“Terrible company.
They lie through their teeth to trap you into long useless contracts that you cannot get out of.
Please avoid them. Technology is dated and far too expensive.
These other reviews are fake.”
“Beware of Hidden Clauses and Complicated Refunds: My Troubling Experience with 4Com Network Services
- As a business owner, my experience with 4Com Network Services has been far from satisfactory. Although I have had no issues with the actual services and equipment provided by them, their contract terms, plus general company ethics and way they treat clients is far, far below what I feel is acceptable, Below is a detailed account of the issues I encountered, which I hope will serve as a cautionary tale for other potential customers before signing anything!
Hidden Exit Clauses
In May 2023, I received an email from 4Com notifying me of a price increase. According to Ofcom regulations, such notifications should also inform customers of their right to exit the contract without penalty. However, this critical information was covertly placed in the email footer, after the main content and signature, alongside unrelated details like opt-out options for marketing and privacy policies. This placement made it easy to miss, which I found highly misleading and not in line with the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999, which require key information to be presented clearly and transparently. Ofcom also state it in their general conditions. none of which are followed by the sneaky placement - for those encountering increases, look out for this clause as it could be a lifeline.
Arrears and Refund Confusion
There was significant confusion regarding arrears on my account for February, March, and April 2024. Initially, my bill increased because the discount period ended. Upon my complaint, the discount period was extended for another 12 months, as confirmed by the Ombudsman. Despite this, 4Com continued to assert that I owed arrears for this period, complicating the matter unnecessarily. Additionally, a refund that was supposed to be paid directly to my bank account was instead applied as a credit to my account, despite my explicit requests for a direct refund. 4com refuse to make payment until I sign a direct debit mandate.
Ombudsman’s Involvement
The Ombudsman reviewed my complaint and confirmed that the issues regarding costs and charging disputes were resolved, including a refund of additional services and an extension of the discount period. However, the specific issue of the placement of the exit information in the price increase email was not addressed in their findings. This left me with unresolved concerns about the transparency and fairness of 4Com’s practices.
Misleading and Unclear Communication
Throughout my interactions with 4Com, I found their communication to be misleading and unclear. The covert placement of critical information in emails and the complicated handling of refunds and discounts have been particularly problematic. This lack of transparency and straightforwardness in their dealings raises serious concerns about their business practices.
Final Thoughts
Based on my experience, I would advise other business owners to approach 4Com Network Services with *caution*. Ensure that you read all communications from them very carefully, especially the fine print, as crucial information may not be prominently displayed. If you encounter issues, be prepared for potentially complicated and protracted interactions to resolve them and don't expect too much resolution as they have displayed very little understanding or desire to retain a client except through brute force of small print.
While my review is based on my personal experience and observations, I recommend that prospective customers conduct thorough research and consider all available options before committing to a contract with 4Com Network Services. the above it the tip of the iceberg to my experience so far, one I am not happy with, and therefore WILL NOT be renewing the contract with 4com.”
“BUYER BEWARE, READ THE SMALL PRINT ! Over charged con, don't be tempted to sign on the dotted line, you'll likely be signing up for 7 years with a 2 year rebate off an exorbitant hire rate, which will cease if you don't sign for another 7 years ! What current piece of electronic technology has a lifetime of 7 years, believe me you will find much better value elsewhere, beware the over hyped salesperson (Who is no doubt making a packet on every deal), with the offer of free gifts etc. BUYER BEWARE, READ THE SMALL PRINT !”
“Phones have not been working for 4 months. They will call me try fix it then just give up. I'd honestly stay away from these guys. Literally a pointless service.”
“Their own customer service number gives you a busy tone 9/10 times. They're bills go through the roof every year... Any company that has to tie you in for a such a long contract does so because if you had a choice you would leave.
All these comments below mention install/early on... Ask the same people a year later after they've gone days without service/a contactable service department and they've done they're 'annual' rise...
Stay away”
“I would not recommend the HiHi service from 4Com their sales service is great so they get the sale; after service not so great.
When it all goes down your business stops and they don’t really help.
I would not recommend at all and would not believe this is the future of business.
Really disappointing as call quality is poor and clients always complaining and was much better off sticking to our Samsung GAMA system.
Other users also complained to us and would not recommend at all.”
“Avoid at all costs
Come round and give false promises.
Have them for my business and home.
No internet at home for over a week. Chased and chased nobody calls back each time a different person has no idea of the issue. Still no internet.
Had an issue with the business line, down for hours. They said that they would divert the calls immediately wasn’t done till the next day. When it didn’t need doing as the problem was then fixed. Huge loss of business.
My opinion AVOID AVOID AVOID they don’t care. They give false promises and don’t do as they say.”
“Absolute scam. Was misold this from day one. I'm now paying £800 per month for a phone system to run a small garage/Mot station. Sales representative told me clearly that it would be £240 per month and forgot to mention the £570 lease charges for the equipment. I am now stuck in a 7 year contract. The leasing company BNP Paribas are sponsoring yacht races around the world with my f*****g money.”
“Shocking Account Management & Unethical Practices
The account management is a shambles. £2800 of credits missing from our account. Had to repeatedly chase for a account review. They then can't even offer a further deal just want to double the monthly charge and lock you in for another 7 years. What annoys me most is the CS team are very affible but the account management staff Connor and Annika haven't even attempted to resolve the issue even after repeatedly chasing. More Cowboy Com than 4 Com.”
“THE HIHI SYSTEM IS GOOD BUT THE CONTRACT YOU HAVE TO SIGN UP IS A COMPLETE CON, DONT DO IT AT ANY EXPENSE, READ THE SMALL PRINT GETYOU ON A REDUCED 2 YEAR RENTAL THEN AN ADDITIONAL 5 YEARS AT NEARLY 35% MORE, BE CAREFUL, FINANCE THRO PROPEL.”
“Be careful. Yes system is good and phones look great, but stuck in a deal which now costs £42k (yes £42k to terminate) or stay and pay over £800 per month for 5 years. Should have read the fine print but was under pressure at the time.”
“Awful system, doesn't work as promised. Just feel ripped off
I have no idea how they have such a high rating. Do not sign up to this company. The contracts are terrible and all the lovely discounts they promise you disappear after a short period. The back up service seems good but doesn't work. Have now been waiting a week for them to answer on a logged fault with one of the phones not working and they still haven't responded.
Please read your contract and do not trust the lying sales people when they hover over you and make you sign there and then without the option to read it all through properly. My fault for being to trusting. Bloody expensive lesson learnt and counting down the time until we can get rid of them.”
“They use high pressure sales techniques, most of what they offer is on the condition that you renew a 7 year contract every 2 years otherwise you will be left with ageing hardware at a very high monthly cost. Avoid at all costs, you will be tied in and regret it. Much cheaper to use a software based alternative and buy yourself some nice mobile phones for a fraction of the cost.”
“Do not enter into an agreement with 4 Com, you will be stung for thousands of pounds and I mean thousands. They entice you into a 2 year contract (actually 7 years if you read the tiny small print in the contract) at a reduced rate and then after the 2 years offer you another 2 years at a reduced rate for another 7 years. For a small business their charges are extortionate. £521 a month to lease 2 HiHi phone systems and 2 portable systems. (£43,764 in total for 4 phones which are leased never to be owned). On top of this you have the phone line and broadband rental of £220 a month. For the same money you could lease a new car, including maintenance, tax and tyres! To cancel the contract will cost our business over £40,000! Which I have asked about on a number of occasions. They charge different amounts to each company, there is no standard lease agreement and they charge what the salesperson thinks they can get away with. I am seeking both legal advice and have been in contact with the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority). Still waiting for a response on why 4 telephones cost over £40,000.”
“Used the Hi Hi units for a year and now they are developing faults on a daily basis. 20-min waits to get through to customer service; to be told they will get someone to call us back, simply isn't good enough at these prices. When they work they are decent but now the downtime is crippling and the lack of client support is telling. I cannot recommend”
“Awful business, awful services.
We have spent the last 18 months having horrific issues on our phone system. They keep telling us it's our fault with our internal infrastructure, yet our employees experience exactly the same problems working from home.
Following a £10k investment on our end to overhaul our internal infrastructure, they are still claiming it has nothing to do with them, and must be our leased line (upgraded to 1GB, with no improvements).
Absolute scam artists.”
“Whilst the engineers are friendly and the technology promotes efficiency (so far), the cost is much more than you are led to believe. We originally agreed to a demonstration, but in reality, it was a hard sell, which we signed up for under a reasonable amount of pressure to do so (such as the sales person wanted his £500 reward after selling to every customer he'd seen that day!), even though I had voiced that I wanted to take a few days to mull it over on more than one occasion. I now wish I had stood firm. The 'like-for-like' service with them (in comparison to our previous supplier) is simply untrue, as our mobile plans are no longer "unlimited", and their assurances of covering all early termination fees with previous suppliers is also an absolute farce. All calculations are made by the sales person(s) and a figure plucked out of thin air it would appear; as a customer you would hope they are accurate with their calculations, or at least honest. So far, we are more than 50% out of pocket in covering the remainder of these fees that we naively assumed they had worked out in full, especially after voicing how we did not wish to incur any costs of any kind to switch over to them, or spend more money on telecomms, than we were doing already. We were also assured we'd get the first 3 months FOC (which was the deal clincher for us), however in reality it is a 2 month deferral with 1 month free (after you invoice them of course). I have since discovered other hidden costs for things like the storage of voice/call recordings from month 6 onwards, and all-inclusive support from month 13 onwards - NONE of these things were highlighted at the point of sale. Another promise was that should the equipment be faulty, it would be replaced same/next day; within a week, my base was faulty and it took many days for a replacement to arrive. In a nut shell, the sales/costings process is dishonest, tainting what I hope will prove to be a good product. Whilst I have addressed all of these issues with 4Com, some are yet to be resolved, such as the early termination costs, and the mobile plan data allowances. And after having read some of the other reviews, I am disgusted to now learn that the 'upgrade' in 2 years time actually extends the contract further - I already thought 7 years was a bridge too far, but this is just unethical! For a small business like ours, it's a bitter pill to swallow.”
“I have no idea how they have such a high rating. Do not sign up to this company. The contracts are terrible and all the lovely discounts they promise you disappear then they charge you over £600 per month for 4 phones. Our estimated monthly cost was £273. With the discounts we were told we would get for 2 years. But after 18 months they have now been withdrawn and we are stuck paying over £600 for a service that is no better than a normal phone line. Please please please read your contract and do not trust the lying sales people when they hover over you and make you sign there and then without the option to read it all through properly. My fault for being to trusting. Bloody expensive lesson learnt and counting down the time until we can get rid of them.”
