Is there any way of getting out of a mobile phone contract?

duffman17

Is there any way of getting out of a mobile phone contract. My sister signed a contract with Orange for 24 month after being pushed into it by the salesman in the shop assuring her that it was the best deal for her. She is Dylexic and had trouble reading the contract and the sales person again assured her it was fine and she could leave anytime she wanted. About 2 days afters purchasing the contract she realised what she had done and tried to cancell it, she was told in no uncertain terms there was no way of doing so. She has written many letters saying about the pushy salesperson and the fact she didnt think the service was as good as she expected and has threatend to go to trading stadards and orange still won't budge. any idea's guys? also she only works one day week and has 2 young children this is why she cannot afford to pay the contract. any help will be appriciated.

sporedude

Nope, Shes stuck in the contract. Ive got 3 contracts and unemployed. So theres no way out.

Scott101080

There should be at least a 14 day period from taking out the contract that you can cancel in... I think anyway!

sporedude

Nope, Not in the shop, DSR counts only when bought from internet/over phone.

5limJim

sporedude wrote: »

Nope, Not in the shop, DSR counts only when bought from internet/over phone.

agreed, working on the assumption that you checked the details of the contract, the phone is fit for purpose, the DSR doesnt apply, some shops I think O2 being one of them, have a cooling off period, but other places dont to my knowledge

macman

Sorry, but assuming she knew the monthly charge, why did she sign up if she could not afford it? This is entirely different to saying 'the service was not as good as expected'. Neither argument will void the contract, as trading standards will no doubt confirm.

Crazy_Jamie

duffman17 wrote: »

Is there any way of getting out of a mobile phone contract. My sister signed a contract with Orange for 24 month after being pushed into it by the salesman in the shop assuring her that it was the best deal for her. She is Dylexic and had trouble reading the contract and the sales person again assured her it was fine and she could leave anytime she wanted. About 2 days afters purchasing the contract she realised what she had done and tried to cancell it, she was told in no uncertain terms there was no way of doing so. She has written many letters saying about the pushy salesperson and the fact she didnt think the service was as good as she expected and has threatend to go to trading stadards and orange still won't budge. any idea's guys? also she only works one day week and has 2 young children this is why she cannot afford to pay the contract. any help will be appriciated.

Last I checked dyslexia doesn't prevent someone thinking for themselves and showing a degree of common sense. I'm sorry, but it just sounds like you've thrown a raft of excuses out here. If your sister cannot afford a mobile phone contract, what was she doing in the store in the first place? Of course the sales person is going to do everything to sell the contract. That is his job. But the bottom line is that your sister knows her personal circumstances and should know what she can and cannot afford. She now needs to take responsibility for her own actions. Writing letters to Orange and Trading Standards is going to get her nowhere, because the only person to blame for this state of affairs is her.

reduceditem

If you feel there was mis-selling then go to the shop and tell the manager...if he refuses to break the contract then leave the phone with them and cancel the direct debit. You will be pursued for the money owing for a while and it will very likely affect your credit rating.

If it's a choice of keeping food on the table for the kids or paying off some useless contract to a massive faceless company with no soul.....then that's what I'd do.

sporedude

Leave the phone and cancel the direct debit? So it trashes your credit rating preventing you from getting mortgages and leaves a nice default on your credit score?

If thats what you want go for it.