monthly fee - same for all?

[vee]

Hi All,
a question...
Does the consumer have the right to know the basic fee charged for a service and should that fee be the same for all. Our armed response company appears to be charging different rates for clients in the same street, subscribed to the same service.To me that would go against the consumer act.Oh,and the longer you have had their serivce the more you pay ! - a new sign up gets the same service for less than someone who has diligently paid for twenty years.Getting a montly statement is also impossible.What recourse do we have?

[SilverNodashi]

That sounds like ADT. they do it here as well

[Phil Cooper]

Give them the requisite notice to terminate your contract.

Then ask them to quote to take it on again?

[Blurock]

Get new quotes on an annual basis. Compare service and price and then make a decision. Do not get caught by just accepting everything.

[Justloadit]

Watch the contract, they put there 3 years, automatically renewable for another 3 years when it expires.

When I did mine with Chubb, I crossed this out, and place 1 year only and then to go on a month to month basis, they bitched and complained, but accept it in the end, else they lose a customer. There is no reason to do this anyway and is a way to extort fees out of their customers.

[Phil Cooper]

What would CPA say about that?

I don't think automatic renewals allowed any more?

[Just Gone]

I agree with everyone above . I am in the security industry and tell my clients exactly the same. Do not sign a 3 year contract - change it to a year and if they dont like it go to another security company and also do not sign a stop order - get your own debit order to pay them monthly whereby you can cancel the money that is leaving your account !

[Mark Atkinson]

do not sign a stop order - get your own debit order to pay them monthly whereby you can cancel the money that is leaving your account !

I think you may have mixed these up. To my knowledge, a debit order grants the supplier authority to debit your account when necessary. A stop order is an instruction from you to the bank to pay the supplier, which can be "stopped" at your instruction.

That's my understanding anyway.

[Blurock]

To my knowledge, a debit order grants the supplier authority to debit your account when necessary. A stop order is an instruction from you to the bank to pay the supplier, which can be "stopped" at your instruction.

Correct!

[Justloadit]

A stop order you have total control, you can stop any time. A Debit order requires the supplier to cancel the debit order from their side.

Whilst you can get it reversed, it costs time and money.

[twinscythe12332]

in another CPA thread (I can't remember exactly which one at the moment), it reads that they can automatically move it to a monthly basis once the contract is up. So I would guess that they aren't legally allowed to automatically renew a contract.

[Dave A]

in another CPA thread (I can't remember exactly which one at the moment), it reads ...

post 7 in this thread on cancelling a Vodacom contract - it is a particularly good post! Well worth the read.