Vodafone Upgrade. Can I Change My Mind?

starman70

Hi All,

My first post, so please be gentle with me

My Vodafone contract has expired and after speaking with retentions, I accepted an offer. Now, after doing a bit more research, I don't think the deal they've given me is as good as I first thought.

I think my new handset may be on it's way to me (a c/s rep was supposed to contact me on Friday, so I'm not 100% sure) Am I still in a position to try and negotiate a better offer, or will I have to take the one I accepted? Do I have a cooling off period?

Thanks in advance...

Annie._2

You get seven days cooling off to return the handset and cancel the agreement when the contract is taken out online or through upgrades.

starman70

Thanks Ann,

Does my current agreement still exist, or has it been superceeded by the new offer? If I cancel the new contract, I don't want to end up without a phone and lose my number, until I have a new deal, one way or another.

gjchester

You have not started a new contract merley changed your exisiting one. Best thing to do is call Voda only they can make the changes and set you back as you were.

As a rule phone contracts don't end, they have minimum terms that once passed (as you have) become rolling 30 day contracts. By upgrading you agreed to a new minimum term in exchange for a new phone to be given to you.

The problem comes in that you have not got a new contract, so all the distance selling rules technically don't apply, you have a goodwill period by Vodafone of 7 days but legally they don't need to give you anything (because it's not a new contract it's a continuation of an existing one).

The phone contract you have is really two contracts, once for a supply of a service (the airtime agreement) and one for hardware (the phone). You recieve the phone free as a condition of taking out the airtime agreement, BUT you do not have the *legal* right to cancel the airtime contract if the phone is faulty or not what you expect.

*If* Vodafone want to they could say tough, you accepted the upgrade and thats it, they are not breaking the distance selling rules as it's not a new contract. The could let you return the phone and not offer any replacment, and you could still be liable for the contract, remember you agreed to a service contract the phone is not part of that. Or they could let you return it and they refund what you paid for the phone, ie nothing.

However only then can tell you that is likely to happen in your case, and Vodafone are not as bad as some other companies out there. Legal rights and good customer service are different things. Call Vodafone and see what they say, especially as you don't know if you have or have not actually upgraded.

starman70

Received a call from Vodafone this morning, apologising for not getting back to me on Friday. I explained the situation and, after a bit of negotiating, have agreed on a deal I'm happy with. New phone should be with me tomorrow.

Thanks all for your help and advice