written by wkHead1977 on 10/03/2021
If you try to leave this company you will be hit with astronomical termination fees. Unicom will ring regularly and try to hard sell their other services. Unethical and unprofessional.
written by Alanannoyed on 17/08/2018
ANYONE WHO’S CONTRACT WAS ROLLED OVER AFTER DECEMBER 2011 SHOULD READ THIS. My experience with Unicom is again one of being treated badly by this company. Back in February 2012, I was a one man business and had office space rented from another company. This other company went into receivership at the end of January and I had to move out and my business closed down. My 3 year phone contract with Unicom had already rolled over for an extra year and would finish the next month in March. Because I could not give them the 3 month notice that they demanded, they again rolled me over, even after I explained to them the circumstances in which I now found myself. Through a period of a great many phone calls, letters and emails between us over the following months, they continually harassed me for payment of £240. I had told them that I would be willing to pay up to the end of my existing contract, but they would not accept this and demanded payment for the next full year in addition. They use what is purported to be a separate debt collection company called Universal Debt Collection. This is in the same building as Unicom and is not regulated by the FSA. They use official sounding terms, but apparently, as I have only recently found out, have no power to collect debts at all. They sent me a letter at the beginning of December 2012, stating court action would follow immediately if the debt was not paid within 7 days. In spite of already being short of money before Christmas, I decided to borrow the money to pay them, under duress, because i didn’t want to have court fees added to it just before Christmas. Now then, I recently discovered that rolling contracts had been outlawed by Ofcom in December 2011, and so I complained to Unicom about this, and demanded compensation. After 2 months of emails back and forth they're final decision, received only today, is that they acted within the Ofcom ruling, stating that in December 2011 Ofcom had said by 31st December 2012, no new rolling contracts should be issued and all existing customers should be offered new terms, not containing a rolling contract. My contract ran over in March 2012 I argued that they should have been implementing this Ofcom ruling with any contracts that finished in the run up to 31st December 2102, and not left until that date had passed. Unicom’s decision on my complaint, true to form, is that they acted correctly. I am sending letters of complaint to the Ombudsman, Ofcom and also the TV program ‘Rogue Traders’, as I believe they have not acted within the spirit of the ruling, which was to do away with unfair practices, and have carried on squeezing every last penny out of customers like myself, up until the very last minute. If anyone else has been treated like this by Unicom, from December 2011 onward I urge you to do likewise and claim compensation. Remember, Ofcom deemed their practices to be unfair, and so the Ombudsman should look at individual cases (although Ofcom don’t, but you can still complain to them. Its the total number of complaints that they act on, thus, the ruling was made). Unicom were fined £200,000 in 2015 for a different unfair practice. If as many people as possible demand compensation (you should observe the correct channels first and adhere to Unicom's own complaints procedure) and then complain to the Ombudsman, Ofcom and Rogue Traders on the TV, or even your MP, sooner or later something will be done about these unscrupulous ROGUES because it will be repeatedly brought up.
written by d.woods on 12/07/2016
My father is very ill and frail, and called Unicom last year to give them notice that his business was closed, and that he needed to end the telephone line, but have a call-diver to his home phone for 3 months. He was assured by the telephone operative this would be done. 3 months later, he gets a bill for over £800. Looking at the bill, there is over £750 of early termination charges! Turns out they renewed is contract for 3 years, then tried to charge him early termination fees! "Universal Debt Collection" (also owned by same private equity firm) have been sending stressful and bullying letters despite me asking them to email me as I have power of attorney. These are sharks of the highest order! Checkout "unicom-complaints dot co dot uk" for more true reviews! Oh and Private Eye have also be scathing of their aggressive mis-selling over the phone.
Written on: 17/08/2018
ANYONE WHO’S CONTRACT WAS ROLLED AFTER DECEMBER 2011 SHOULD READ THIS.
My experience with Unicom is again one of being ripped off by a rogue company that takes every opportunity to extort money by what ever means.
Back in February 2012, I was a one man business and had office space rented from another company. This other company went into receivership at the end of January and I had to move out and my business closed down. My 3 year phone contract with Unicom had already rolled over for an extra year and would finish the next month in March. Because I could not give them the 3 month notice that they demanded, they again rolled me over, even after I explained to them the circumstances in which I now found myself.
Through a period of a great many phone calls, letters and emails between us over the following months, they continually harassed me for payment of £240. I had told them that I would be willing to pay up to the end of my existing contract, but they would not accept this and demanded payment for the next full year in addition.
They use what is purported to be a separate debt collection company called Universal Debt Collection. This is in the same building as Unicom and is not regulated by the FSA. They use official sounding terms, but apparently, as I have only recently found out, have no power to collect debts at all.
They sent me a letter at the beginning of December 2012, stating court action would follow immediately if the debt was not paid within 7 days. In spite of already being short of money before Christmas, I decided to borrow the money to pay them, under duress, because i didn’t want to have court fees added to it just before Christmas.
Now then, I recently discovered that rolling contracts had been outlawed by Ofcom in December 2011, and so I complained to Unicom about this, and demanded compensation.
After 2 months of emails back and forth they're final decision, received only today, is that they acted within the Ofcom ruling, stating that in December 2011 Ofcom had said by 31st December 2012, no new rolling contracts should be issued and all existing customers should be offered new terms, not containing a rolling contract. My contract ran over in March 2012
I argued that they should have been implementing this Ofcom ruling with any contracts that finished in the run up to 31st December 2102, and not left until that date had passed.
Unicom’s decision on my complaint, true to form, is that they acted correctly.
I am sending letters of complaint to the Ombudsman, Ofcom and also the TV program ‘Rogue Traders’, as I believe they have not acted within the spirit of the ruling, which was to do away with unfair practices, and have carried on squeezing every last penny out of customers like myself, up until the very last minute.
If anyone else has been ripped off by Unicom in the same way, from December 2011 onward I urge you to do likewise and claim compensation. Remember, Ofcom deemed their practices to be unfair, and so the Ombudsman should look at individual cases (although Ofcom don’t, but you can still complain to them. Its the total number of complaints that they act on, thus, the ruling was made).
Unicom were fined £200,000 in 2015 for a different unfair practice. If as many people as possible demand compensation (you should observe the correct channels first and adhere to Unicom's own complaints procedure) and then complain to the Ombudsman, Ofcom and Rogue Traders on the TV, or even your MP, sooner or later something will be done about these unscrupulous rogues (my original word for them had to be changed) because it will be repeatedly brought up.
Written on: 07/10/2016
Yes They are absolutely disgraceful . They should have been closed down a long time ago.. I have never ever come across such people in my life.
An insult to civilised commerce.
written by bigcoolviking on 13/06/2016
Unicom signed us up on one of their infamous 3 year contracts for phone and broadband. We were assured by the smooth talking Rep that: ''Unicom provided everything that BT did only better and cheaper''. This was a blatant lie, they cannot provide openzone, i.e. The Wi-Fi access away from home BT provide with 6 million hotspots. We explained before any contract signing this was an essential service we needed regardless of cost. As soon as we realised there was no openzone facility we, ( within a week of getting the modem) we called to cancel and confirmed in writing, and explained exactly why the contract was null and void. They then sent us our first bill which included a charge for 'itemised billing' for just 3 calls, that was more than the combined total for the calls. This is wrong to treat customers this way, there were actually 2 hidden small charges on the first bill. The Modem they sent us was a hideous looking dated boxy thing with annoying flashing lights and writing so small on it you need a magnifying glass to read what they are for. The charges were not that much cheaper than BT in fact there was hardly any difference. They claimed they use UK call centres, yet the confirmer that called us was clearly Indian or Pakistani and spoke very poor English. They claimed they would pay any cancellation fee to BT to end the contract. They did NOT do this either. We sent the modem straight back, paid the bill, and cancelled the contact as they had not kept to their main promises, and cannot offer the WI-FI service away from home, that we said was essential for us. This was just the start, they then sent us cancellation fee invoices for over £600 and additional fees, then others with additional charges of over £700, Then £1,300 they phoned several times and were unhelpful and rude. Now we get spammed every week with letters that we just send back, and harassment from a debt recovery company they PRETEND to have appointed. They send out Fake debt collection notices from made up names, in house, and FAKE court letters that look very official. Why this parasites are still in business is a mystery to me.
Written on: 07/10/2016
I agree completely. They are a disgraceful excuse of a company.. You have had the same problems as me.
Written on: 17/03/2017
We've been treated appallingly. They constantly ring you up pretending to offer you free rewards (mobiles, landline deals) and then you get a bill for them and if you dispute something they turn dirty-guts and threatening. They also fabricate services they say you've had. I have no idea why ofcom hasn't shut them down. Where's Anne Robinson when you need her?
written by stClark259 on 24/02/2016
We started to experience internet connection problems on the 22nd January 2016. We are still experiencing these problems. We either have no internet connection at all, intermittent connection or very slow connection. We have lost count of the phone calls that we have made to the company. We are a small garage and the owner is a sole trader. We have gone through all their diagnostic checks, owner has bought new cables and a router - the problem still remains. Unicom have arranged (allegedly) for SIX engineers to visit the property. It took FOUR weeks for them to arrange the first engineer. Only TWO engineers have been to the property - the last one stated it was a software issue at the exchange. Unicom have given us every excuse under the sun as to why these (alleged) engineers have not visited the property from not being able to find the garage to being refused access. Owner has lost earnings due to the internet fault, wasted time and money buying equipment that was not required. We now have a massive backlog of work as we rely heavily on the internet for a lot of our business purposes. Whenever we call Unicom we are placed on hold for an absolute age, very rarely do we receive requested call backs, passed from one department to another, calls being put through to departments with no explanation given as to why we are calling. One member of staff was extremely rude, patronising and condescending. We have now had no choice but to switch provider to a more reputable company, whose charges are HALF that of Unicom! We have never experienced such shocking, in fact non existent, customer service from a company. Our first complaint was e-mailed to them on the 2nd February 2016 and they took 16 days to respond to that. As stated in the title ABSOLUTELY APPALLING COMPANY TO DEAL WITH. I would not recommend this company to anyone under any circumstances.
written by beamerman on 05/11/2015
I was firstly told that phone bills would be higher, but after speaking to several staff, eventually one of them said I would be 10% better off than my current provider One Bill. I was given a note from my current provider that a £300 cancelation fee was to occur, so I mentioned this to Unicom. Their advisor assured me that I could forward the bill to Unicom and that would be dealt with. Upon receiving the cancellation fee, Unicom didn't want to know so I was hit with the fee plus was paying what was a higher tariff than my previous provider. I was locked into an initial contract with them for the 3 years plus a further 3 years because they kept giving me false information with the cancellation process. Finally I was rid of them, hope they rot in hell What I liked about the company? I like the fact that after I told them to Go Away about 20 times upon cold calls, I have not heard from them for at least 2 Years.
written by Emma1955 on 22/09/2015
When I took over managing the business, Unicom were already providing the phone and broadband. They had cold called. The savings they promised were fantasy. I did manage to change back to BT and, although we received endless threats from them, they eventually backed down over penalty charges. Massive mistake for anyone to get involved with them. I think displeasing customers and then relying on the revenue from penalty charges might actually be their business model.
Written on: 20/01/2020
I remember dealing with Unicom and they were by far the worst telecom company I have had the mis-pleasure of dealing with. They have all been bad, dont get me wrong, but Unicom were disgusting. They twice charged me £2000 for going over my data allowance. I paid the first time, the second time I knew I hadn't gone over my data limit, naturally I wouldn't let this huge charge accrue twice in a lifetime. I got itemised bills and found out that my sim had been messaging hundreds of people an hour day after day without me knowing. They are very aggressive. You should be careful to avoid them. The last i heard from them was a very doubtful looking looking court hearing notification several years ago.
I did not swear in my report but my review is being reported. This is all honest. If Trustpilot doesn't publish this they are absolutely worthless and dishonest. I will report them 20/1/20
written by Sinclair150 on 31/07/2015
I was approached by Unicom last year with the promise of a great service and savings on what I was paying to my supplier at the time. I agreed to sign up with Unicom as I believed I was going to receive cheaper prices with them. However after doing a bit of homework discovered that their prices were going to work out a lot more than what I was already paying. I was told by them that I would be able to keep the Broadband with my supplier and have the phone with them, this turned out not to be true, because once I went with them my broadband finished aswell. I was within the 14 day cooling off period so decided to ring them and cancel, I was taken aback by the treatment I received. I have never in my life been treated in such a way as I was that day. I explained that I was going to cancel as I would lose my Broadband and he said that the company I was with was lying I could have the Broadband without the phone. I was passed then to his manager who also agreed with what he had told me, then after about 1/2 an hour of heavy sales pressure and trying to cancel, he said look think about it and I will ring you back on Tuesday, even though I didn't need to think about it. No phone call came and then a letter saying thank you for agreeing to go ahead with transferring to Unicom. I immediately rang them and the sales advisor answered the phone with "oh what is the issue now" I told him I wanted to cancel he was having none of it and then turned around and said that he would be contacting my supplier and telling them that I was a business user and then I would have no phone Broadband or television. I was so furious with his attitude that I told him to go ahead as I would rather go without the service than have any phone lines from them. The way I was treated was disgusting I have never before been subjected to such treatment in order to go with a company, I would definitely give these a wide berth. The stunts pulled from this lot need a lot to be desired.
Written on: 31/07/2015
ON 29 JULY 2015 OFCOM FINED UNIVERSAL UTILITIES TRADING AS UNICOM, £200,000 FOR MIS-SELLING LANDLINE TELEPHONE SERVICES
THE DECISION ALSO REQUIRES UNICOM TO TAKE A NUMBER OF STEPS TO HELP COMPENSATE CUSTOMERS AFFECTED BY THE MIS-SELLING AND TO GUARD AGAINST IT HAPPENING AGAIN.
a) paying to all affected customers it is able to identify amounts by way of compensation for loss or damage suffered by them or in respect of annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety to which they have been put and/or by way of ex gratia payments
b) allowing any customers who were misled by Unicom to cease their contract with it, regardless of the length of contract served, with no requirement to pay an ETC or disconnection fee and no requirement to pay any charges for services other than those the customer has used (and where the customer chooses to return to their previous Communications Provider (“CP”), this would include compensation for any charges the customer may incur in the process of returning to that provider)
c) compensating customers who may otherwise have fallen into the above category but who have already returned to their previous CP and have incurred charges in doing so
written by Chris38 on 15/06/2015
Under no circumstance agree to any form of contract with this company until you have done your own research on them. They are not what they claim to be. INSIST you see and have a copy of the CONTRACT and TERMS & CONDITIONS and READ THEM, before you sign up to them. They will offer you the moon and the stars but on condition you sign up there and then. DO NOT DO IT. You can always phone them back. If you sign up to them and try and leave they will bully you.
written by on 29/04/2015
we have been with Unicom well over 6 years with a business line and a landline they talk you into going with them then when it comes to problems they don't want to know. you phone them they keep passing you over to different people then after a while half way through a conversation they put the phone down. finally we rang to say we didn't want to stay with them any longer and they have sent us a letter saying if we cancel we will have to pay a 1,000 to cancel so still with them. anyone have any ideas as I said we have been with them well over 6 years and they make out they are the cheapest they may start of like that but once you join them they are not cheap. very poor service very rude please please stay well away from Unicom.
Written on: 12/05/2015
See
unicom-complaints for more info about unicom
Written on: 15/07/2015
I'm so angry that I got talked into moving away from BT. The only reason we did was because we were promised cheaper everything, but in actual fact the move has cost us a fortune which we can never get back, and the service has been shocking I can't find words to describe it.
Written on: 16/07/2015
they are a shocking company who I would never recommend to anybody 0 out of 10 for everything. they still keep phoning us to take out gas and electricity with them I don't think so Unicom you are a complete joke. they will continue to pester you with phone calls even when you ask them to stop. so I wish you good luck with them as they are the worst company I have ever dealt with.
written by kath1965 on 28/04/2015
Please do not use this company. They promise you great deals, but once you have accepted them they do not want to know if you have any problems. If you are a small business they will make you pay. As a small business we thought what a good deal. We were promised if we went with them, they would pay are cancellation fee to another company, this never happened. I was told we would get our deal at half price as I could have got it cheaper for installation from another company, this to never happened When they installed the line, they stated I missed the engineer, which in fact I know I did not. (they charged me twice for this). When you call them to discuss any problems they cut you off or they will tell you, they will call you back, this does not happen. I was cut off four times. I am looking to take this further, I do feel this company should be investigated. Please do not use them.
written by Joselynf215 on 16/03/2015
I signed up to Unicom on the 7th Jan 2015 - The transfer hand over for phone and Broadband was due for 27th Jan, did not get Broadband until almost 3 weeks later...Caused major problems for Business and my customers. The first bill has arrived 3 times higher then agreed at meeting with Rep. Have no back up of agreement as rep told me forms we standard and items on it did not relate to me. I did get him to manually change the top copy of the form which he took. Now trying to get a copy of that from Unicom who wont do this - Not quite sure what to do now....
written by Lighthouseat25 on 10/03/2015
To cut a long story short. Signed up to Unicom with promises of better and cheaper service. Realised after homework i had been misled and tried to cancel within the cooling of period. I was right, first bill was a staggering 60% more expensive. Ended up being with them for 6 weeks, but was lucky, managed to escape with no disruption to my business phone lines, unlike others, but was hit with huge cancellation fees and threats of court. Please consider other suppliers before entertaining this dreadful company.
Written on: 15/06/2016
They send out threatening letters from their own in house dept they call 'Universal debt collection' pretending it is a separate company, they have also been accused of pretending to be a county court. This company have no scruples whatsoever, their deceptive extortion tactics should get them shut down
written by Liontoscana on 09/03/2015
Telephoned Unicom to tell them I had purchased new commercial land No building on the new site yet. They charged me £500 over the phone and arranged a site visit by OPENREACH. On the 2/9/14 they disconnected me by mistake this was only meant to be a site visit by OPENREACH! Going on holiday a few days later no phones, fax or internet. 3 Office staff no work getting done. Lose 2 contracts. Accountant comes in to do the VAT, no internet, no telephone banking no PAYE no wage slips for staff. 24 days later still no internet telephone being redirected to 1 mobile. Please sign my petition on change.org asking the government to look into Offcom and Unicom. These companies cannot be allowed to behave like this.What happened to customer service Let's stand up to these companies
written by Unicon. on 03/03/2015
From day one there were problems, but once you sign - forget about customer service. They promised me a wireless router - it didn't arrive, but when I chased up no-one wanted to know. Initially all went well with the lines, then one-day the featurelines we signed up to stopped working. Customer service tell (12 months in) that they never offered the service, that it was impossible that they had been working. Would I like to pay them a lot of money for a system that would work? Not -really, just want you to fix the problem. Apparently not possible. So I think I will leave these jokers asap. My contract is coming to an end - I get ready to switch, and the letters start. £600.00 termination fees. I call and am told yes - because I am leaving 20 days before the end of a contract - on an average spend of £100.00 a month £600.00 is the fee. I'd prefer to be with BT. And that says it all!
written by heybarnesservicing1977 on 05/02/2015
strongly not recommend ,they push me for starting contract so hard I been explain they my actual situation (contract with BT) they gave me promise for sort out BT contract but after cancel contract BT like to charge determination fee £1200.Unicom said they can paid only £300.After switch over my internet connection have slow down to 1.2ms (horrible) compare to previous BT 5ms .Last week after bad 2 monts with Unicom I try to come back to BT but Unicom like to charge me for cancel contract £1000
Written on: 15/06/2016
It is a disgusting way to treat customers, I have been shafted by them also, they have another trick where they also pretend to be a separate debt collection company, but is their own sneaky in house team.
written by AGEA on 15/01/2015
I was promised a 10% saving on my bill . What I got was a 150% rise and a £500 cancellation bill from old supplier.
Written on: 15/01/2015
The message from Ofcom is :-
Ofcom suggests that all consumers/businesses that have experienced problems with their communications provider call our contact centre and make a formal record of their complaint. Our contact centre advisors can also provide specific advice on the appropriate next steps. We are open Monday to Friday from 9.00am to 5.00pm.
Written on: 15/06/2016
I have complained to Ofcom twice about this horrible DECEPTIVE company, but they are still ''trading'' I USE THE TERM VERY LOOSLY
written by 337Barnes on 29/12/2014
The WORST Telecoms company I ever dealt with. Biggest mistake ever!!! From high termination fees to rude customer service agents. They were, in my opinion, unprofessional in every aspect. No out of hours service. I think they should be shut down. Will definitely take them to court in a few days time. There is not even one good thing I can say about them. I will fight this to the end!!
written by sweetie22 on 18/12/2014
I had a shop the land lord who should have given me 3months notice did not 5 days they give me to get out I had a five year contract which end and I thought I was getting a new one anyway told UNICOM that I had 5 days toget out could they close down account and send me my bill yes they said But what I got from them was a 1000 pound bill so I phoned them up and said I have no shop I am now on a penson 578 a month will lots of e-mails have they ever taken anyone to court they ask me to get a letter from a solicitor and they would reduce the amount but he will not do it unless they write to him and tell him what they want in the letter I have never seen a contract they have always done everything on the phone please do not use them so if anyone can help
Written on: 19/12/2014
Don't panic there is lots of help out there! Search Google for Unicom-Complaints and look for the uk address and you will find a very useful usergroup that can help contact them and they will help with ideas on where to go next.
How long is remaining on your Contract?
I have not heard to date of Unicom taking anyone to Court, however they do send out incomplete Court Summons with the intention of bullying you into complying with their demands.
written by IrelandDaugherty60 on 16/12/2014
dreadful company promising to save you money . Do not touch this company , promised no disruption to phone line but was without one for 12 hours on the switch over, didint offer me a one year contract pushed me straight into a 3 year. DO NOT ENGAGE WITH THIS COMPAY SEE ALL COMPLAINTS.
Written on: 19/12/2014
The length of contract is a real bone of contention with me and even when questioned they state that they only do 3 year contracts! I thought that under the guidelines laid down by Ofcom that they had to be able to offer a 1 year alternative to consumers and small businesses. Unicom don't believe this applies to them. They will also tell you verbally that if you cease to trade during the contract period that there are "No Termination Fees" however they then mumble "We will just continue to INVOICE"; really how can that be a Fair Contract term?
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As rated by our community of reviewers
Johnbekra's Response to d.woods's Review
Written on: 31/07/2016
I'm guessing it is rather too late for you to find out that the company was set up by a convicted person. The fine imposed by Ofcom bought Unicom a free pass for at least the next five years. In my experience 'The Ombudsman' is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Telecoms Industry. Good luck!
Tigers63's reply to Johnbekra's Comment
Written on: 07/10/2016
That explains everything then. Well said. The Ombudsman is failing badly in his duties to allow a joke shower like this to continue.