Mobiles.co.uk refusal to pay final cashback

anticlaus105

Mobiles.co.uk refusal to pay final cashback

I have searched and found a few threads which I am about to read (in fact one is one the front page) but wanted to post my story of Mobiles.co.uk woe anyway. So here goes…

I took out an 18 month contract on O2 with 8 months ½ price line rental through Mobiles.co.uk in Oct 08. My first bill and connection date was end Oct 08. The discount is paid by redemption cheques when you email them the various bills. To quote their T&C’s:

“Please send the top 3 sheets of your bill (which must show your mobile number, your current tariff and the date of the bill at the months indicated above. ie, months 6, 9, 12, 15 &/or 18 as appropriate. For the avoidance of doubt the month 6 bill will be the bill dated in the month that is six months after your connection date. E.g. If connected in January, the sixth month is July so we need to receive your bill dated in July within 30 days of the date of that bill. All other bill dates are calculated in the same way.”

By their rules the first bill I sent was April 09 which shows my payment for month 7 of my line rental. The last was to be in April 10 which would have shown the payment for month 19. I gave my 1 months notice to end my contract on the earliest date and so my Mar 10 bill has my final balance. O2 didn’t send an April bill as my contract had ended on the last day of March bill (the Mar-April dates are listed and clearly show the day before my April bill would have been due).

I managed to download an April bill from the O2 website but it shows a zero balance and no tariff details.

Again to quote Mobiles.co.uk’s T&C’s

“Cashback is subject to you remaining on the original tariff with the original handset(s) and mobile number(s) connected (or Ported) for at least the minimum term (12 , 18 or 24 months) of the contract you signed up to. All monthly bills from the Network must be paid in full and on time. The terms and conditions on this page only apply to orders placed on or after 23rd August 2007. Previous T&Cs are available here for orders before this date.”

So I remained on the contract for the full 18 month term, but by their rules they are expecting me to pay for an additional month, so I can have a bill to send in with a tariff attached.

I have gone to great lengths over the last month to explain this to Mobiles.co.uk and sent many emails and documents but they are having none of it and steadfastly refuse to pay.

I have threatened court action as I view their request for an April bill with a tariff shown (hence wishing me remain on the tariff for longer than the 18 months specified) as an unfair contract term.

Am I correct in the above assumption that it is an unfair/impossible contract term?
Where do I stand if they refuse to pay up?

I feel like pursuing court action as a matter of principle. Would I likely be successful?

Would trading standards get involved?

Would BBC Watchdog be interested? It seems this happens a lot.

Sorry for the long post. Cheers in advance for any advice.

OneADay

Its the April 10 bill they are after - think you left the contract too early in March.
Ideal would have been to wait till close (at least till after April 10th 2010) to the end of the contract date to end it - not that it helps but its how cashbacks work. The notice to terminate should have stated - "do not terminate the contract early etc" (by which I mean saying to the network "I give notice for 30 days and would not like the contract to run beyond the contract end date").

anticlaus105

OneADay wrote: »

Its the April 10 bill they are after - think you left the contract too early in March.
Ideal would have been to wait till close (at least till after April 10) to the end of the contract date to end it - not that it helps but its how cashbacks work. The notice to terminate should have stated - "do not terminate the contract early etc" (by which I mean saying to the network "I give notice for 30 days and would not like the contract to run beyond the contract end date").

My contract ended at the end of April. I didn't leave early as I would not have been allowed. I paid for the full 18 month term. They are requesting a bill which would have shown the payment for the 19th month. To do this I would have needed to remain on the contract for longer than exactly 18 months which is not fair. See the chart below if you are still unsure what I mean.

I have now emailed Charles Dunstone so will see what that produces. If I go to court I want to show I have done everything possible prior to starting court action.

Oct -Nov - Month 1 - 1st Bill dated Oct 08
Nov - Dec - Month 2
Dec - Jan - Month 3
Jan- Feb - Month 4
Feb - Mar - Month 5
Mar - April - Month 6
April - May - Month 7 - 7th bill dated April 09 but 6 months after connection date
May - Jun - Month 8
Jun - Jul - Month 9
Jul - Aug - Month 10
Aug - Sep - Month 11
Sep - Oct - Month 12
Oct - Nov - Month 13
Nov - Dec - Month 14
Dec - Jan - Month 15
Jan- Feb - Month 16
Feb - Mar - Month 17
Mar - April - Month 18 - 18th bill showing payment for the final month of 18/12 term
April - May - Month 19 - 19th bill showing payment for the 19 month if carry on

OneADay

If connection or invoice date was October 2008, I made the following as the bills required

April 09
July 09
October 09
January 10
April 10

You might want to chase o2 to see if a final bill for April was sent or made available online - if it was online billing, they would have terminated access to the online when the contract ended so makes that difficult but you could ring and ask for the bill to be supplied in paper format at a small cost (fee) to you.

However then you would have to budge mobiles dot to accept your claim and they probably will now say too late, past the 30 day period to send bills in.

You have said contract ended in March in the first post and in second stated it ended at end of April?
If O2 are billing one month in advance, in hindsight a text message or 2 second chargeable call would have generated a bill for April - otherwise not.

anticlaus105

I still have access to O2 online. I downloaded the April 10 bill (bill number 19 showing the payment for the 19th month). It has a zero balance due and doesn't show the tariff (as there was no longer any tariff).

Mobiles wont pay because the tariff isn't shown.

the Mar 10 bill shows my full payment for month 18 of the contract and has the tariff and shows the period of the tariff as Mar10 till day before date of April 10 bill.

All this is included in my OP.

My contract ended April 10 after a full 18 month term that was fully paid up hence the zero balance (no no further tariffinfo ) on my final 19th bill dated April 10 that would have shown my payment for the Apr-May 19th month of my contract had I continued longer than the aggreed and required 18 month contract (see cashback term T&C's above).

mobilejunkie

I am a little confused; Mobiles.co will always try it on if they have half a chance BUT O2 certainly used to charge the full month in advance and then refund the overpayment on the bill after the contract was terminated - in this case the March bill would have shown a full month's charge and the April bill the refund. Unless the connection date was the same as the bill date (most unlikely but not impossible) - then the March bill would be a normal full month and the April bill would be £0. If this is the situation there is a perfectly valid case for suing them - and they would know that if it is done properly. When you are corrrect and Mobiles ignore the contract they have with you the only way is to follow the legal route. If they have made it impossible (under the scenario I just outlined) for the April bill to show a current tariff then their t&c are impossible to meet without over-running the contract and suing should succeed as they have imposed an unfair/impossible term and you can show every reasonable attempt to get them to reverse their decision to pay the claim. However, it is very rare for the bill date to equal the connection date - usually it is at least a few days after. I recently saw a problem on one of mine but managed to steer through it without over-running the contract; had Mobiles tried the dirty on me I would have sued - but methinks they know me well enough (without knowing me) to cough up without the fuss they enjoy at the slightest excuse. As a matter of principle (this company doesn't understand that term) no-one should find it necessary to over-run or over-pay on their contract to gain their cashback.

If 1) the contract did run for a FULL 12 months and 2) the correct bills were submitted on time regardless of what they said on them, then 3) provided you can prove they were received in the correct timescales - send a proper LBA giving them 14 days to pay and then commence proceedings. Don't waste time and effort on Consumer Direct, Watchdog or any games the company itself may try to engage you in. The only real purpose in formally communicating with this dealer is in being able to show a court that you have made every reasonable attempt. They will deny you until they realise you are serious. Most aren't so they get away with it more often that they get held to account.

anticlaus105

mobilejunkie wrote: »

I am a little confused...

I didn't want to put exact dates but to make it easier i will put some slightly made up but similar ones.

Order phone on web 19th Oct 08. Phone arrives. First bill arrives from O2 dated 23rd Oct 08 for 1st month rental. Send April 23rd 09 bill for first claim and then subsequent bills as req.

Full 18 month term paid in full. Downloaded Mar 23rd 10 bill which shows tariff dates of 23rd Mar 10 - 22nd April 10.

No April 23rd 10 bill sent as no balance due (did O2 let me off a couple of days?). Downloaded bill but zero balance and no tariff shown.

Sent both bills along with explanation about absent tariff on April 10 bill.

Mobiles quibble because 19th bill for what would effectively be month 19 of my contract doesn't show a tariff and wont pay.

You are correct in your assertion that they effectively want me to run my contract into 19 months to enable my final cashback claim.

You sound like you have experience taking these bozos to court.

Would this be the correct info for a court summons:

Name & Registered Office:
MOBILES.CO.UK LIMITED
1 PORTAL WAY
LONDON
W3 6RS
Company No. 06320783

mobilejunkie

I would go via cpw registered office - it will be them who deal with it in any case. ie cpw t/a Mobiles.co.uk etc.

Before issuing a claim you need to send the LBA in the post with a copy by email to give them the chance to change their stance prior to having tio issue. If you sue it's important to know you can prove your case in the detail. Provided this company knows you can they will cough up (kicking and screaming) eventually.

anticlaus105

thanks for all your help.

mobilejunkie

done.

A sensible request; I doubt the short exposure will do any harm.