They Keep Saying, “Don’t Worry About It,” But We Think They Might Be Wrong
I moved out of my mother’s house into my own flat just a couple of days before the entire country went on lockdown due to a famous contagious illness. And by a couple of days, I mean that I moved in on Sunday and the lockdown was announced on Wednesday.
As this was the first apartment I’d rented in my own name, I didn’t have a contract with a telephone company to install the Internet. I wanted to use the same provider my mother used, [Company #1], but when I called them, I was told that the first slot possible for the technician’s visit was three weeks later.
I still accepted the appointment, but since I assumed my workplace would want all of us employees to work from home (which would be difficult without Internet), I thought it would be too late and contacted another company [Company #2] with the idea of cancelling the appointment with [Company #1] later.
They told me the technician would come the next week. I signed a contract and waited for the technician. They didn’t show up.
They came the week after that, and after a hot minute, they told me, “There is nothing I can do.” They said the Sales department would contact me, and the next week, I received an email from [Company #2] cancelling the contract.
Since I never cancelled the technician visit with [Company #1], they came a few days later at our scheduled meeting. They installed everything within twenty minutes, and I was finally connected to the world again.
But the story doesn’t end there. A month later, I received a bill from [Company #2].
I called them to investigate the charges; the technician hadn’t done anything and they had cancelled the contract themselves, so what was the charge about?
The lady I had on the phone told me not to pay attention to it and that I didn’t have to pay for anything. But the next month, I received a reminder. I called again, and another person told me the same thing.
The next month came and, lo and behold, another reminder! I called back, and I was given the same answer. I was fuming and asked them to send me a confirmation that I didn’t need to pay the charges. Unfortunately, they couldn’t do that, they said, but I shouldn’t worry; I didn’t have to pay for anything. I tried to send an email requesting an explanation and never received an answer.
The following month, it was not a reminder I found in the mail. It was a payment order from the bailiff’s office, threatening legal repercussions should I not pay the bill by a certain day.
I was done being nice at that point. I called the firm that had sent me the letter, explaining the situation. By email, I sent them a scanned copy of the contract, a copy of the email cancelling the contract, a copy of all the payment reminders, and a picture of the installations made by [Company #1]. I also sent them a copy of my email demanding explanations that never got an answer.
I was willing to pay what they wanted me to pay, but I didn’t know what they were charging me for.
A few days later, the bailiff’s office replied to my email: the matter was resolved, and I was not being charged for anything.
And so, I was connected. In the end, my workplace still asked us to come to work on-site. At least I could watch Netflix.