C
Colour Republic
Ok get comfy as I may or may not be about to rant/waffle/bore you.
Over the years I’ve had many calls from a company called u-find-us aka customer street, they ring you up and tell you they have work ready and waiting in your area as the opening gambit, they then proceed to try and sell you all manner of products ranging from lead generators to building a website. The very first time they called some 4 years ago or so I didn't like the forceful nature of the sales pitch, so I said I would get back to them.
I checked them out via online reviews, now online reviews can be great but always be aware we are a nation of moaners so if we get peeved we are far more likely to slag them off than take the time to write a glorious review, but I was taken aback by the level of criticism thrown their way and the sort of problems being experienced by the service were basic requirements. (What was also very shocking was the fact some people were paying between £250-£1000 for the very same package!)
When the salesman phoned next I told him of my findings and said I would not be taking him up on the offer, he then went even more hard sell on me and proceed to tell me what a bad businessman I must be for not wanting all this extra work - I know some of you have heard this very same line.
Anyway, I got calls off these people every 6 months or so (all of which I declined) and about 18 months ago British Telecom (BT) brought them out for an alleged £18m (I haven't checked this figure but this is what I’ve been told by subsequent salesmen, so take it with a pinch of salt). When this happened they started calling but saying we are from BT instead of saying we are X company which is a subsidiary of BT, there were praying on the BT brand hoping that would convince people but it was still the mega hard sales pitch coming from the other end of the phone, this is not something I expected from BT so I can only assume it is run by the same people but merely owned by BT.
I checked them out again and they were still getting the same reviews as nothing had changed. Over the last 2 years since BT’s ownership I have been getting even more phone calls from them and each time when the say “I’m calling from BT” I stop them and say “are you really? or are you from ‘U Find Us’ or ‘customer street’ and you’re just about to try and sell me a website and all the jobs I can handle” at which point they concede they are (BT has never called me for any other reason), the conversation then always goes the same way, me giving them an earful about how rubbish their service is and how they should be ashamed of themselves then them saying they have changed and that now as part of BT they are a reputable company.
So to my very long winded point. I received a call off them again today, He asks me have I been contacted today to which I say no, he then goes into the BT pitch, I stop him and give him my well rehearsed reply but this time they wouldn’t confirm they were u-find-us or customer street, instead he skirts round the issue and starts mentioning 118, so I ask again are you BT? Customer Street? Or 118? (as this might be worth listening to if it is something different) again he skirts round the issue without answering my question so I decided he is in fact from Customer Street but they are now aware of the bad rep and won’t admit it, I politely end the call saying they are wasting my time.
Now remember I said the salesmen asked me if I had had a call off them today, well it turns out they left a message and in it the guy gives the whole sales pitch, much of which I know they can’t deliver or ‘guarantee’ like they say they can. Now the problem with agreeing something over the phone is it becomes a verbal contract (this is why so many customers who signed up can’t get their money back from BT – please note a 14 day cooling off period does not apply to business to business sales) so I now have a recorded offer from these guys and I really don’t know what to do with it. The message it’s self if very underhanded and the claims are absurd, one of them is the favourite of “we have just had a cancellation which means we only have one space of 5 available in your area” – now you do the math, if this were to be true then BT’s calculator must have been playing up when they paid £18m for the company - I’d love to take them up on the offer and throw it all back in their face when they don’t deliver but all that will do is waste my time and possibly money and not affect them in anyway. The other option is to report them to trading standards but from speaking to TS before no crime is committed until you have received an invoice and even then you still have to spend time proving they did you wrong.
So my question is this – What would you do with a company that has wasted so much of your time and ripped off fellow tradesmen/businessmen and you now feel strongly enough to waste some of theirs (the company not the salesmen)? But it has to be something you feel would make a difference.
How BT have allowed this to continue is beyond me the affect on its brand is enormous, if you don’t believe me check out this thread that I’ve been reading for the last year at least.... whoops looks like you need to be a member to view the thread but it’s worth signing up to, go to ‘The Federation of Small Businesses’ website www.fsb.org.uk and search for ‘customer street web package’ if you’re interested
So there it is, it looks like I have managed to deliver on all of my promises by ranting/waffling/boring all in one post:smilewinkgrin:
Over the years I’ve had many calls from a company called u-find-us aka customer street, they ring you up and tell you they have work ready and waiting in your area as the opening gambit, they then proceed to try and sell you all manner of products ranging from lead generators to building a website. The very first time they called some 4 years ago or so I didn't like the forceful nature of the sales pitch, so I said I would get back to them.
I checked them out via online reviews, now online reviews can be great but always be aware we are a nation of moaners so if we get peeved we are far more likely to slag them off than take the time to write a glorious review, but I was taken aback by the level of criticism thrown their way and the sort of problems being experienced by the service were basic requirements. (What was also very shocking was the fact some people were paying between £250-£1000 for the very same package!)
When the salesman phoned next I told him of my findings and said I would not be taking him up on the offer, he then went even more hard sell on me and proceed to tell me what a bad businessman I must be for not wanting all this extra work - I know some of you have heard this very same line.
Anyway, I got calls off these people every 6 months or so (all of which I declined) and about 18 months ago British Telecom (BT) brought them out for an alleged £18m (I haven't checked this figure but this is what I’ve been told by subsequent salesmen, so take it with a pinch of salt). When this happened they started calling but saying we are from BT instead of saying we are X company which is a subsidiary of BT, there were praying on the BT brand hoping that would convince people but it was still the mega hard sales pitch coming from the other end of the phone, this is not something I expected from BT so I can only assume it is run by the same people but merely owned by BT.
I checked them out again and they were still getting the same reviews as nothing had changed. Over the last 2 years since BT’s ownership I have been getting even more phone calls from them and each time when the say “I’m calling from BT” I stop them and say “are you really? or are you from ‘U Find Us’ or ‘customer street’ and you’re just about to try and sell me a website and all the jobs I can handle” at which point they concede they are (BT has never called me for any other reason), the conversation then always goes the same way, me giving them an earful about how rubbish their service is and how they should be ashamed of themselves then them saying they have changed and that now as part of BT they are a reputable company.
So to my very long winded point. I received a call off them again today, He asks me have I been contacted today to which I say no, he then goes into the BT pitch, I stop him and give him my well rehearsed reply but this time they wouldn’t confirm they were u-find-us or customer street, instead he skirts round the issue and starts mentioning 118, so I ask again are you BT? Customer Street? Or 118? (as this might be worth listening to if it is something different) again he skirts round the issue without answering my question so I decided he is in fact from Customer Street but they are now aware of the bad rep and won’t admit it, I politely end the call saying they are wasting my time.
Now remember I said the salesmen asked me if I had had a call off them today, well it turns out they left a message and in it the guy gives the whole sales pitch, much of which I know they can’t deliver or ‘guarantee’ like they say they can. Now the problem with agreeing something over the phone is it becomes a verbal contract (this is why so many customers who signed up can’t get their money back from BT – please note a 14 day cooling off period does not apply to business to business sales) so I now have a recorded offer from these guys and I really don’t know what to do with it. The message it’s self if very underhanded and the claims are absurd, one of them is the favourite of “we have just had a cancellation which means we only have one space of 5 available in your area” – now you do the math, if this were to be true then BT’s calculator must have been playing up when they paid £18m for the company - I’d love to take them up on the offer and throw it all back in their face when they don’t deliver but all that will do is waste my time and possibly money and not affect them in anyway. The other option is to report them to trading standards but from speaking to TS before no crime is committed until you have received an invoice and even then you still have to spend time proving they did you wrong.
So my question is this – What would you do with a company that has wasted so much of your time and ripped off fellow tradesmen/businessmen and you now feel strongly enough to waste some of theirs (the company not the salesmen)? But it has to be something you feel would make a difference.
How BT have allowed this to continue is beyond me the affect on its brand is enormous, if you don’t believe me check out this thread that I’ve been reading for the last year at least.... whoops looks like you need to be a member to view the thread but it’s worth signing up to, go to ‘The Federation of Small Businesses’ website www.fsb.org.uk and search for ‘customer street web package’ if you’re interested
So there it is, it looks like I have managed to deliver on all of my promises by ranting/waffling/boring all in one post:smilewinkgrin:
