Be Very Careful With the Contract and Device Agreement
The phone/mobile system itself met my expectations, so my concern is not with the technical performance of the service. My issue is with how the contracts, fees and billing were handled.
I was told that the service was on a month-to-month basis. However, I was then asked to sign a separate device agreement that turned out to have a 5-year term. This separate arrangement was not clearly explained to me beforehand. There was only limited information about the other provider in the proposal, I was not sent the agreement by email in advance to read properly, and the agreement was instead brought to me face-to-face for signing. At the time, I did not understand that I was entering into a long-term agreement with a separate provider.
I was also told that the proposed landline fees included everything, but in practice ChaseTelco charged its own fees while a significant additional amount was passed on to the device provider. I also did not receive invoices regularly and had to request them myself.
When I later disputed the device agreement, ChaseTelco tried to reassure me that they would take over that agreement if I ever wanted to cancel their services. Fortunately, I did not rely on that assurance and instead dealt with the device agreement separately. In my view, if I had simply relied on that promise, it may have made it much harder for me to get out of the long-term rental arrangement.
Even after I cancelled all services with ChaseTelco, another charge appeared through a different direct debit provider. I could not be certain at first what it related to, so we disputed it with the bank and were able to have the payment refunded.
My recommendation to other businesses is to be very careful before signing. Ask for every agreement in advance, read the full term and cancellation conditions, check whether any separate third-party or equipment rental agreement is involved, and make sure all fees are clearly itemised in writing. Do not rely only on verbal explanations about being âmonth-to-monthâ if another document may lock you into a much longer commitment.