cancelling mobile phone contract

jkhillary

In july last year my mobile contract expired. I rang cpw/o2 to explain that I wanted to cancel the contract and was informed that I had to send it in writing. So I wrote to customer services and explained that I wanted to cancel. no response and a new bill came in august. once again I wrote with no response and yet another bill in october. So i wrote and emailed to customer services without a response.

the bill had now racked up £120 and they got solicitors involved. I complained again to them and also got the ombudsman involved.

the ombudsmans decision is that I need to prove that I sent the letters to customer services. I disagree with this and so contacted OFT who told me that my only recourse now was to take them to small claims or wait for them to take me!

so failing any other suggestions that is what I am doing

my points are really,
-what is the point in a contract if you are bound by it even after expiry
-it seems ridiculous to go to court over such a small amount of money

so has anyone else had a similar experience

Quentin

The OFT suggestion that you take them to court seems strange.

What will you be taking them to court for? They don't owe you any money do they?

On the other hand, should they take you to court, you will then have the opportunity of persuading the court you don't owe them anything! (Difficult if you cannot prove you cancelled!)

But if they win, then you will be faced with the court costs on top of any money you owe them plus their expenses for attending court. (Plus any further costs they incur enforcing the judgement on you - interest, bailiffs etc).

You ask what is the point of a contract if you are bound by it after expiry, but the contract you entered didn't expire until it was cancelled!

jkhillary

That is exactly the question I asked them. They do not owe me anything and it will be extremely difficult for me to prove that I wrote to them. However I do feel aggrieved in this situation and understand that I may incur more costs. I am trying to weigh up how much that is going to cost me to see how bad it will be for me to contest it

I am not going to take them to court but I will most likely wait for them to take me to court

soolin

Did you send cancellation letter special delivery, if so you have online proof showing letters were received and that therefore contract is no longer naything to do with you.

If you have no proof letters were delivered then i can forsee you having problems as even a court would require some proof that the recipient received your cancellation request in writing as required.

jkhillary

sigh, unfortunately I did not. I contacted in all ways possible but did not send by registered post

I realise that I have little or no proof but this really annoys me. I would rather spend the extra money with a chance of clearing this than let them get away completely scott free

piggeh

I guess maybe the OFT mean is to pay what they claim and then go through the courts to get it back. If the Ombudsman has decided against you then maybe it would be the better option as the Ombudsman is supposedly impartial?

I have forgotten what all the rules are for small claims court - I thought if the 'defendant' (litigant?) does not turn up to represent themselves on the day then it is normally awarded? If that was the case, would CPW send a solicitor along to represent them, or would they just concede? Bank charges section would probably contain more info on small claims process.

Personally my work received a bill for £4k for finishing a contract early - we settled 50/50 because the costs involved in preparing and going to court would dwarf the initial fee for either company. It can be an effective weapon in seeking funds back without needing to go on the day.

Quentin

No, this a bad "guess".

It would be crazy to pay in full a bill like this (the subject of much correspondence), then as soon as you eventually paid it start on court proceedings to recover the money off the people you paid!