No contract with ISP ?

Bigmac1euro

So today I noticed a deal going for half price Broadband.
I decided I’d take a look at my own contract and see could I cancel out to go for the deal.

When searching for the contract I realised I didn’t have one. Not on the online portal or in an email.
The last contract I had was from 2016 which was in my emails but only valid for 12 months.

So I called the ISP and asked about my contact and why don’t I have a contract and could they send me the contract, the guy on the phone put me on hold for about 10 minutes he came back and said “your contract was sent at such and such a date”

This was the email from 2016 contract only being 12 months.
He then went off again 5 minutes or so and came back and said he apologises and that it was on them that I have no up to date contract (should have been December 2017 to December 2018)

At this point I told him I’d like to leave the ISP and I would assume there would be no charge as “we” have no contract.
They have it on their side but I don’t have a contract.

He passed me through to cancellations department on hold for about 15 minutes and eventually the guy tells me that we would have agreed verbally back in December 2017

But again that means nothing to me as I have no contract and he begins to tell me it would be 200 euro to leave the contract.

I argue that I have no contract and He then says it was posted to me on such and such a date which I don’t believe for a second. As they sent me an electronic contact via email the year before. It makes no sense.

This is all becoming suspect. So I asked could he send an exact copy of the letter they sent me at that date. And he said it should be out in 5 working days after such and such a department authorise it.

Any ideas on where I stand ? Anyone have any experience with this before. Sounds fishy to me I’ve no contract ....

L1011

It would not be normal to renew a contract without reason - did you change plans or get replacement hardware in December 2017?

When a contract term expires you go month to month basically

Ten Pin

You can ask for all data that they hold about you and see what it says. Specifically you should ask for the call recording in which they allege you verbally agreed to a new contract.

If their records can't show proof that you agreed to a contract renewal / extension (either written or verbal) then it points to them spoofing (allegedly).

You should record all future calls to them. Be prepared for lodging a complaint and having to go to Comreg if they insist that there's a current contract.

Bigmac1euro

No I agreed verbally, back in December and they gave me a reduced rate for the first 6 months but my problem is. They never sent me a contract. I never signed anything and I never digitally signed anything by agreeing to someone signing on my behalf or ticking any boxes.

The problem here is I have no contract they never sent one after I renewed back in December so according to me I have no contract with them. They can hold a contract but what’s the point if both parties haven’t got the contract. Technically that’s braking the law and I should be able to leave without having to pay a fee or am I totally wrong here ?

Should you not have some kind of contract or agreement with any utility or am I going mad here ?
(Not including If you outstay your contract and move to month by month basis.

TheChizler

A verbal agreement can be a type of contract. No specific need for paperwork. You benefited from the reduced rate offered if you renewed the contract so I think they have you on this one. They should have a recording of the call I imagine.

ED E

Verbal agreement is enough, you do not need to sign or click a form.

In addition to the pre-contractual information, a distance contract will not be enforceable against a
consumer unless the consumer has received confirmation of the prior information mentioned above.
This confirmation must be in writing or in another durable form which is accessible to the consumer.
Fax or e-mail would be sufficient to cover this requirement where such a medium is accessible to the
relevant consumer.

The email if sent fulfilled this for the first enactment of that contract. The question is whether your loyalty deal was an extension of that contract or a new one altogether. IANAL.

Bigmac1euro

ED E wrote: »

Verbal agreement is enough, you do not need to sign or click a form.



The email if sent fulfilled this for the first enactment of that contract. The question is whether your loyalty deal was an extension of that contract or a new one altogether. IANAL.

My loyalty deal should have been a new contract altogether, but as I said they never sent one. How can someone be stuck in a contract with a company if that person has not been issued said contract.

Yeah I did avail of the deal of course but I was never sent the terms and conditions or said contract.

I’m pretty curious how this will play out. The guy on the phone earlier even said “we should have issued you a contract, your right this is our mistake, I’ll pass you through to the cancellations team”
I wasn’t getting snappy or anything I genuinely rang up in the beginning to try get a copy of my contract because I don’t have it and I wasn’t sure whether it was a 12 month or 18 month contract. It’s a terrible way of doing business. Why can’t they just upload it to their online portal. It’s a shady way of operating and it will only cause them hassle in the long run.

Imagine asking someone can you have their house, them saying yeah and you keeping the phone call recording as a contract ?? LOL

Ten Pin

It's possible that for the verbal contract to be enforceable, they would need to have outlined the terms in that phone call. If, for example, they say (now) that it's an extension of an existing contract, they would have to say so (back then). If it wasn't an extension then they would need to have outlined all the important terms (duration, price, discount duration etc).

If they say it was an extension that resulted in an overall contract duration of over two years, there may be a problem with that, read somewhere that contracts with ISPs can't be over two years (open to correction on that).

It's what was said during the phone call that counts. Having said that, they are obliged to provide a contract in a durable format, email would probably meet that obligation but if they didn't do this, you may have a case to exit without penalty. It's never that straight forward, Comreg can be hit and miss with making a ruling when it comes to ISP complaints. Some say they are toothless, allegedly.

Mountjoy Mugger

Just ask if they've got a recording of the call with you agreeing to the contract.

WildCardDoW

You agreed to a new contract verbally. You don't get sent anything in the post for this.

This has been usual process with every providor I've had.

The lads on customer service don't know their arse from their head most of the time.