HTC Desire Vodafone 500mb Fair Usage Policy

danielz000

I don't think you would have to if they breached the contract first...

They will obviously say that they didn't...

Personally I think they have withdrawn the unlimited data usage and that required 30 days notice...

danielz000

Dear Sir/Madam,

RE: Termination of Pay Monthly Mobile Contract – Mobile No. 00000000000 Account No. 000000000/1

I am writing to give you 30 days notice of the termination of my pay monthly mobile telephone contract with Vodafone, in accordance with §11 of your October 2009 Pay Monthly airtime agreement terms and conditions.

There are two reasons I am terminating my contract:


1) The removal of agreed services, the significant disadvantage this will have on me and the breach of contract Vodafone made by Vodafone.

Information posted on the Vodafone eForums on 12 May 2010 at 14:38 states that Vodafone intends to introduce Out Of Bundle charging for Pay Monthly customers from 1 June 2010. The net result is that my agreement with Vodafone for unlimited data access will no longer be honored and instead, a 500mb limit will be put in place. I refuse to agree to this new contract as it represents a change to my ‘significant disadvantage’.

I will also take this opportunity to highlight that under §7.b of my Terms and Conditions it states that you will give me 30 days notice when withdrawing or changing services. This has not been the case and Vodafone is therefore in breach contract.


2) The introduction of charges resulting in more than a 10% increase in my bills and the significant disadvantage these charges impose on me.

Under §7.a your introduction of a planned £5 per 500mb charge on the 1st of June would have resulted in more than a 10% increase in my previous months (May’s) bill, it also puts me at a significant disadvantage by massively limiting the use of my mobile phone. I therefore choose to exercise my right to cancel our agreement under §11.b.


The introduction of charges and removal of service also offend §(i)-(l) inclusive of Schedule 2 and §5 of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. In particular, Schedule 2 (1) “(l) …allowing a seller of goods or supplier of services to increase their price without in both cases giving the consumer the corresponding right to cancel the contract if the final price is too high in relation to the price agreed when the contract was concluded”.

You will be aware of Ofcom’s Guidance that this is objectionable “under continuing contracts where consumers are 'captive' – that is, they have no penalty-free right to cancel” but you have not seen fit to comply with Ofcom’s advice that to be fair; Any kind of variation clause may in principle be fair if consumers are free to escape its effects by ending the contract. To be genuinely free to cancel, they must not be left worse off for having entered the contract, whether by experiencing financial loss (for example, forfeiture of a prepayment) or serious inconvenience, or any other adverse consequences.”

I now exercise my legal right to cancel the contract due to your breach of agreed terms and the Significant Disadvantage that they cause.

Any attempt to claim a penalty and in particular a cancellation charge will be resisted. These terms are also unfair and therefore non-binding and unenforceable. Any claim for them will be disputed and you will need a Court Order to obtain payment of them. I will defend any legal proceedings for such sums under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.

[I have spoken to your account staff and can confirm that no charges have been incurred in excess of the monthly charges paid in advance –which I have paid as usual. I will cancel my direct debit immediately.]

OR

[I have spoken to your account staff and can confirm [£ ] of other charges have been incurred in excess of the monthly charges paid in advance –which I have paid as usual. I will cancel my direct debit immediately. I now enclose a cheque in full and final satisfaction of the remaining charges owed to you under the contract and including any ancillary or collateral contracts, if any.] [NB in this case ---don’t forget to add “In Full and Final Settlement” to the cheque].

Yours sincerely,

I'm sending this tomorrow and cancelling the DD... Does anyone have any comments or suggestions?

TheLibertine

bym007 wrote: »

I have just been to T-Mobile and there are loads of (Sim only) deals with "unlimited internet" 3gb fup for £20. Ofcourse, you do get 900 minutes, 500 texts etc etc along the way!

Linky

That's my point though...if you can get the phone off them and are prepared for the battle to do so then cancel. But that contract you mentioned is the same as I pay for my Vodafone Desire with the phone (-300m). And yet it's just a sim card...that's not a great deal the way I look at it...

If I was moving I'd only go to TMob (though would be concerned about quality of their 3G network) or O2. Prices on both their websites are a total joke. TMob are asking for £380 for the handset with some of their deals!

I'm not sticking up for Vodafone at all...just trying to play devils advocate a bit because I set this thread up and I don't want people to be rash as it's easy to get caught up in it all without thinking it through.:)

DarkConvict

Remember to add in the guidance from previous posts that consumer direct agree it is a change, and that the price increase from £0 to £5 per 500MB constitutes a change allowing you to leave under the clause.

Llyllyll

Norro wrote: »

I just found out the FUP allowance on O2 is 20GB for smartphones! That makes it even more incredulous that Vodafone are quibbling between 500MB and 1GB.

Where did you see this? Please can you post a link as I can't see anything on O2's website.

bym007

DarkConvict wrote: »

Remember to add in the guidance from previous posts that consumer direct agree it is a change, and that the price increase from £0 to £5 per 500MB constitutes a change allowing you to leave under the clause.

I still have to work that how I for one, whose usage goes up and down, are being affected by this.

Since Feb '10, I have not been outdoors a lot, and hence used Wifi to my heart's content. So when I start spending more time outdoors, my usage will shoot up.

Based on the change in FUP and charges, I will definitely be at disadvantage at that point. However, since I will not be able to show a 10% increase in my next bill (based on previous bill), do I have to put up with VF?

DarkConvict

Start using iPlayer on your phone and listen to internet radio that will boost you up if not use wifi to show on your bill.

DarkConvict

Thing is you can't predict the future, all you know is this change will have a detrimental affect on you in the future as you know you are capable of exceeding the 500MB cap so would be charged, as such you need to find a new provider like T-Mobile with a 3GB limit to ensure you are not charged for future usage that exceeds 500MB. You took out the contract in good faith for an unlimited in the knowledge you would not be charged, and this has since changed from £0 to £5 per 500MB.

CaptainD_2

bym007 wrote: »

I still have to work that how I for one, whose usage goes up and down, are being affected by this.

Being jobless since Feb '10 , I have not been outdoors a lot, and hence used Wifi to my heart's content. In future this will change, since I believe I will have a job sometime soon in future. So when I start spending more time outdoors, my usage will shoot up.

Based on the change in FUP and charges, I will definitely be at disadvantage at that point. However, since I will not be able to show a 10% increase in my next bill (based on previous bill), do I have to put u pwith VF?

Just more 'cloak and dagger' from vodafone, they know full well that most of these handsets have only been out for a few months at best, and that any historical data anyone may have on usage is unlikely to be a fair reflection of future useage; more so a fair reflection of a technology in its infancy.

They know full well that the majority of the people affected by this change that have signed contracts in 2010 will have a hard time proving a 10% increase- it should not therefore be a prerequisite for cancellation of the contract and it sounds like they are just trying to scare people off canceling!

In other forums VF representatives are bigging themselves up about how righteous and honest they are allowing their customers to leave the contract if they can prove usage increases by 10%.....but really it is a totally hollow and meaningless gesture that only actually benefits them.

I would just explain your situation to them and tell them that your historical data usage is irrelevant as your situation has now changed. You WILL be requiring more than 500MB per month and its not open to debate.

bym007

CaptainD wrote: »

Just more 'cloak and dagger' from vodafone, they know full well that most of these handsets have only been out for a few months at best, and that any historical data anyone may have on usage is unlikely to be a fair reflection of future useage; more so a fair reflection of a technology in its infancy.

They know full well that the majority of the people affected by this change that have signed contracts in 2010 will have a hard time proving a 10% increase- it should not therefore be a prerequisite for cancellation of the contract and it sounds like they are just trying to scare people off canceling!

In other forums VF representatives are bigging themselves up about how righteous and honest they are allowing their customers to leave the contract if they can prove usage increases by 10%.....but really it is a totally hollow and meaningless gesture that only actually benefits them.

I would just explain your situation to them and tell them that your historical data usage is irrelevant as your situation has now changed. You WILL be requiring more than 500MB per month and its not open to debate.

I was just wondering where is the 10% increase coming from ? Is this a part of the original contract?