5 year rolling contract?? How do I cancel Elite Calls?

thistledome

Hello
I tried to cancel my account with Elite Calls and they've billed me for £400!

When I contacted them they said I have a contract with them, which is news to me. I originally had this account with Lo-rate which turned to Chess and now Elite. At no time did I ever sign a contract with any of them - everything was done by phone.

I've read their website and apparently they have a 60 month rolling contract. I'm not sure I understand what this means, but it seems that this contract renews itself automatically every 60 months!! Is this right?

In that case it can never be cancelled without paying them £400. I'm amazed that this can be done legally.

Anybody got personal experience of this type of contract. Apparently if the T&C are shown on their website then you are deemed to have accepted them! I'm gobsmacked.

Any ideas anyone?

baldude

thistledome wrote: »

Hello
I tried to cancel my account with Elite Calls and they've billed me for £400!

When I contacted them they said I have a contract with them, which is news to me. I originally had this account with Lo-rate which turned to Chess and now Elite. At no time did I ever sign a contract with any of them - everything was done by phone.

I've read their website and apparently they have a 60 month rolling contract. I'm not sure I understand what this means, but it seems that this contract renews itself automatically every 60 months!! Is this right?

In that case it can never be cancelled without paying them £400. I'm amazed that this can be done legally.

Anybody got personal experience of this type of contract. Apparently if the T&C are shown on their website then you are deemed to have accepted them! I'm gobsmacked.

Any ideas anyone?

I always thought BT were horrible.......but this ELITE are horrendous!!!!!!

Atleast, BT is better because you got more people using it and they dont cheat people like this. I aint a great BT fan either...

thistledome

Yes, BT is looking very inviting right now. I never wanted to leave tbh, but it wasn't my decision to make.

Since posting this in a panic this afternoon I've found quite a few complaints online about Elite Calls and their mad cancellation charge.

However, most people seem to have a shorter "contract" than 60 months. Some have also said their contracts have an £82 cancellation fee instead of the £395 + Vat they've been asked for. We don't have a contract at all as far as we're concerned, but it's their word against ours.

BT might be incompetent and infuriating but at least they're not criminals. I see the operators of Lo-rate (same guy as Elite/Platinum/something else I can't remember) were prosecuted in 2006, so this is nothing new.

Anybody know if this 60 month rolling contract is legally enforceable?

baldude

thistledome wrote: »

Yes, BT is looking very inviting right now. I never wanted to leave tbh, but it wasn't my decision to make.

Since posting this in a panic this afternoon I've found quite a few complaints online about Elite Calls and their mad cancellation charge.

However, most people seem to have a shorter "contract" than 60 months. Some have also said their contracts have an £82 cancellation fee instead of the £395 + Vat they've been asked for. We don't have a contract at all as far as we're concerned, but it's their word against ours.

BT might be incompetent and infuriating but at least they're not criminals. I see the operators of Lo-rate (same guy as Elite/Platinum/something else I can't remember) were prosecuted in 2006, so this is nothing new.

Anybody know if this 60 month rolling contract is legally enforceable?

I'm sorry for you. I know what it can feel like....
I would have first contact consumer direct or ofcom for advise. that would definitely find a solution. I'm sure someone here will throw a useful advise for you.
Good luck.

ukbill69

Talk to consumer direct maybe they can shed some light. But if your in a contract then there in rights to charge full amount. Send them a letter maybe you will take them to court for unfare trading, not sure about this one, but worth a try.

KimYeovil

thistledome wrote: »

In that case it can never be cancelled without paying them £400. I'm amazed that this can be done legally.

It can be cancelled. You are free to leave if you cancel just before the end of each five year contract. Just contact them by mail at the appropriate time.

20.1 This contract may be terminated in writing by either you or us for convenience by giving notice within 30 days of the end of minimum period or any renewal period, this request must be sent by Royal Mail recorded delivery

macman

Yes you do have a contract, it doesn't have to be written or signed, if you agreed it over the phone the contract is verbally binding. If you just go into a shop and ask for a Mars Bar, you are still making an enforceable contract. Whether a 60 month rolling contract is fair and can be enforced is another matter entirely.
How far into the contract are you?

1984ReturnsForReal_2

macman wrote: »

Yes you do have a contract, it doesn't have to be written or signed, if you agreed it over the phone the contract is verbally binding. If you just go into a shop and ask for a Mars Bar, you are still making an enforceable contract. Whether a 60 month rolling contract is fair and can be enforced is another matter entirely.
How far into the contract are you?

In business it would be pretty much unenforcable without a (or two)reminder being sent.

thistledome

macman wrote: »

Yes you do have a contract, it doesn't have to be written or signed, if you agreed it over the phone the contract is verbally binding..../
How far into the contract are you?

That's just my point, we didn't agree to a 5 year contract over the phone or any other way. They asked us if we'd like to switch from BT and get cheaper calls and my gullible partner said "yes please!". There was never a mention of contracts of any length at all. That was with Lo-rate and since then we've been switched to Chess and now Elite Calls. They say our original contract was with Lo-rate and now they have it.

I have no idea how far they say we're into our "contract", partner called them yesterday and asked them to send us a letter with this information, so I'll wait for that and go from there.

It's my policy to never buy anything over the phone, but unfortunately I don't get to make the decisions regarding phone/utilities.

Thanks everybody for taking the trouble to reply, it is appreciated.

Edinburghlass_2

Another thread which may help....

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=837175

macman

thistledome wrote: »

That's just my point, we didn't agree to a 5 year contract over the phone or any other way. They asked us if we'd like to switch from BT and get cheaper calls and my gullible partner said "yes please!". There was never a mention of contracts of any length at all. That was with Lo-rate and since then we've been switched to Chess and now Elite Calls. They say our original contract was with Lo-rate and now they have it.

I have no idea how far they say we're into our "contract", partner called them yesterday and asked them to send us a letter with this information, so I'll wait for that and go from there.

It's my policy to never buy anything over the phone, but unfortunately I don't get to make the decisions regarding phone/utilities.

Thanks everybody for taking the trouble to reply, it is appreciated.

You don't have to have said 'I agree to a contract'. You implicitly agree to the contract when you agree to sign up. The terms will be whatever they choose them to be at the time, these presumably would be in the small print on whatever confirmation you received from them.
Do you not know when you signed up for the original service?