disorganised muppets to collect the box, I don't mind leaving the box in a cupboard or putting in a bag and taking to the post office.

They've lost their chance of me waiting in, and I can't sell for any price on eBay (probably).

Is cancelling my DD enough to stop getting had for £115?

Nick

p.s. if HC/Tiscali read this, please message me via here.

Cancelling your DD is enough to stop you getting charged, but I dare say the friendly folk will try and charge you claiming you have not returned the box
I've just cancelled so have all this to look forward to!

Oh ely
You waited in a total of 4 hours?
Are you sure that you wasn't asleep, in the bath or did you go out?
I've heard it all before. I waited in all day and nobody turned up, but i did go shopping for four hours and get my nails done,also had a sunbed session and still nobody turned up.

LoL

put a hammer to the damn box, sent the bits via royal mail to em and when they complain blame the postal service for the damage!

Phones them yesterday ... the tossers have put a charge on my account. "You didn't turn up to collect it, why charge me?! Anyway, you've no way of getting the money as DD cancelled" ... "We'll send the bailiffs"

"Well I'll sue you back as I gave you ample oppurtunity to collect and in fact pro actively contacted you to arrange collection, you've made no attempt to contact me at all.."

Well, did arrange another collection, told them no excuse not to telephone me if not coming to collect and I will bill them £40 an hour if they don't turn up.

To be honest, the service wasn't bad .. but they are a bunch of muppets when it comes to customer service.

Glad I have left them.

p.s. yes, I did wait in four hours, and didn't fall asleep or 'was in bath'. They had my phone number so could've called if having trouble finding my place.. (which was a "maybe" excuse from the telephone operator).

It's four hours of my life waiting for someone who never attempted to visit. If a friend did this, I'd expect an apology not an excuse. Thereagain, I would've expected a call.

I'm not the type to go get my nails done .. Who have you "heard it all before" from?!

Presumably one of those muppets who works for customer services

I'm moving at the end of April, and therfore cancelling my Homechoice contract (at least for the moment), so thanks for the advice - I'll keep an eye on the Homechoice lot & make sure I get a receipt for returning the box!

Thanks again!

Muppets!!

Is that a technical term or the limit of your vocabulary?

I'm not sure I've ever experienced HC customer service or tech support to be anything BUT muppets over the past 4 years!

since when cant you use a Xbox 360 with Homechoice????? mine works fine

Exactly

Only people with limited or no brain capacity cant use an XBOX

why do they want the boxes back? Just to keep costs down? surely the costs of collecting and refurbishing these used boxes isnt worth it as electronics are churned out for pennies these days? Or do they have potential for misuse? I am assuming that the £115 mentioned is the retail price in which case they must get the boxes far cheaper because they are bought and manufactured in 1000's and having profited from the customer for at least 12 months they must have made their money back...

I would like to think that I was fairly intelligent but I would have no idea how to play video games or use an X box! DOnt make assumptions about people!

Well, I'm now sitting here with a demand for £115 for box and also a receipt for box collection. The demand was sent 11 days after collection.

Just wondering whether to spend 30p on a stamp? Can't be bothered to call an 0870 number.

What if I don't put a stamp on the letter?

It wont matter anyway the post probably gets bagged up and sent to india for sorting