Moved to US but O2 refuse to cancel my contract – any advice

KPM_2

Hi

I am 13 months into my 18 month contract with O2. I have just moved to the US and therefore have no need for my UK number and would like to cancel the contract.

I spoke to O2 about it and they flatly refused to budge (they were quite rude in fact, which was particularly annoying as I have had a relationship with O2 since the days they were still called BT Cellnet). I now find myself paying for a phone both here in the US and in the UK – neither of which is cheap.

Can anyone give me any advice on how to get out of the contract with O2?

P.S. I realise that O2 require a contractual period in order to pay off cost of the handset, however I am confident that in the last 13 months I have paid it off multiple times over (my bill last month was over £90)

Jon_01

You can't 'get out of a contract' that's the point of them, they're legally binding.
You can either pay it off monthly or all in one go and get a bit off it, but that's about the best you'll get...

MarkLS12

You could try downgrading to a cheaper package as Jon 01 suggested or maybe you have a friend or relative in the UK who could take over the contract for the last few months.

mrcamp

That is unbelievable! In the US it's by law that if you move out of the country, get deployed by the military, etc.and you have proof, you can cancel/break your contract without penalty. It does NOT matter how long you are into the contract. Wow! That is insane.

OneADay

mrcamp wrote: »

That is unbelievable! In the US it's by law that if you move out of the country, get deployed by the military, etc.and you have proof, you can cancel/break your contract without penalty. It does NOT matter how long you are into the contract. Wow! That is insane.

And in the US, you pay up front cost of phones when you enter into contracts - so the networks are not going to be losing out like they would in the UK where mobiles are generally free with contract.

gjchester

mrcamp wrote: »

That is unbelievable! In the US it's by law that if you move out of the country, get deployed by the military, etc.and you have proof, you can cancel/break your contract without penalty. It does NOT matter how long you are into the contract. Wow! That is insane.

Deployed out of the country and choosing to move are two different things. You can argue depoyment is outside you control (although if your in the military you should experct it to some degree) but moving houses (be within in the UK to somewhere with no coverage) or out of the UK is something you do have some choice in.

KPM_2

Jon, you are absolutely correct that this is a contract and you shouldn’t just be able to get out of them. However I agree with mrcamp that it doesn’t sound right that I have to stick with a contract if I cannot use it as I had intended to use it when I initially signed up (I can no longer use unlimited calls, texts and data without additional charge).

Mrcamp is also correct in stating ‘In the US it's by law that if you move out of the country, get deployed by the military, etc.and you have proof, you can cancel/break your contract without penalty.’ I have spoken to my local provider and that is the truth. OneADay however is not correct – the networks here give away phones more freely than they do in the UK. I have joined T-Mobile and they gave me a Nokia for free... and this is on PAYG without a long term contract!

So now I’m sitting here with an iPhone I cannot use in the US (as it is locked) and a contract that I don’t want to use (as they will charge me a fortune). Are there any money saving experts out there who can help?

P.S. Be grateful for every day you have MoneySavingExpert.com – you will certainly miss it when you don’t have it.

Jon_01

I appreciate what your saying, but your in the same boat as people in the UK that move half way through a contract and get no signal in their new home. The network won't cancel the contract as it's not the networks fault that the customer moved.

Is there anyone you know in the UK that could take over what left of your contact ? Orange will allow an account transfer to anyone that can pass the credit check. But I think that's about your only option, sorry...

There are ways of unlocking the iPhone so it'll work in the US

ste_coxy

KPM wrote: »

Jon, you are absolutely correct that this is a contract and you shouldn’t just be able to get out of them. However I agree with mrcamp that it doesn’t sound right that I have to stick with a contract if I cannot use it as I had intended to use it when I initially signed up (I can no longer use unlimited calls, texts and data without additional charge).

Mrcamp is also correct in stating ‘In the US it's by law that if you move out of the country, get deployed by the military, etc.and you have proof, you can cancel/break your contract without penalty.’ I have spoken to my local provider and that is the truth. OneADay however is not correct – the networks here give away phones more freely than they do in the UK. I have joined T-Mobile and they gave me a Nokia for free... and this is on PAYG without a long term contract!

So now I’m sitting here with an iPhone I cannot use in the US (as it is locked) and a contract that I don’t want to use (as they will charge me a fortune). Are there any money saving experts out there who can help?

P.S. Be grateful for every day you have MoneySavingExpert.com – you will certainly miss it when you don’t have it.

It might be worth putting the complaint in writing through their complaints procedure and if you do not get the answer you are looking for within 12 weeks you can then refer it on to the ombudsmen who will investigate the complaint and come to a conclusion - any decision they make is final, whether that be in your favour or theirs. It is defo worth a shot - I managed 2 cancel my 3 mobile broadband which was an 18 month contract due to it not working and having terrible service/reliability issues (i know it is a different scenario but it is defo worth trying!)

http://www.otelo.org.uk/ <

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have a read over their website.

good luck!

KPM_2

Thank you both for the advice, much appreciated. I will send something through to their complaints department.

Jon – I am annoyed with O2 now, but would be even more so if I still lived in the UK, had no signal and couldn’t get out of my contract. I'm amazed, and it just sounds wrong.

Rusty!

Unlock your iPhone so you can use it over there, and ask O2 to drop your your tariff to the lowest available... you should be allowed to downgrade by now.