getting out of a mobile phone contract

basecamp1

Here is the dilemma...all advice and potential solutions welcomed! Signed a meteor 18month contract in Oct 2009. Got an up-grade in Oct 2010 thinking i was still in my original 18month contract which would end March 2011 (this month). on this assumption, went to vodafone today to buy the i-phone and entered into 18month contract with them. wondering why my SIM wasn't transferring over to i-phone, i ring meteor to see what date in March i was out of contract to be told that i wasn't out of contract til March 2012, because when i upgraded my phone i automatically entered into another 18month contract. I now have 2 phones, an iphone i cant use, and potentially two €60 bills a month, one for nothing. is there any way i can get out of either contract. i cannot afford two bills a month, and i am so depressed about this. i know, you sign a contract, its your responsibility to read said contract etc. but really the sales assistant should make you aware that getting an early upgrade puts you into a contract that supersedes your old contract should they not?

Fresh Pots

basecamp1 wrote: »

Here is the dilemma...all advice and potential solutions welcomed! Signed a meteor 18month contract in Oct 2009. Got an up-grade in Oct 2010 thinking i was still in my original 18month contract which would end March 2011 (this month). on this assumption, went to vodafone today to buy the i-phone and entered into 18month contract with them. wondering why my SIM wasn't transferring over to i-phone, i ring meteor to see what date in March i was out of contract to be told that i wasn't out of contract til March 2012, because when i upgraded my phone i automatically entered into another 18month contract. I now have 2 phones, an iphone i cant use, and potentially two €60 bills a month, one for nothing. is there any way i can get out of either contract. i cannot afford two bills a month, and i am so depressed about this. i know, you sign a contract, its your responsibility to read said contract etc. but really the sales assistant should make you aware that getting an early upgrade puts you into a contract that supersedes your old contract should they not?

Not an authority on this but i'd imagine you have a 7/14 day cooling off period where you can get out of your vodafone contract. Give vodafone a call in the morning and explain the situation.

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

cookie1977

Monitor these pages too incase a change in T&C results in you being able to get out of contract for free without penalty according to EU regulation 17
http://www.vodafone.ie/terms/customernotices/?ts=1276770568754
http://www.meteor.ie/terms_and_conditions/notifications/

Here's the other companies notification pages for anyone who wants them too.

http://www.o2online.ie/o2/legal/consumer/index.php?cid=81
http://www.three.ie/terms/customer_notification.html
http://www.eircom.ie/cgi-bin/bvsm/bveircom/bladerunner/showContent.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1230035957.1301378646@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccfadfdeememjdcefeceiedffndffg.0&site=Res&cid=PriceChanges&chanId=-536882378&storeChanId=-536882378&clickIdAction=addClickID_gateway&clickIdTo=/bveircom/bladerunner/showContent.jsp&clickFrom=/bveircom/mainPage.jsp&clickFromCID=null&clickFromCategory=null

Fresh Pots

cookie1977 wrote: »

Monitor these pages too incase a change in T&C results in you being able to get out of contract for free without penalty according to EU regulation 17
http://www.vodafone.ie/terms/customernotices/?ts=1276770568754
http://www.meteor.ie/terms_and_conditions/notifications/

Already have the meteor one bookmarked! Hopefully they will make some changes soon!:D

silvine

I just saw Three's changes that they made in Feb. Is it too late to exit the contract now?

jay93

Yeah its to late now you need to cancel within 30 days of the notice that they have put up on their website keep an eye out for more changes if you want out of your contract:cool:

cookie1977

Well this is debatable. The wording of regulation 17 is:

(4) An undertaking referred to in paragraph (1) or a provider of electronic communications services referred to in paragraph (3) shall, not less than one month prior to the date of implementation of any proposed modification, notify its subscribers to that service —

(a) of the proposed modification in the conditions of the contract for that service, and

(b) their right to withdraw without penalty from such contract if they do not accept the modification.

(5) A subscriber referred to in paragraph (4) may withdraw from his or her contract with the undertaking or provider, without penalty if he or she does not accept a proposed modification referred to in paragraph (4).

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2003/en/si/0308.html

It says the provider must give at least 30 days notice to change although in point 5 it does not say the subscriber only has that time period to exit their contract. The providers add the line about the subscriber having only 30days to exit or they're stuck in the contract. I myself got out of contract with vodafone @home after the time for exiting had expired. I wrote a letter to vodafone customer care in Louth complaining about the changes to the contract and asking to exit it. They released me with out any hassle despite it being 20 days after the 30 days were up. It's worth investigating further.

jay93

Nice one cookie:D
I suppose if you keep at them that they will release people from contracts its worth looking into .some networks can be stubborn when they want to be tough and might not let the person out the try some bull like ''you have to cancel within 30days of the change to T&C's'' but seen as you got out of contract with vodafone it may be worth for other people to look into this further send a few letters to the mobile company and see what happens.:)

cookie1977

Yes definitely. You have to be polite and persistent. Especially writing letters. They hate receiving handwritten letters outlining your concerns and quoting the legislation. Also state how disappointed with the change you are and how you feel you'll have no other recourse but to contact comreg and publicise this issue if they cannot help you.

BostonB

Captain Morgan wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

and if you do this drop the contract you want to cancel to its minimum before hand. Then when you cancel its worked out at the lower rate.

fionny

Out of curiosity guys, if you break a contract quoting that rule 17 thingy are you entitled to keep the phone?

Also if you are allowed to keep the phone are you entitled to have it unlocked?

cookie1977

fionny wrote: »

Out of curiosity guys, if you break a contract quoting that rule 17 thingy are you entitled to keep the phone?

Also if you are allowed to keep the phone are you entitled to have it unlocked?

Yes you can keep the phone. Yes you are entitled to have it unlocked.

fionny

Excellent I will keep this in mind, as ill prob be taking a new contract out in a month or so and a freebie out would be sweet :P

ingen

cookie1977 wrote: »

Yes definitely. You have to be polite and persistent. Especially writing letters. They hate receiving handwritten letters outlining your concerns and quoting the legislation. Also state how disappointed with the change you are and how you feel you'll have no other recourse but to contact comreg and publicise this issue if they cannot help you.

i find email more effective from experience. it hits their inbox within a few mins, gets to the top person in company, cc the whole management team , job done.:D.

cookie1977

fionny wrote: »

Excellent I will keep this in mind, as ill prob be taking a new contract out in a month or so and a freebie out would be sweet :P

Be aware I wouldn't recommend buying a phone in the hope of getting it free and getting out of contract as the T&C may never change during your contract period. Just a warning

fionny

Aye. but it would be nice if it did happen!

cookie1977

Indeed it would

limboland

Thanks for the info guys very interesting.

So just to confirm (before I run off and get a massive penalty fee), I can cancel my iphone contract if they change their T&C's without having to pay the remaining months on my contract?

I have another year on my contract but would love to get out of it because they have way better deals out there now. But dont want to have to pay 45 x 12 months remaining penalty.

Will definitely be keeping a close eye on their website now!:D

fionny

I had forgotten about this Will have to try and remember to check meteors page every now and again.

cookie1977

Yes. If the change in T&C's affect's your plan specifically.

du Maurier

There's a real bang of immaturity/underhandedness with some of the comments on here - "A freebie", "There are better deals out there so I'd like to extract myself from my current network"?!

Whoever you sign up to you should have the foresight and prescience of mind to understand that tariffs etc change on a regular basis throughout the duration of a contract. There is always going to be some network offering a price plan that's more desirable from the outset. But it doesn't mean you can just jump ship on a whim. Pay the bloody remainder of your contract and move then. Or just do a sim only plan.

It's just a nonsense with people looking for loopholes etc. I can understand if you're not happy with a network for non-spurious reasons and are looking to extricate oneself from it but for whimsical reasons like 'I don't like my plan now' it's ridiculous.

fionny

du Maurier wrote: »

There's a real bang of immaturity/underhandedness with some of the comments on here - "A freebie", "There are better deals out there so I'd like to extract myself from my current network"?!

Whoever you sign up to you should have the foresight and prescience of mind to understand that tariffs etc change on a regular basis throughout the duration of a contract. There is always going to be some network offering a price plan that's more desirable from the outset. But it doesn't mean you can just jump ship on a whim. Pay the bloody remainder of your contract and move then. Or just do a sim only plan.

It's just a nonsense with people looking for loopholes etc. I can understand if you're not happy with a network for non-spurious reasons and are looking to extricate oneself from it but for whimsical reasons like 'I don't like my plan now' it's ridiculous.

Woah there nelly, climb down off that mighty high horse of yours.

If there is a law for this stuff then anybody is perfectly entitled to do this.

cookie1977

du Maurier wrote: »

There's a real bang of immaturity/underhandedness with some of the comments on here - "A freebie", "There are better deals out there so I'd like to extract myself from my current network"?!

Whoever you sign up to you should have the foresight and prescience of mind to understand that tariffs etc change on a regular basis throughout the duration of a contract. There is always going to be some network offering a price plan that's more desirable from the outset. But it doesn't mean you can just jump ship on a whim. Pay the bloody remainder of your contract and move then. Or just do a sim only plan.

It's just a nonsense with people looking for "loopholes" etc. I can understand if you're not happy with a network for non-spurious reasons and are looking to extricate oneself from it but for whimsical reasons like 'I don't like my plan now' it's ridiculous.

If networks dont want us to use loopholes (try legal rights!) then they shouldn't change the T&C's. In most cases the T&C changes are usually unfavorable for the customer and the networks will do their utmost to provide scant information on such changes, then they'll argue with the regulator to stop the customer from leaving. I dont have that much sympathy for companies who do this.

limboland

du Maurier wrote: »

There's a real bang of immaturity/underhandedness with some of the comments on here - "A freebie", "There are better deals out there so I'd like to extract myself from my current network"?!

Whoever you sign up to you should have the foresight and prescience of mind to understand that tariffs etc change on a regular basis throughout the duration of a contract. There is always going to be some network offering a price plan that's more desirable from the outset. But it doesn't mean you can just jump ship on a whim. Pay the bloody remainder of your contract and move then. Or just do a sim only plan.

It's just a nonsense with people looking for loopholes etc. I can understand if you're not happy with a network for non-spurious reasons and are looking to extricate oneself from it but for whimsical reasons like 'I don't like my plan now' it's ridiculous.

Also, I actually got really badly stung by my network when a former housemate ran up a 700 euro bill in two weeks on my internet hotspot over Christmas and then went back to his country. I found my provider really unhelpful and unwilling to way any of the penalties incurred for then canceling the service despite that this was one off exceptional circumstances and I've always paid my bill for the last seven years. They also didn't notify me when this unusual activity was occurring.

So seeing as my financial circumstances have dramatically changed, I would not feel remotely bad about availing of my legal rights to cancel my contract and switch networks.

Sponge Bob

Any change in your T&C by your network creates A 28-30 day contract break opportunity for all their customers. You must avail of it in that time.

du Maurier

fionny wrote: »

Woah there nelly, climb down off that mighty high horse of yours.

If there is a law for this stuff then anybody is perfectly entitled to do this.

I'm not on any high horse at all. I don't know what you mean by "if there is a law for this stuff".

It's the motives behind it that rankle with me. That's all.

du Maurier

cookie1977 wrote: »

If networks dont want us to use loopholes (try legal rights!) then they shouldn't change the T&C's. In most cases the T&C changes are usually unfavorable for the customer and the networks will do their utmost to provide scant information on such changes, then they'll argue with the regulator to stop the customer from leaving. I dont have that much sympathy for companies who do this.

Yeah, I concur with this. As I said, it's the motives behind it that might be of concern. There was freebie talk from Fionny and other such specious reasons to why one can just walk from a contract. These reasons aren't justifiable in my opinion but such loopholes are welcome relief I suppose for a person that has been treated poorly by a network. Just because it might happen to exist it doesn't mean that it's par for the course to exploit it for apocryphal reasons.

fionny

Dude I shop around every year and buy my phone and take out a contract as I see fit, I pay my bills and dont give out about them unless there is a problem...

BUT

If the network gives me an out so I can switch to a month to month cheaper bill option I will and thats my prerogative. If the networks want to ensure this doesnt then they simply need to ensure they dont change their terms...

I love how you make me out the be the bad guy here when the networks are the greedy feckers who each year increase the length of contracts and restrict usage more and more...

du Maurier

limboland wrote: »

Also, I actually got really badly stung by my network when a former housemate ran up a 700 euro bill in two weeks on my internet hotspot over Christmas and then went back to his country. I found my provider really unhelpful and unwilling to way any of the penalties incurred for then canceling the service despite that this was one off exceptional circumstances and I've always paid my bill for the last seven years. They also didn't notify me when this unusual activity was occurring.

So seeing as my financial circumstances have dramatically changed, I would not feel remotely bad about availing of my legal rights to cancel my contract and switch networks.

Again, I see where you are coming from with this. Unfortunate occurances like this are hard to gauge when looking at it from the providers' perspective but an element of reason, taking into account your history, a compromise should have been reached. This isn't really the kernal of what I'm saying - it's more about the opportunist that will seize this, unjustifiably, to extract themselves from a contract they just no longer want to pay. It was more about words like 'freebie' etc that were bandied around regarding it that I thought I'd offer my two cents:)

Sponge Bob

There is Suspicion of funny business with O2 Billed Traffic stats as well.

du Maurier

fionny wrote: »

Dude I shop around every year and buy my phone and take out a contract as I see fit, I pay my bills and dont give out about them unless there is a problem...

BUT

If the network gives me an out so I can switch to a month to month cheaper bill option I will and thats my prerogative. If the networks want to ensure this doesnt then they simply need to ensure they dont change their terms...

I love how you make me out the be the bad guy here when the networks are the greedy feckers who each year increase the length of contracts and restrict usage more and more...

I'm not making you out to be anything to be honest. I just picked up on the tone of your earlier comments.

Them being 'greedy feckers' should have nothing to do with it as well. That seems to be the source of your justification. Surely that shouldn't be the reason. So the fact that you were lucky enough to be aware of this anomaly surely doesn't make it okay to take a 600 euro phone (I'm not saying you did this, just an example), pay a bill for a month, and then move on.

Fair enough, it is their mistake, but because you see them as greedy doesn't really justify the motives to do that.

*Just as an aside, I have been royally shafted by one network in particular last year so I'm not jumping to any defence of networks per se in this thread. My only concern would be the validity of some people's claims to move from a network*

fionny

I bought a phone on a 12month contract and paid around 250 for the handset and I have paid my monthly tarrif consistently I have not availed of any loopholes as none have been open but by god when there is one ill jump through it and no apologies to anyone.

I see no reason why I shouldn't. As a citizen of this country we get shafted day in day out with taxes, banks, utlities, food prices, petrol prices etc.. They find every chance to milk more money from my pocket so if get the chance to save some money I will take it.

du Maurier

fionny wrote: »

I bought a phone on a 12month contract and paid around 250 for the handset and I have paid my monthly tarrif consistently I have not availed of any loopholes as none have been open but by god when there is one ill jump through it and no apologies to anyone.

Okay, fine. But can I ask why you would do it? Are you not happy with it? Or are you just availing of your 'rights', somewhat akin to using up all your credits before they're gone?

fionny

du Maurier wrote: »

Okay, fine. But can I ask why you would do it? Are you not happy with it? Or are you just availing of your 'rights', somewhat akin to using up all your credits before they're gone?

I would do it because I can and so I can save money.

du Maurier

fionny wrote: »

I bought a phone on a 12month contract and paid around 250 for the handset and I have paid my monthly tarrif consistently I have not availed of any loopholes as none have been open but by god when there is one ill jump through it and no apologies to anyone.

I see no reason why I shouldn't. As a citizen of this country we get shafted day in day out with taxes, banks, utlities, food prices, petrol prices etc.. They find every chance to milk more money from my pocket so if get the chance to save some money I will take it.

I'm now seeing your reasoning. The us vs them stance doesn't really wash at all. If you're looking at it from that point of view - which it seems you are - it appears really petty and small-minded. Just because you feel all the others are shafting you it doesn't justify it to return the sleight. Poor thinking in my opinion.

I only wanted to see if this was the case. I'll leave it at that.

fionny

Thanks for your opinion on my thinking but for too long ive been the good citizen while people around me soaked up benefits by exploiting loopholes left right and centre... but then I realised that it is true when people say

"Nice Guys finish last"

So if its legal I will do it. Same as I will claim every single tax relief I am entitled to... its no different.

I hope its nice having the moral high ground and that it wont come back to bite you at some point in time as it no doubt will.

froo

Do vodafone make changes often??

I signed up to a 24month contract in january and lost my phone already.
With no insurance

cookie1977

None of them do really. But keep watching.

kirving

froo wrote: »

Do vodafone make changes often??

I signed up to a 24month contract in january and lost my phone already.
With no insurance

iPhone, was it? Did you have 'Find my iPhone' installed by any chance?

If not, best thing to is buy a smartphone which you can use your data with, so at least it wont go to waste.

froo

Kevin Irving wrote: »

iPhone, was it? Did you have 'Find my iPhone' installed by any chance?

If not, best thing to is buy a smartphone which you can use your data with, so at least it wont go to waste.

No.. Lesson learned i guess.

vicmic

Hi guys I need an advice.. I have been with Three for a while, yesterday I signed a contract for another 24 months and got a phone upgrade. I couldn't test the phone in store, when I got home I found out it's really difficult to use it. I called them immediately and ask them to change the phone to a different device. First they said ok now they said: they're not going to accept it. What's the story with cooling of period? I want to cancel the bloody contract and give them the phone back since they treated me like **** and lied to me. Worst customer service ever!!! Liars! Any advice?

Kristopherus

Can you avail of any cooling off period, whereby, for any reason, you can walk away without penalty? Can you go on their new 30-day sim only tarriff, and get a 3g phone somewhere else. €20.33 is not a bad offer.

vicmic

So far they told me there is no cooling off period. In my opinion it's against the law I sent them 2 emails demanding to end the contract, let's see what they say. I was hoping someone had similar experience and could give me an advice how to put more pressure on them. I'm not trying to walk away with a free phone, I want to give it back to them FML

Kristopherus

I see in their T & Cs that if you are upgrading, then the cooling off period does not apply. You should also make sure the shop is actually an official Three shop and not a franchisee.

vicmic

I guess I'm screwed anybody knows what they actually can do to me? If I informed them in writing I want to cancel the contract? Yeah it is a dealer, checked it already, don't think that will help doh.

cookie1977

They can go after you for the full money they would have got over the 24months.

Cooling off periods only apply to distance selling (internet or phone) legally and perhaps if the company has it's on policy on cooling off.

There's not a lot you can do other then to either sell the the device and buy yourself a new one or else keep an eye on:
http://shop.three.ie/terms/customer-notification/
in case Three change their T&C's on your plan allowing you to disagree and leave them. This may never happen but it has before.

Trick of the Tail

Does anyone know the last time eMobile changed their Ts and Cs?

Or have a link to their we page which lists these? I can't find it!

Thanks

tankbarry

does anybody know if 3 have changed there t & c since September 2012

doosie

Hello all:)
A new law has been in force since June 2014 ”Consumer Rights Directive”, which gives you the right to cooling off period if you buy over the phone or online. However Vodafone does not agree with the terms of the Directive, effectively breaking the law. Please see my post regarding cooling off period in Vodafone section for more info. Any suggestion would be appreciated. Thanks

cookie1977

I thought this was explained to you on the forum by mods:

Warning!
Please note that you may not use goods that you have received before deciding to withdraw from the purchase. The right to withdraw exists to allow you to examine the product in the same way as you would in a shop, not to give you 14 days free use.

http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/shopping/shopping-abroad/returning-unwanted-goods/index_en.htm