Right to cancel mobile phone contract

tasharthur

Hi all, this may be very long winded but I need some help cancelling 2 virgin media mobile contracts, one is 12 months through the contract the other is only 9 months. Problem is i've not been able to use either phone for 10 days. It all started when my husband couldnt contact me on the weekend, when he called it went to voicemail or the call just ended and no texts were being sent, the same with my phone, couldnt phone him or text him. I contacted virgin who said they would send new sim cards, I only received one which I put in my phone as my hubbys was working again, until friday when his sim card was also deactivated, but when i tried to activiate it, it wouldn't work, so called virgin again, who said it was a bad batch of sim cards and they would resend them. well 5 days later and i've still not received them, they wont cancel my contract even though theres a clause in the agreement stating
10.2 Your right to cancel: You may end this Agreement immediately in the following circumstances:
(a) if we break this Agreement in any material way and do not put it right within seven days of you asking us to;
(b) if all of the Services are permanently no longer available to you;
(c) if you do not accept any change that we notify you about in accordance with clause 5.3 and you notify us in accordance with clause 5.4 that you do not accept such change.

Sure I have right under 10.2 (a) to cancel the agreement as the service I pay for is not being provided meaning they have broke the agreement and I have given them 8 days from first contacting them to sort it,

they wont give in, they keep saying the sim cards need more time to turn up! Surely they can't do this, i'm now stuck with 2 phones which are as good as paperweights!

Please help im at a complete loss with virgin!

somethingcorporate

If your dates are accurate I'd suggest you can cancel under the exact term you point to.

I would not expect Virgin CS in the call centres to be well versed in contract law.

You need to put your termination in writing, send it recorded delivery.

heneghj

I worked for Carphone warehouse for 4 years so might be able to help here.

Unfortunatly, if the hardware fails (in this case the sim card) it doesn't count as them not supplying a service. As long as they replace the sim cards which they have attempted to do they in the clear.

I would however push for a partial discount on this months bill, But they wont cancel it.

tasharthur

its not just because the sim card isn't working though, as couldn't make calls or send messages before 1 I changed my sim card as the only received and 2 they cancelled my husbands sim card but wont admit it, one minute it was working and the next it wasnt.

tasharthur

how long would I need to give them then to receive the new sim cards? what is the point in this 7 day nonsence if they wont comply to it?

heneghj

In all honesty your fighting a losing battle arguing with a mobile phone company over cancelling a contract without a very good reason.

In my opinion go to a virgin mobile store and get a new SIM over the counter, they can activate it there and then.

If you are relying on royal mail to solve your issues then your bound to experience delays

tasharthur

12 days later and still have no usuable phones! someone please help, I received 1 sim card yesterday, so thats 2 out of the 6 sim cards they said they'd send and it still dont work, sim not provisioned is the message i keep getting, virgin customer services do not know why it wont work, i waited all evening for a manager to call me last night but they never did which is the second time i've not had a call back! surely I can cancel these now without penalty! its ridiculous! i've cancelled my direct debits and they had the cheek to cancel the accounts when I called to say i will pay it when they are up and running they put the accounts back online, i've spent over £16 in phone calls now to virgin as cant use the free phone number off the mobiles, im stressing right out now!

heneghj

Are you using the sims in the original phones?

I would honestly suggest going into a store and getting them to deal with it in house, they can ring up and get a manual connection done whilst on the phone to the right department

wealdroam

tasharthur wrote: »

...i've cancelled my direct debits...

Oh dear.
You do realise that cancelling a DD does not cancel you contract, don't you?
Prepare yourself for late payment charges, etc.

tasharthur wrote: »

...i've spent over £16 in phone calls now to virgin as cant use the free phone number off the mobiles...

The solution to that really is simple... don't use a mobile phone to call them.
All public phones allow calls to free phone numbers, don't they?

Alternatively, see if you can find a geographical number on SayNoTo0870.