Legal Right to Cancel in Writing

FireWolf_2

Hi all, hope someone can advise.

The Lovefilm T&Cs state:

9.1 Cancellation by you
...
We are unable to accept or guarantee cancellation requests via email or by letter (either posted, or included with returns).

Is this legal? I assumed that companies were legally obliged to accept requests for cancellation of a service in writing?

wealdroam

Well, one thing is certain... they're not consistent.

In their FAQs it says:

How to cancel:

Here’s your step-by-step guide:

Go to your Rental List page – check that no new discs are being sent to you.

Go to your My Account page – check your "next scheduled billing date", to ensure you have enough time to return any discs to us.

Call to cancel free of charge on 0800 091 1514. It should only take 4 minutes and your feedback will help us make LOVEFiLM better in the future.Opening hours Mon to Sun 8am – 12am. If you’re on a mobile, or are unable to connect to freephone numbers, you can call on 020 8631 0020

Return all rental discs to us as soon as possible. We need to receive all discs before your billing date in order to avoid any further subscription fees being debited.

Your account will be fully closed when we receive all the discs back and we will send an email to confirm this.

Now back to your question...

You can always communicate with a company by writing to their Registered Office*, though I cannot think why you would want to do that in this case.



*which you can also find in their T&Cs.

SuperHan

wealdroam wrote: »

Well, one thing is certain... they're not consistent.

Am I missing something? Why isn't this consistent?

Slowhand

SuperHan wrote: »

Am I missing something? Why isn't this consistent?

Lovefilm confirm cancellation by email but don't accept you doing it by email perhaps?

j0nathon2

It used to be if you tried to cancel from your account page, after the hours of normal customer service, it let you cancel online. Not sure if this is the same as this was some years ago.

Doesn't answer your question but is an option if you're trying to avoid the phone call.

wealdroam

SuperHan wrote: »

Am I missing something? Why isn't this consistent?

Section 9.1 of their T&Cs says something different to their FAQs... but it really doesn't make any difference to the OP's question.

FireWolf_2

Thanks for all your responses.

In this specific case I was hoping to avoid a protracted phone call to Lovefilm as, by all accounts, they make concerted efforts to dissuade users from leaving (by offering payment breaks, etc.) and I really don't want to waste time arguing with a call centre operator.

However, I suppose my main question was the broader legal one: can a service provider legally refuse to accept a written cancellation request?