How to dodge the 30 day cancellation notice with Orange contracts

blueperil

Silk wrote: »

Interesting !!!
Why did you delete the above post ????

because hopefully the one I've replaced it with makes it easier to understand.

Silk

blueperil wrote: »

not where I got it from, but may well have been used there.

Sorry to say it;s exactly where you got it from as the google link shows only 3 sites which now includes MSE of course
http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&tbo=d&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=%22no+notice+to+quit+is+necessary+where+the+contract+of+tenancy+specifies+the+term+or+event+upon+which+the+tenancy+is+to+determine%22&rlz=1R2ADFA_enGB458&oq=%22no+notice+to+quit+is+necessary+where+the+contract+of+tenancy+specifies+the+term+or+event+upon+which+the+tenancy+is+to+determine%22&gs_l=hp.3...2843.7031.1.7453.3.3.0.0.0.0.157.157.0j1.1.0.les%3B..0.0...1c.1.2.hp.URxHqrPpnUk&psj=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.42080656,d.d2k&fp=1b4ac299422b808f&biw=1024&bih=600

The document as you call it is a book by the way, Woodfalls Law Of Landlord And Tenant published 1802 remodeled 1830 and published the 13th edition 1886

blueperil wrote: »

fixed term here and in the document you glanced refers to the same contract your daughter had, one where it will roll onto a monthly contract if the tenant doesn't leave. (same as the one you told me I don't give out)

Do you understand the difference between Fixed and Minimum term ?
If it's "fixed term" the tenant has to leave unless a new contract is taken out.

John_Gateshead

I've found Orange's customer service appalling (web site where almost everything is extremely difficult or impossible to find, and a call centre that seems designed to raise the customer's blood pressure). I was given no "small print" when I signed up and naively assumed that my service with them would end at the "Contract end date". When I said to the person at the call centre that being expected to give 30 days notice on a contract with a specific end date didn't make sense to me, she started to get quite shirty.

Anyway, I've got my PAC code and have requested unlocking of the phone and am hoping to leave Orange with no further hassle (probably going to Tesco Mobile). However, I've read lots of reports that Orange frequently don't unlock the phone within the promised 20 days. As they say the phone becomes the customer's property if they pay their bills, isn't this illegal?

I see no reason why unlocking a phone should take more than about a week anyway but, if they don't do it in 20 days, there's a rapidly increasing chance that the PAC code will expire before the customer can switch. That leaves me with the expensive choice of buying a new phone or remaining longer with Orange - particularly infuriating as they charge £20.41 to unlock a phone which (they admit themselves) is the customer's property! To complicate things further, I'm going to the USA next month and need a phone (like my current S3) that will work over there.

grumbler

John_Gateshead wrote: »

I've found Orange's customer service appalling (web site where almost everything is extremely difficult or impossible to find, and a call centre that seems designed to raise the customer's blood pressure). I was given no "small print" when I signed up and naively assumed that my service with them would end at the "Contract end date". When I said to the person at the call centre that being expected to give 30 days notice on a contract with a specific end date didn't make sense to me, she started to get quite shirty.

Yes, EE are appalling, but in this respect they are no different from any other provider. There is no any "Contract end date". All contracts have minimum term and go on forever until get cancelled by a customer or a network.
What have you signed if not the contract? If it was online you are always given a link to the T&C and a tick box to confirm that you agree to them.

However, I've read lots of reports that Orange frequently don't unlock the phone within the promised 20 days. As they say the phone becomes the customer's property if they pay their bills, isn't this illegal?

Where do they say this? The phone is your property form the very start and, unfortunately, there are no any legal requirements for networks to unlock the phones.

I see no reason why unlocking a phone should take more than about a week anyway but, if they don't do it in 20 days, there's a rapidly increasing chance that the PAC code will expire before the customer can switch.

Nothing stopped you from requesting unlocking earlier.

That leaves me with the expensive choice of buying a new phone or remaining longer with Orange - particularly infuriating as they charge £20.41 to unlock a phone which (they admit themselves) is the customer's property!

Yes, it's your property and you can sell it locked at a smaller price.

John_Gateshead

grumbler wrote: »

Yes, EE are appalling, but in this respect they are no different from any other provider. There is no any "Contract end date". All contracts have minimum term and go on forever until get cancelled by a customer or a network.
What have you signed if not the contract? If it was online you are always given a link to the T&C and a tick box to confirm that you agree to them.

Where do they say this? The phone is your property form the very start and, unfortunately, there are no any legal requirements for networks to unlock the phones.

Nothing stopped you from requesting unlocking earlier.
Yes, it's your property and you can sell it locked at a smaller price.

I have to plead ignorance. I shouldn't have signed the sheet (which is just a summary of dates, talk plan and phone details), as it says at the top "I agree I will be bound by the Orange terms and conditions, a copy of which I have been provided with", and I'm pretty sure they didn't give me this.

On the unlocking, again, a company that exploits the customer's ignorance. Having read that unlocking phones is perfectly legal, I was under the impression that almost anyone could unlock it for me, and that this would be a quick and simple operation.

NFH

John_Gateshead wrote: »

However, I've read lots of reports that Orange frequently don't unlock the phone within the promised 20 days. As they say the phone becomes the customer's property if they pay their bills, isn't this illegal?

If they take longer than the promised timescale or more than 30 days, then they are breaching Regulation 19 of the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 and you would be entitled to a refund, although you should wait until the phone is unlocked before demanding a refund, given that unlocking is pretty much irreversible.

not_invented_here

grumbler wrote: »

There is no any "Contract end date". All contracts have minimum term and go on forever until get cancelled by a customer or a network.

Funny, I wonder why when I log into the EE My Account page it says
"Contract ends: [date]".
And on the My EE app it says
"Contract end date: [date]".
That all sounds a lot like my contract ends on that date. I'd check the T&Cs of my contract but the link on the My Account page goes to an error page :doh:

grumbler

It would be interesting to hear what they say if you complain about this obviously misleading information.