TMobile debt collection advice

spacey2012

IF and only IF you are speaking the truth, visit a local solicitor, obtain an Affidavit that you did as said and called to serve notice of cancellation.
Send them a copy and an invoice for everything charged from the cut off point had they ended the contract when instructed to do so.
They have no legal right to anything after this cut of point and owe you the money paid.
As said, providing it is true, they do keep records of all phone calls for themselves, when it suits them only.
So in short turn the tables, deal with the phone company and not the fake debt collectors they set up.

alepulp

I think I'll pay and then employ a solicitor to recover the money - sure, I'm out of the money for a while, but at least I've have done my end. Thanks for your advice.

Herongull

If you pay, make sure you say you are doing it Under Protest and Without Prejudice and that you are Reserving All Your Rights and Not Accepting Liability (and any other good phrases that spring to mind).

Not sure you need a solicitor (but if you do want to use one, get one who specialises in these kind of disputes).

AFAIK you don't actually need a solicitor as this would be a dispute case - read the Which? link and anything else you can find on Google on mobile phone disputes.

As well as the dispute process you can also use the small claims court (cost around £30).

alepulp

Account closed - first call:
1) Explained I wanted to pay up to date and close account - explained I was doing so under protest and reserved my rights. Immediate response - will pass you to L&R dept and line went dead.
Interestingly, they didn't ask for phone number and minimal security checks, name and password.
Second call:
2) More thorough check, name, phone number, password and first line of address. Same explanation as above. Paid outstanding amount and had explanation of what would happen, that all was paid and once done I was passed to cancellation dept. Spoke to someone there and she made the change.
Two different calls, two different procedures... T-Mobile are just not professional. Amazing... just amazing.
Now to sort out the dispute - what advice can I follow? Are there standard letters?
Thanks for help again

grumbler

Dispute? I don't think that you need any standard letters.
http://support.t-mobile.co.uk/help-and-support/index?page=html&cat=CONTACTUS

If you have a complaint...



If you feel you have not received a good service from us, find out how to make a complaint or download our Complaints code of practice.

• Making a complaint
• Complaints code of practice

After exhausting the internal procedure you go to CISAS.

oopsadaisydoddle

As you were wanting to disconnect early, did they give you a 'buyout' fee when you called them to pay up to date? And if they did, did you pay the buyout AND any outstanding bills?

grumbler

This is called Early Termination Fee and the OP had left the active DD for any payments due to be taken.

oopsadaisydoddle

grumbler wrote: »

This is called Early Termination Fee and the OP had left the active DD for any payments due to be taken.

I know, just a lot of people know it as a buyout fee. Was only suggesting it as if they did get quoted such a fee and it was debited then that would help OP.

I may be wrong (and apologies if I am) but is there no onus on the customer to check their DD's? I appreciate OP was abroad but T-Mob didn't know that. Obviously we only have OP's side but they didn't mention anything about termination fees and so I just wonder how the conversation actually went.

I know if someone asks me to disconnect them and they're in agreement, then I would always tell them how much it is. As OP didn't refer specifically to this, I just think there may have been a misunderstanding. Not that I'm trying to blame OP, just trying to get a clearer idea.

katejo

alepulp wrote: »

A long story, but hopefully someone will have some advice.
My daughter wanted a new iPhone in August 2010 and there was some time left on her existing contract with T:Mobile. I phoned them and asked how long there was left and they informed me of the time (I think it was 2 months). I asked them to terminate the contract at that point. I left it at that
The next 12 months I spent abroad working and when I came back continued on with my life here. About 2 months ago I went through my direct debits and noticed that T:mobile were still taking money from the account and so I cancelled it.
I received a letter today telling me that they were going to cut off my phone (no worries there) and inform a debt collection agency to collect the money due until the end of contract (neither too worrying since the contract has run its course).
However, there was now a bill to pay from the time I cancelled the Direct Debit and their letter. So I called them. They informed me that there was no record of the initial request, that I should have called rather than just cancel the DD and that now I owed nearly £80 and that they'd send in debt collectors unless I paid up.
I responded that they weren't being fair and the agent proceeded to speak over me until I managed to get some sense out of her - she suggested sending in a complaint via their website.
I think I've covered all relevant facts, but what laws and rights do I have in this case?

Why didn't you just tell her to wait the remaining 2 months until the contract was finished ? It was hardly long to wait. I would like to upgrade my phone but have to wait until next summer.

grumbler

katejo wrote: »

Why didn't you just tell her to wait the remaining 2 months until the contract was finished ? It was hardly long to wait. I would like to upgrade my phone but have to wait until next summer.

The contract doesn't finish, it goes on. The minimum term finishes.
If you are worried about the ETC, then firstly, it's OOT and secondly, you can only guess how expensive (or not) the old contract was.
And finally, as the OP was going abroad it was reasonable to do all this before leaving.