Detrimental Contract changes - can I void?

WestonDave

Currently on a contract which ends in January. Had been looking around because my phone is struggling with battery life (it predates the contract) but in order to change would have to pay off the balance of the contract. Fair enough.

Yesterday I get a text from the network saying that they are turning off paper billing (which I have always had as part of the contract) but if I still want it I have to pay £1.50 per month - which is clearly worsening my terms (assuming that paper billing is something I want).

Now I know that with energy contracts, if the supplier changes the terms so that they are worse, that gives you the right to reject them and void the contract within a certain date. Would the same apply here? My thought at the moment is maybe to use this as a bit of leverage to get my current contract terminated early either by moving to another network, or by getting them to move me to a more expensive tariff with a new phone.

(I've then got to decide between a Blackberry, HTC or Samsung but that's all academic if I can't void this contract at the moment).

grumbler

WestonDave wrote: »

Now I know that with energy contracts, if the supplier changes the terms so that they are worse, that gives you the right to reject them and void the contract within a certain date. Would the same apply here?

Generally it would, but you'll struggle to prove that this change is detrimental as you can access your bills online for free.

Long discussion on a similar topic: 3 - charging for text delivery receipts

As a side note, is it a problem just to buy a replacement battery?

WestonDave

Hmm - my tariff however doesn't include free data, so in order to access my bill online from my phone I'd get charged. OK so I could use another means of getting online but that's not really the point.

Anyway - clearly its not going to be an easy sell, so I'll have a think and see if its worth a try on - they can only say no - otherwise I'll just have to put up with it until January.

Re the battery - yes I could, but it would still be an old phone.

simax

They'd expect you to access your bills from a PC - most phones won't allow you to view bills. As an alternative free option is available, there are no grounds to terminate your contract.

Guys_Dad

Sorry, don't agree. The paper bills were part of the integral contract and some people require paper bills for their own purposes - the network don't need to know why.

They now intend to change the monthly rate for the same services that the OP signed up for. Paper billing was one of the services. They now intend to surcharge for that.

Suggest OP continues with his complaint and asks for termination if the change their t&c to his detriment.

MikeWhite

Agree with Guys Dad 100%.

The customer may need to present paper bills to their employer to reclaim expenses, for example.
Now the customer has the expense (small, I know) of printing the bill themselves, if they have a printer.

Mike

OneADay

They are still providing online bills - there is no get out of contract.
If there were, T-mobile would have lost loads of customers by now as they switched to charging for bills back in March 2011.

grumbler

simax wrote: »

As an alternative free option is available, there are no grounds to terminate your contract.

OneADay wrote: »

They are still providing online bills - there is no get out of contract.

Why do you think that all mobile network customers are supposed to have internet access and a computer?

Let's take this to extreme. They start charging for paper bills, but you can get them in their shops for free. Your nearest shop is 10 miles away.

OneADay

grumbler wrote: »

Why do you think that all mobile network customers are supposed to have internet access and a computer?

Let's take this to extreme. They start charging for paper bills, but you can get them in their shops for free. Your nearest shop is 10 miles away.

The bill is not part of the mobile service!
In order to terminate a contract, the service conditions need to change. And change in such a way that the person finds themself at a loss of some percentage (probably about 10% increase in monthly cost).

So the argument about assuming everyone has internet access is weak - but you are welcome to go to court and get a judge to tell you what the service contract is and that billing is not part of the service contract.

WestonDave

OneADay wrote: »

The bill is not part of the mobile service!
In order to terminate a contract, the service conditions need to change. And change in such a way that the person finds themself at a loss of some percentage (probably about 10% increase in monthly cost).

So the argument about assuming everyone has internet access is weak - but you are welcome to go to court and get a judge to tell you what the service contract is and that billing is not part of the service contract.

So a £1.50 charge on a £5 per month contract would be significant then!

OneADay

WestonDave wrote: »

So a £1.50 charge on a £5 per month contract would be significant then!

No because the bill charge is not part of the contract service - i.e. your monthly tariff charge.