cancelling cash back deal

25ben

has anyone cancelled a cash back deal, for example cancelling the direct debit?

what are the consequences?

4$£&*(£$&*(!

Never done this myself, but I'd say a consequence will be no more cash back and you'll be asked to pay any outstanding money until the end of your contract. If they stitched you into a tight offer, it could even be as bad as they'll chase you for any cash you've already received (if any).

One way or another they will chase you for money, I'd look for loopholes instead to see if you can claim the same amount of cash back and lower your line rental (be careful because on my cash back offer it relied me taking a certain tariff to get the cash though, so read the fine print).

rajinder

you can cancel any deal if you are within your 7 days peace of mind return policy. after that u are tied to a minimum contract of either 12 or 18 months

Anon

There are two contracts involved - one with the retailer/cashback and the other with the network. If you stop your direct debit, the mobile phone company will chase you for payment and it can ultimately have a negative effect on your credit rating (as they report to the credit reference agencies) - therefore definitely don't do it! You also will not be able to downgrade for a set amount of time according to your network contract (can be 180 days or more - check).

For cashback, most now say if you downgrade or change AT ALL from the original tariff that you signed up for, you will lose the cashback. Do this too early, a number of the retailers will also reclaim any cashback paid and possibly the cost of the mobile and/or other penalties FROM YOUR CREDIT CARD - this is clearly stated in the appropriate terms and conditions (ie you agreed to them doing this when you signed up - this will be in addition to still having to pay the network for line rental on all months left on the contract, whether you use it or not). The reason why they are so strict (and possibly rightly so) is that if you don't pay your monthly subscription, they can be penalised by the network and have any commission clawed back from them (this may be more or less than your cashback) - in addition, it may adversely affect their relationship with the network which affects the success or otherwise of their business (ie too many of these cancellations and the network could stop supplying them).

So in summary, don't sign/take out a contract unless you have the intention of serving the full term and meeting the contract. Contracts are two way - we rely on them fulfilling the contracts (to supply the mobile phone airtime and to pay any appropriate cashback), they on us (to pay our monthly line rental for 12/18 months plus potentially use other services to increase our spend!).

Anon