Notice Period Charge on TMobile

fasteasyfree

I began a 30-day rolling contract in January after my previous 18 month contract came to an end. The monthly contract was for roughly £13pcm.

On the 28th of June I ported my number to GiffGaff. I received my final bill a couple of days ago that stated I owed them ~£20. A Notice Period Charge of £24.xx and a rebate of £4 for what I assume was ending my contract part-way through the month.

I sent TMobile an email refuting the charge, and received the following back (the actual mail was more lengthy, this is the meat):

I've checked your account and can see that you have cancelled your contract by porting out your number on 28 June 2012.

When you port out in either the last 30 days of your contract or outside of commitment, we apply a "notice period charge" to your final bill to ensure you always pay for the next 30 days. Your terms and conditions say that you must always give us 30 days' notice to cancel your contract. That applies whether you are in a commitment, or not. For this reason, you're charged notice period charge on your final bill.

If you still like to dispute this charges, please call us and speak to our Billing Team and they'll assist you further.

Does anyone know what is meant by the 'to ensure you always pay for the next 30 days' nonsense?

When I requested the PAC, at no point was I told that I would be charged for using the PAC within 30 days.

I know that it's 'only £20', but it's the principle of the matter. The monthly contract was for only £13, and you can't say in all seriousness that clicking a few buttons on the computer leads to administrative costs of £24.

Am I right to challenge this charge? I've cancelled my direct debit so there can be no 'oops, we took the money anyway!' mistakes. What are the implications of fighting this?

Thanks to everyone who reads this.

buscape

T-Mobile are known for this:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3955191
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3806015

When did you request your PAc? When did you port your number out? What date did your rolling contract start on?

fasteasyfree

I requested my PAC on, I think, the 27th of June. I received it promptly and gave it to GiffGaff to port my number across.

I'm not entirely sure what date the contract started on, I'll have a check when I get home.

Thank you!

buscape

The charge is correct then. When you request a PAC you have to pay for the next 30 days regardless of when you use it.

If you'd given giffgaff your PAC on the 25th or 26th June, there would have been no charge.

fasteasyfree

buscape wrote: »

The charge is correct then. When you request a PAC you have to pay for the next 30 days regardless of when you use it.

If you'd given giffgaff your PAC on the 25th or 26th June, there would have been no charge.

If I have to pay for the next thirty days, why is it £24 and not £13?

Buzby

It will probably be based on your BILLING dates, so that it will be counted from when the number ceased on their network, to the billing date FOLLOWING 30 days.

It goes without saying you need to plan this carefully, by only porting in the last week so that you do not go into the following month. As you will be billed for this, it is then rebated when the account closes.

fasteasyfree

Buzby wrote: »

It will probably be based on your BILLING dates, so that it will be counted from when the number ceased on their network, to the billing date FOLLOWING 30 days.

It goes without saying you need to plan this carefully, by only porting in the last week so that you do not go into the following month. As you will be billed for this, it is then rebated when the account closes.

Then why would they refund the unused time on my contract for the remainder of the month?

My issue is that I was not informed of the charge on requesting my PAC and closing my account. I was told of the 30 day notice in a letter, *after* I had used the PAC.

fasteasyfree

Also, from the terms and conditions:

7.2. Your termination rights

7.2.1. You can give Us notice to terminate this Agreement, to take effect on or after the end of the Minimum Term. However (except as set out in point 7.2.3) if, in our total discretion, We accept notice from You to terminate this Agreement within the Minimum Term, You will have to pay Us a Cancellation Charge. You can terminate this Agreement without having to pay Us a Cancellation Charge after the Minimum Term has ended.

7.2.2. You can only give Us notice to terminate this Agreement by calling customer services. Your Agreement will terminate 30 days from when We receive Your call, although You are free to change Your mind and call Us to withdraw Your notice of termination at any time during that period. You will be responsible for all Charges up to and including the date that this Agreement terminates.

There is nothing about a charge for not giving thirty days' notice. The rest is about them terminating, or terminating within the minimum term.

Also, quoting from my original post it states that the charge is to ensure I pay for the thirty days. Again, if it's to ensure I pay, why is it not the same amount as my monthly bill prior to cancellation?

Quoting directly from the letter itself:

You terms and conditions say that you have to give us 30 days' notice to end your contract with us. That notice started when you called us to request your PAC code and it will end 30 days later, so your final bill for that number will include your price plan charge for this 30 day notice period.

Where have they plucked this £24.67 figure from?

fasteasyfree

Also (I know, I'm going on....), if I haven't used my phone since swapping the PAC, how could I have incurred any charges?

OneADay

fasteasyfree wrote: »

Where have they plucked this £24.67 figure from?

With T-mobile they have been charging 30 days extra line rental (as its indicated in their T&C).

If you give exact details - your monthly line rental and the monthly bill date, someone could work where they are getting £24 odd figure from which may or may not include usage outside of your monthly allowance (but no way of telling if you don't give details).

But in my experience with t-mobile when coming to porting out with PAC code, they have normally added an extra month line rental on - because its their T&C. I managed to get money back for the extra month line rental by complaining (politely speaking to complaints) twice.

fasteasyfree

The monthly billing date is the the 26th-28th

Monthly line rental is £13.19.

In addition for my final bill:

Mins & Texts refund for 29/6/12 to 10/7/12 = -£4.40 (£5.28 inc. VAT)
Notice Period Charge = £24.67
Total to be paid on or around 20/7/12

I just can't understand where they get the figures from.