Cancelling Contracts to go to OZ

paulisagayboy

So just looking for a bit of advice....

looking at spending a bit in time in oz from june on.....

my problem is i will be halfway through a 24 month contract with o2. i talked to them today, expecting to pay some sort of cancellation fee but they told me i would have to pay up my contract....12 X 50 = 600 :eek::eek::eek:

Am i F**K paying them 600 when i have been a customer for 12 years and my plans have genuinely changed...there must be some option


What if i cancelled my Direct Debit with the bank....obvs my address will be gone. so what can they do??? and would i be able to get my number back on a different network when i came back....


seperate to this i am also having an issue with eircom broadband. i signed up for an 18 month contract in august....now they are saying that the service was only activated in December so this is where my contracts starts....they havent been charging me which i only noticed now but how is it my problem that the contract is only starting now....can i use the same DD cancelling trick with them and how would that affect me>>>>


Thanks in advance!!!!

TrueDub

Moved from the Australia forum as the thread isn't connected to Australia.

Please note that the Consumer Issues forum charter now applies.

slimjimmc

Even if you cancel the DD you still owe both companies whatever is due as per the contract that you agreed to. It's not their fault you want to exit the contracts early.

They can sue you in court for the outstanding balance + costs. The €600 is unlikely to be worthwhile for them, but the broadband one might be borderline.

The other thing they can do is blackmark you with various credit rating bureaux. They cannot affect your ICB credit rating so it won't go against you should you look for a bank loan or mortgage in future but many businesses outside the financial sector also use alternative credit rating bureaux. With a track record of 2 telecoms defaults you may find getting another phone or broadband contract in future difficult and expensive.

Unused numbers are usually recycled after a period of time (I think 6 mths or thereabouts) so getting your old number back may not be possible.

Slippin Jimmy

Also I think it is important that you understand what a contract actually means. Would you bail out of paying your mortgage because your plans have changed?

A Dub in Glasgo

paulisagayboy wrote: »

they havent been charging me which i only noticed now but how is it my problem that the contract is only starting now

Did the little matter of no broadband from August to December not give it away?

paulisagayboy

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

Did the little matter of no broadband from August to December not give it away?

No that's the thing....I had full e fibre broadband......they just haven't been charging me......don't know why......

paulisagayboy

Duffff-Man wrote: »

Also I think it is important that you understand what a contract actually means. Would you bail out of paying your mortgage because your plans have changed?

Alright preachy......I know what a contract it but thanks for the helpful input though ðŸ‘

Slippin Jimmy

paulisagayboy wrote: »

Alright preachy......I know what a contract it but thanks for the helpful input though ðŸ‘

No problem.

Atlantic Dawn

You may be able to cancel the Eircom contract as they recently increased prices.

I take it you got a phone upgrade from O2, sell this and use cash towards making up the 600. Get a new bill phone in Australia.

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

There's an option to downgrade your O2 to their lowest price plan and then cancel it. You'll still end up paying 12 X whatever the lowest plan you pick, but it could be cheaper than 12 x 60.

On a side note, I never understand how people get into a contract and not know from the offset what it costs to cancel the contract at any given point in the contract (even a rough idea). For most contracts it's the same... you cancel mid contract and you'll pay the remaining months as cancelation fee.

delahuntv

paulisagayboy wrote: »

Am i F**K paying them 600 when i have been a customer for 12 years and my plans have genuinely changed...there must be some option


!

Usually when I see foul language, the writer is in the wrong.

YOU signed up to a 24 CONTRACT. - That a legal instrument and you signed up to be bound by the terms and conditions.

You more than likely got a heavily subsidised handset as part of your package and the upfront cost of that handset is built into your 24 monthly payments.

The fact the you are going to Oz or wherever is of no interest to 02. The fact you have been a customer for 12 years has no bearign on your current contract whatsoever.

If you don;t pay it, they'll simply issue proceedings, take you to court, obtain judgement against you and you will have no chance of getting a loan or many other things such as post pay phones, bill pay utilities etc for many years.

keithclancy

paulisagayboy wrote: »

So just looking for a bit of advice....

looking at spending a bit in time in oz from june on.....

my problem is i will be halfway through a 24 month contract with o2. i talked to them today, expecting to pay some sort of cancellation fee but they told me i would have to pay up my contract....12 X 50 = 600 :eek::eek::eek:

Am i F**K paying them 600 when i have been a customer for 12 years and my plans have genuinely changed...there must be some option


What if i cancelled my Direct Debit with the bank....obvs my address will be gone. so what can they do??? and would i be able to get my number back on a different network when i came back....


seperate to this i am also having an issue with eircom broadband. i signed up for an 18 month contract in august....now they are saying that the service was only activated in December so this is where my contracts starts....they havent been charging me which i only noticed now but how is it my problem that the contract is only starting now....can i use the same DD cancelling trick with them and how would that affect me>>>>


Thanks in advance!!!!

No dice man, you took a 24 month contract with a subsidised handset.

Your monthly cost is the handset plus the contract.

The debt will just sit in Ireland until your return.

Ah-Watch

Eircom have changed their pricing over the last 2 or 3 weeks and are letting alot of customers out of their contract, I would advise you to look this up. I know its 4 years since I worked for 02 but they had a priceplan for something like 6 or 11 e a month, sorry I can't remember which that would see you paying that but it was really only a goodwill tariff that people used to go onto but in all likelyhood they probably dont offer it anymore. Ring 02 and nicely ask them can you go onto that tariff (or anything like it)
for a few months.

You could move your number to another network when the time comes to moving to Oz, you will still remain liable for the termination charges but your number will be safe on top up on another network .... Just a thought.

paulisagayboy

Many thanks to those who offered helpful suggestions....much appreciated to.....

Also thanks to all those who answered the question that Noone asked about what is a contract......

quainy

paulisagayboy wrote: »

What if i cancelled my Direct Debit with the bank....obvs my address will be gone. so what can they do??? and would i be able to get my number back on a different network when i came back....

When you asked this, especially the bit where you asked "so what can they do???", the kind boardsies decided to let you know that a contract was a binding legal agreement, and breaking a binding legal agreement can result in a court case being brought against you, hence, answering your question.

paulisagayboy wrote: »

can i use the same DD cancelling trick with them and how would that affect me>>>>

Again, they answered that by doing this you would be breaking a contract and just gave you the definition of a contract in the event that you may not have fully understood what they meant, due to the fact that you were asking a question about getting out of one.

paulisagayboy wrote: »

Many thanks to those who offered helpful suggestions....much appreciated to.....

Also thanks to all those who answered the question that Noone asked about what is a contract......

So, in a roundabout way, you may never have asked what a contract was, however, it did come across like you weren't too up to date on the subject.

That aside, you should ring them up and ask to be put through to customer care, tell them that your financial circumstances have changed and you need to change tariff, payment plan etc. and see if they can mark you down so you can pay a lower bulk cancellation fee

Mr. Incognito

delahuntv wrote: »

Usually when I see foul language, the writer is in the wrong.

YOU signed up to a 24 CONTRACT. - That a legal instrument and you signed up to be bound by the terms and conditions.

You more than likely got a heavily subsidised handset as part of your package and the upfront cost of that handset is built into your 24 monthly payments.

The fact the you are going to Oz or wherever is of no interest to 02. The fact you have been a customer for 12 years has no bearign on your current contract whatsoever.

If you don;t pay it, they'll simply issue proceedings, take you to court, obtain judgement against you and you will have no chance of getting a loan or many other things such as post pay phones, bill pay utilities etc for many years.

Dont believe this nonsense. 600 quid is small claims court.

Some mickey mouse debt collection company will send some threatening letters and they will write is off as a bad debt.

No one goes for judgement for less than 2,000 unless theres spite or a large volume of claims involved.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.