Cancelling my phone contract 11 months before it expires

jk1988

Hi,
I really want to cancel my phone contract with orange as I can hardly use the phone due to a lack of signal in my area. The contract doesn't end for another 11 months but I am getting increasingly frustrated with what feels like throwing my money away. I got the contract at phones4u, I'm willing to go back there and try to cancel this contract and sign up to another with O2, a company that I know receives a good signal in my area. Do you think this would work? If not, do you have any suggestions? I have phone insurance with my bank, Lloyds tsb (I don't know if this helps or not!)

jd87

Assuming you've already had the contract more than a couple of weeks, there is nothing you can do.

All I can suggest is downgrading your orange contract as much as possible, then get your phone unlocked (if it isn't already) and get an o2 sim and use that in your phone instead.

gjchester

jk1988 wrote: »

Hi,
I really want to cancel my phone contract with orange as I can hardly use the phone due to a lack of signal in my area. The contract doesn't end for another 11 months but I am getting increasingly frustrated with what feels like throwing my money away. I got the contract at phones4u, I'm willing to go back there and try to cancel this contract and sign up to another with O2, a company that I know receives a good signal in my area. Do you think this would work? If not, do you have any suggestions? I have phone insurance with my bank, Lloyds tsb (I don't know if this helps or not!)

You can always cancel the question is how much will it cost.

First thing is to try and work out if the phone is at fault or not.

Check Oranges coverage map, and ask friends, is it all orange users or just you. If it's just you it points to a phone fault, it it's all is it just in your house? It could be a faulty handset, or you have a lot of metal in the house walls, or (in my case this is true) the topological features on your location. I'm by a block of flats on a hill and vodafone is poor but O2 good due to the relative locations of masts.

If it points to Orange at fault, try calling them and see if there is a problem in the area, especially if it's a good area on the coverage checkers.

If it's network at fault then you are probably stuck, unless they have recently removed a mast and you have lost signal you'll have very little chance of cancelling the contract. If it's been like that from the start it would be seen that you accepted the issue when you took the contract out.

Depending on the handset you may be able to use UMA access and use your wifi as a way to get a signal.

If you have to cancel then you'll usually be asked to pay (in this case) 11 months x monthly rental as a termination fee, it may be possible to downgrade the tarrif and then pay the fee so paying a lesser monthly fee but you'd need to talk to orange to work out if that is possible.

Guys_Dad

Just to supplement the previous answer, you need to consider the following.

You took out a contract that presumably came with a free phone. Phones4U make their money from commission from the networks. They have had their money from Orange who now need to make even more money from you otherwise they will go bust.

Unless there has been a severe reduction of service, then Orange are not at fault because you can't get a signal in your house. So they are not going to say "Oh well for get the fact you signed an air-time contract. We will take the hit". A contract is a contract.

Nor are they likely to be sympathetic because the phone could be faulty. That's between you and Phones4U and I guess you must have had it at least 7 months? (If it is a 12 month contract, then you definitely need to establish if the handset is the problem and soon.)

Next time, check out which networks do give excellent coverage where you need it.