Verbal contracts - enforcable? (All networks)

NickAJ

Why is it that mobile phone companies are the only people who can create a contract lasting from 12 - 36 months without confirming what is agreed in writing.

So many posts come down to disagreements between what was offered (usually after some protracted negotiation) and what appears on the bill. The customer usually only has the first name of the customer service agent / retentions who can never be traced when there is a query.

So, if there is no written contract and the telephone record of the call cannot be produced are these legally binding contracts? If there is a dispute, is it the responsibility of the mobile company to produce the evidence (in the form of a recording of the contract being agreed) before they can enforce any charges?

Has anybody challenged this in court? Could it be another "bank charges" situation whereby the phone company would refund rather than set a legal precedence[FONT=&quot]?[/FONT]

Maybe MSE should start a campaign to insist that when a new contract is agreed verbally with the phone company that this is confirmed in writing within 7 days stating clearly the costs and included minutes / texts / internet access etc.

Personally I hate the first two / three months of a new contract, each bill has to be carefully checked and then the call to customer services to get things sorted.

mw47938

I'm in exactly this situation where I had agreed a change to my contract over the phone but what came through in the confirmation letter was very different and now Vodafone are refusing to accept my cancellation. See my post "Vodafone won't let me cancel a contract I didn't request" (thread 1827379) in this forum.

I totally agree that this should not be allowed to be binding unless one has confirmed it in writing.

Cheers
Michael

sporedude

Thats why your sent a letter to confirm you've extended your contract....

mw47938

... and then you should have to write back to confirm that you agree with the contract.

NickAJ

sporedude wrote: »

Thats why your sent a letter to confirm you've extended your contract....

And every time you've extended your contract you've all your minutes, texts, mobile data, phone upgrade itemised? All the extras offered by the retentions department? Which network?

gjchester

NickAJ wrote: »

Why is it that mobile phone companies are the only people who can create a contract lasting from 12 - 36 months without confirming what is agreed in writing.

A verbal contact has the same legal standing as a written one, just harder to prove.

It's not a case of the mobilecos are the only one who accepts them, more a case of no-one else accepts them bar the mobile co's.

Actually thinking about it Sky and Virgin do everything by phone too.

matt1987

You do get this with Vodafone, as I have just recently upgraded one of my lines, however, when I upgraded one of my lines back in March I didnt receive any sort of confirmation, so I hope it is an 18 month contract and nothing else!

magicka

I'm currently in dispute with Virgin Media about this type of thing. When I moved house recently and cancelled my account they billed me for £120 of "early contract termination fees" even though my initial 12 month fixed term was well over by then. They claim that a new 12 month contract was agreed by myself over the phone in January 2009. In reality they phoned me up and asked me if I wanted to try a TV set-top box as I was "already paying for it in my phone line rental".

They claim that the staff member explained that I would be renewing my contract, that I fully agreed to this and that they sent me a contract in the post. None of this actually happened.

I have written and phoned them numerous times to request concrete evidence in the form of either a signed contract, a recording of the phone call, or transcript. They simply parrot that the staff member had "noted agreement on your account", will not budge and have passed me on to a debt collector.

So it's effectively my word against theirs. I started off believing that the onus would be on them to prove their version of events but I'm having doubts about what else I can do. If anyone has any ideas I'd be glad to hear them.

broccoli2472

I'm in the same boat.

With T-Mobile and phoned up cancellations 2 months ago as contract was up. After much wrangling, agreed a new 12 month deal @£5/m including a new phone. I had asked about whether an 18 month option was available if it was cheaper but they said it wasn't possible. Hung up the phone a very happy customer...until the bill arrived!

The phone was sent through the post promptly (wans't too fussed about that but as they offered one). However on receiving the bill, I found out that apparently I was on an 18 month contract for over twice what I had agreed. There was also a delivery charge for the phone which I had never been informed about.

I emailed customer services the same day, as well as sending a formal dispute letter the same day. It has taken 2 months and numerous attempts to try and get acknowledgement from them! I even asked for full confirmation of the contract that I supposedly aggreed to - but customer services said that they had no facility to send it out! Have finally agreed that I can send the phone back and they will cancel the existing contract. So now I have to go through the hassle of switching. I understand their stance that they have no evidence of the contract that we agreed over the phone - they just have what is in the system which is completely different. Therefore I think I'll be recording future conversations I have with them for my records so I have proof.

:mad: