BEWARE T-Mobile early termination fee when useing pac code...

£note

I too have been stung with a so called "Early Termination Fee" when cancelling my contract with T-Mobile and following an ultimately fruitless 90 minute phone call with CS recently I wrote a letter of complaint. As you will see from the reply I got back today, I've been successful in getting the charge refunded but I still don't understand their justification for applying it. According to the letter I was charged an additional fee of £25.60 because I requested a PAC 30 days prior to the end of my contract and according to the writer I needed to wait until my minimum term end date to request a PAC in order to avoid this charge, such an action would then trigger an additional charge for an extra 30 days notice period. This explanation would suggest to me, unless I’m missing something obvious, that its impossible to leave this provider with a PAC without incurring a penalty charge of one kind or another. I've never encountered this with any other network…confused!!
[IMG][/img]

corum_uk67

£note - your absolutely right, from the experiences of a growing number of people it does seem almost impossible to end a contract with t-mobile without them (in one way or another) picking your pockets on the way out lol.

trinidadone - glad you got it sorted in the end, good luck with getting your phone unlocked!

trinidadone

corum_uk67 wrote: »

£note - your absolutely right, from the experiences of a growing number of people it does seem almost impossible to end a contract with t-mobile without them (in one way or another) picking your pockets on the way out lol.

trinidadone - glad you got it sorted in the end, good luck with getting your phone unlocked!

thankyou, the phone should of been unlocked last week Monday, but t mobile is dragging with this. once this is completed I am finally rid of this company.

One thing I have noticed with this company, EVERYONE gets charged a Early Termination Fee which is shocking.

ohit

Thank you very much for your posting the letter that you received. I am on the phone to T-mobile now about a similar charge on my terminating account.

Could you please share what your complaint letter stated?

ohit

Speaking to T-Mobile on the phone was useless.

Call has been escalated for bill to be recalculated.

Was advise to go online or write a letter to complain.

I certainly was not told about the penalty when I asked for my PAC code. I even specifically asked that there would be no extra charge. There is even a previous phone call where the customer service person advised me to call back the week after to avoid a penalty charge.

Looking for guidance on what to write in a complaint letter, from those who got the charge successfully refunded.

Thanks

£note

ohit wrote: »

Thank you very much for your posting the letter that you received. I am on the phone to T-mobile now about a similar charge on my terminating account.

Could you please share what your complaint letter stated?

Sent you a PM.

nzpod

HI all,

I have had a similar problem £26.93

-contract expiring on 13/2.

-called up on 13/1 to give 30day notice and get port number.

-port number was only valid unlit 11/2...so there was no way I could not terminate early if I wanted to leave on the exact date my contract ended. !!!!!!?

-Charged £26.93 "early termination fee" but as soon as I saw that I cancelled my DD. Thank god. I was so !!!!ed. Spent near 1 hour on the phone with some b**ch in retentions.

-So I called them and paid what I actually owed for the month by Credit card and got another PAC code on 18/1. There were going to process a billing query for the termination fee. No call back about that. Typical.


-Another port number on 18 jan and left t mobile on 17 Feb.
- But hit with ANOTHER early termination fee. for £21.00. So TOTAL £53 termination fees.

Thankfully left on 17/2.They have no banking details on me for no way they are getting the money!

Any advice on them collecting it? Should I challenge it or just leave it? and wait for them to contact me?

Surely we should group and complain to someone somewhere? This is ridiculous.

Cheers

trinidadone

nzpod wrote: »

HI all,

I have had a similar problem £26.93

-contract expiring on 13/2.

-called up on 13/1 to give 30day notice and get port number.

-port number was only valid unlit 11/2...so there was no way I could not terminate early if I wanted to leave on the exact date my contract ended. !!!!!!?

-Charged £26.93 "early termination fee" but as soon as I saw that I cancelled my DD. Thank god. I was so !!!!ed. Spent near 1 hour on the phone with some b**ch in retentions.

-So I called them and paid what I actually owed for the month by Credit card and got another PAC code on 18/1. There were going to process a billing query for the termination fee. No call back about that. Typical.


-Another port number on 18 jan and left t mobile on 17 Feb.
- But hit with ANOTHER early termination fee. for £21.00. So TOTAL £53 termination fees.

Thankfully left on 17/2.They have no banking details on me for no way they are getting the money!

Any advice on them collecting it? Should I challenge it or just leave it? and wait for them to contact me?

Surely we should group and complain to someone somewhere? This is ridiculous.

Cheers

hey,

similar experience to you, but some differences too.

Like you my contract ended on 13th February. Like you, I contacted T-Mobile/EE and gave them 30 days notice. like you I received my PAC code on the phone, and in writing a few days later.

My billing cycle WAS usually around the 15th of each month. I received my bill on 15th Jan, four days after giving the 30 day notice and received, like you ETF. I not even used the PAC code at this point. I did challenged it, and with C/S and this was taken off.

Like you, my contract ended on 13th Feb, but the PAC code ended on 11th Feb. I transferred my number on 11th Feb to a new provider.

I did not get any additional fees. I received my "FINAL" bill a few days later, with a line rental credit from 11th Feb - 13th Feb.

I don't know if I was lucky, but you should challenge the ETF, I think the company applies it automatically in your next bill

amf

My contract is up on 29 April. I'm thinking of the best way to minimise problems leaving TM. Should I call and give notice on 30 March, requesting my PAC at the same time? Since the PAC is only valid for 28 days I'd need to port by 27 April at latest.

Or do I need to give notice? Would asking for my PAC and using it within the 28 days not effectively be the same as giving notice?

thefirs

amf wrote: »

My contract is up on 29 April. I'm thinking of the best way to minimise problems leaving TM. Should I call and give notice on 30 March, requesting my PAC at the same time? Since the PAC is only valid for 28 days I'd need to port by 27 April at latest.

Or do I need to give notice? Would asking for my PAC and using it within the 28 days not effectively be the same as giving notice?

No simple answer to this. T-mobile will give you grief whatever you do, and it all depends on your resolve and willingness to confront, or to pay as little as possible for a less stressful experience.

My order of service would be:

Confrontation:
1. 31 March is the operative date for a port out on 29 April but give yourself at least an extra day to allow for hiccups, so request it 1 April giving a PAC expiry of 30th.
2. You will probably be advised of the ETF and this is calculated as the remaining proportion of a month to end of minimum contract period, less VAT. You'll then be told (incorrectly) that you can avoid this by waiting until 29 April before requesting a pac. What they really mean is that they'll get an extra month of rental if you do it like that.
3. Challenge the validity of this as you don't intend to port until 29 April, but you're unlikely to get an agreement to waive it. Ask for a note to be put on the record that you dispute it.
4. Give your new network the pac by 28th latest. Make the request in the morning as there are cutoff times on some networks. Porting should occur 29th, or 30th latest.
5. If you've had a bill with the ETF in the meantime, call T-mobile to dispute it as per multiple posts above, or await final bill, and then dispute.

Easy life:
1. What's your line rental? If it's over £12, call t-mobile per Hooloovoo's PAYG suggestion. That way you'll cap the charge @ £10.
2. If under £12, the ETF will be less than £10, so proceed as above, but resigning yourself to the charge.