Cancel T-mobile Direct Debit -- a good idea?

sdmolloy

Hi,
We are leaving the country soon, and we will not be returning for many years (if at all!), and I would like to cancel my T-mobile contract.

I still have quite a while remaining on the contract (almost a whole year left), and T-mobile want me to pay the full remaining charges on my contract (over 300 pounds!) in order to cancel.

I think this is pretty ridiculous, and have written to them to say so. I don't mind paying a fee to break a contract, but asking for full charges is outrageous.

While I wait for their answer, I am strongly considering cancelling my Direct Debit with them, and I was wondering if this was a wise idea. Since I won't be in the country, would this be a good way to force them to negotiate (since they won't be able to get to me!) ?

coolesticeking

You agree to a contract of a certain length say 18/24 Months so the networks know they are going to get a set amount of cash and give you a subsidised handset (most of the time for free) and you think you can just get away without paying what is remaining?

Lets turn this the other way around.. Your friend needs a little loan desperately and you agree and tell them you can pay it back every month for the next 18 months.

Would you be happy if they move abroad and think 'sod ya' and not pay you the remainder. Would you be happy being out of pocket?

You *can* do what you say - but if you come back without paying up in full you will find they will default you and no doubt put GAIN Markers on your credit file. If all goes belly up abroad and you find you need credit back in the UK up to six years later, you will find it difficult or impossible to obtain further credit.

It's up to you!

grumbler

This is not ridiculous. It is ridiculous to get a free/discounted phone from the network under the condition of paying them N*£XX.00 and then to get away with the phone paying just a small fee.
The cancellation fee is the total fee for all the remaining months. It is the same for all networks and is in the T&C that you accepted. Also it is approved by the watchdog(s).

Cancelling the DD is a good idea if you don't care about your credit history. I don't think this will help with negotiating. They just will routinely sell the debt to debt collectors.

sdmolloy

Hmm.. I get the impression I've annoyed a few users here. Sorry about that.

The choice they are offering me is to continue to pay my usual monthly installments for a phone I cannot use, or to pay *exactly* the same amount of money in order to cancel the contract. This is no choice at all.

What I expected to happen was that I would have to pay the equivalent of the usual charge for a month or two in order to break the contract, and to have to return the phone. This seems reasonable to me.

It really does not seem reasonable to offer me the choice of two options, each of which would require me to pay the same amount of money.

On many other threads throughout this forum, we are advised to negotiate hard with mobile phone companies when arranging contracts or phone upgrades. The advice is usually to use whatever power we have at our disposal (normally the ability to walk away to another company). My thinking was to do the same here (i.e., not simply to disappear, but to force them to negotiate.).

Sorry if my suggestion has annoyed people.

grumbler

sdmolloy wrote: »

What I expected to happen was that I would have to pay the equivalent of the usual charge for a month or two in order to break the contract, and to have to return the phone. This seems reasonable to me.

This would be reasonable if it was a rolling sim-only contact without a fancy handset thrown in.

The longer the contract, the more (handset, minutes, texts etc.) you are geting for the same price and the more costly it is to get out. If you don't like it, use PAYG.

It really does not seem reasonable to offer me the choice of two options, each of which would require me to pay the same amount of money.

Well, consider this as one option if it makes any difference.

baza52

sell the handset and put the money towards paying the contract off.

sdmolloy

grumbler wrote: »

If you don't like it, use PAYG.

Or, if I don't like their proposal, then I could negotiate with them?

But I guess my original question -- should I cancel my DD as part of the negotiations -- has been answered. You guys are pretty clear that you don't like it.

Thanks for your time.

gjchester

sdmolloy wrote: »

On many other threads throughout this forum, we are advised to negotiate hard with mobile phone companies when arranging contracts or phone upgrades. The advice is usually to use whatever power we have at our disposal (normally the ability to walk away to another company). My thinking was to do the same here (i.e., not simply to disappear, but to force them to negotiate.).

Sorry if my suggestion has annoyed people.

It's not annoyance at you it's the fact it happens a lot here...

What do you have to negotiate for?

You signed up for XX months at £yy, you have to see that through it was in the contract terms and consitions when you signed up, but you may have not read them, or may have not considered the move at the time you signed.

You have nothing to negotiate with, you are not in a position to walk away as you have a contract in place that you have not hit the minimum term on. Even if you negotiate with them at the start of the contract over the deal, once the contract is signed theres not a lot more you can do. You signed up to a minimum term and need to stay with them for at least that time. Once you reach that point then you can re-negotiate terms but before that you can't.

grumbler

sdmolloy wrote: »

Or, if I don't like their proposal, then I could negotiate with them?

You can negotiate before signing the contract. Then you have to follow the contract that you signed or you can use it to your advantage if you think that the other part breaks the contract in some way.

If you think that there is something illegal in the contract you signed you can challenge this.

gjchester

sdmolloy wrote: »

You guys are pretty clear that you don't like it.

Its your choice but generally cancelling the direct debit won't cancel the contract, just put it in arrears and lead to gredit issues later.

You'll get not paid marks on your credit file at the least... Does this affect you, depends how long you plan to be outside the UK, they'll dissappear after 6 years but you may be back in the UK before that.

irishjohn

Hi - I think the answer was that you can go ahead and cancel the direct debit but that could have consequences for you in the future - if something unexpected happens. Just like you didn't realise when you took out the contract that you would not be able to use it for the whole period as you were moving abroad.

Therefore the answer is that its possible but not the greatest idea to do so.

The other point the guys are trying to make is that trying to force them to a negotiation point you find more favourable by stopping the DD is not particularly honourable and rather reflects on your integrity as a decent person. You may however think otherwise and feel its your right to reneague on contracts you willingly accepted. The world of commerce is one where profit rules over sentiment.