Does "for life" mean "for life"?

d77_2

Hi there,

I have a domain package with a web site hosting company and a little over a year ago I bought a dedicated IP address for my site which at the time I was told was a one off payment for life. This morning I discovered that I no longer had my dedicated IP address. I assumed this was a mistake as the company had recently changed their system and pricing structure, so I emailed the company to ask where my IP address was and when I can expect to see it back. Their reply was:

"Unfortunately due to the problem with IP addresses being in very shortly supply world wide, the cost of the individual IPs has risen and we are no longer able to offer the one off IP for life server, apologies for any problems this is causing and let me know if I can assist further."

...to which I responded...

"I can understand that, but if I've already bought an IP address for life, which I did last year, the address is already assigned for life. Surely something that has already been bought as a "for life" product can't be revoked??"

...which I think is fair. Their reply was...

[COLOR="DarkOrange"As I mentioned before the costs to us for owning the IP addresses have risen, so it is no longer possible to offer the IP addresses for life."[/COLOR]

...my reply to this was...

"But surely that's against the sales of goods act, to sell something for life, but then to take away the "for life" part of the product. If something is sold as for life, it should be for life?"
...their answer to this was...

"Please see the relevant section in our terms and conditions under 'Payment, Chargebacks and Returned Cheques", specifically:

"Dream Hosting reserves the right to introduce changes to the packages when needed regarding price and set of features.'"

...the t&c can be found here.

The question for me is where do I stand on this? My opinion is if you buy something that is sold as a "on-off payment" and a "for life" product, once you've paid that's it. The point in the T&C's that they directed me to is as follows.

Dream Hosting will charge customers with fees based on the fee structure at the time of the sign-up process. Dream Hosting reserves the right to introduce changes to the packages when needed regarding price and set of features. This means that the current price list at https://www.dream-hosting.co.uk may differ from the pricing and features of the customer's account.

Now to me that breaks down as:
a) Dream Hosting will charge customers with fees based on the fee structure at the time of the sign-up process.
I will be charged the correct amount the product at the time i take the product out. Which I did.
b) Dream Hosting reserves the right to introduce changes to the packages when needed regarding price and set of features.
The prices and features of a product can be changed. However, this would only come into effect when the product is re-billed as defined by point a). However, as the product I bought was a "one-off payment" "for life" product, there should never be a re-billing.
c) This means that the current price list at https://www.dream-hosting.co.uk may differ from the pricing and features of the customer's account.
The prices I pays may differ to what someone else pays and what is listed on the web site as they are based on the prices at the time of signing up.

Anyone with consumer law knowledge care to help me out?#

Thank

Darren

fluffnutter

Personally I'm with you on this. Essentially you have a contract with them, the terms of which specifically encouraged you to take out this particular contract, i.e. that the service you've bought is 'for life'.

They've got a clause which effectively says 'we can change your contract at any time'. But the whole point of your selection of this product is this particular feature - it's so intrinsic to your needs and so instrumental in your decision to purchase that to change that feature renders the entire contract void, i.e. they have broken the contract. Just because something's 'written in the contract' doesn't make it fair, nor enforceable.

It's a bit like my buying a telly for £500, the shop saying we reserve the right to change that contract at any point and them sending someone round two years later, taking my telly away and swapping it for a £5 kettle.

Take them to court for breach of contract. (Small claims). Although write to them first, giving them 14 days to reinstate your 'for life' address actually 'for life' this time, advising that it's the small claims court if they don't.