Can i cancel my contract? no phone signal in home

backhouse21

Hi,

Question i hope someone can help me with.

I've had my contract for a year now (24month) and have just moved house.

I cannot get a signal at all in my home and outside it only goes up to two bars and still cuts out sometimes when on the phone. I have to physically walk out of my road to get a good signal!

I rang EE (I am with T-Mobile) and they did all their tests and gave me only one option - i need to pay £80 for a signal booster.

Can i just ask them to cancel my contract? Surely they are in breach if they cannot provide me with a phone that i can use to call on inside my own home??

My inlaws are on 02 and dont have this problem when they visit.

Moved in 2 weeks ago now and it is killing me not having phone signal in my home.

Thanks,

grumbler

No, you cannot cancel and they aren't in breach. Read the contract that certainly says that the signal isn't guaranteed everywhere.
During the first days you normally can check the signal and cancel, but now it's not their fault that you moved.

NFH

Why did you sign up for such a long contract if there was a possibility of moving house during the term of the contract?

backhouse21

there wasnt a possibilty. 24 month contract was the only option i had. My wife and I got help to buy our first home from some family members so we decided not to rent anymore and get a mortgage. Moving was the last thing i was thinking of when i got a contract as we hadn't planned to buy somewhere for at least 5 years.

So basically what you're saying is, i have to put up with it or pay them £80?

grumbler

backhouse21 wrote: »

24 month contract was the only option i had.

It's hard to believe.

So basically what you're saying is, i have to put up with it or pay them £80?

Your only options are:

• £80 for the booster,
• switch to another network and keep paying for the useless contract (try negotiating some reduction),
• cancel the contract and pay the termination fee.

backhouse21

ouch, ok. I was hoping that there may be something that says the must provide at least a signal in your home but guess not. thanks all, i have some thinking to do.

NFH

backhouse21 wrote: »

there wasnt a possibilty. 24 month contract was the only option i had.

Not true. All networks offer 1-month and 12-month contracts, even T-Mobile. There's a whole list of them at http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/sim-only/plans/

backhouse21

sorry, i meant only option i had for what i wanted. best price for what i was looking for, just happened to be a 24mth contract.

SteveHenshaw

Yeah no way you can get out of it. But you might be able to get some discount on the signal booster. It's worth a shot especially as they will be able to confirm you moved house via billing address so not like you're pulling a fast one.

NFH

backhouse21 wrote: »

sorry, i meant only option i had for what i wanted. best price for what i was looking for, just happened to be a 24mth contract.

I doubt it. Most 24-month contracts are poor value for money. You end up paying more overall than buying the phone and service separately; you're locked into a high monthly charge when prices are falling for other customers; and your phone will be SIM-locked.

NFH

Find out whether EE had coverage a year ago at your home; they have removed thousands of transmitters recently, creating coverage blackspots that didn't exist before the merger of Orange and T-Mobile. After 15 years with Orange, I'm switching to Giffgaff this week because of bad coverage all over London.

Also beware of the reliability of EE's Signal Boxes or of the service behind them. They often display a red light, indicating no service, until they are rebooted. I have two Signal Boxes at home, and both suffer these symptoms independently of each other at different times. The reason I have two is that the first one had this problem on its own. When I received the second one, I unplugged the first one and the second one likewise had the same problem. I therefore have both of them connected in different parts of the house in an effort to ensure continuous coverage. I should also add that calls will not hand over to a Signal Box, only from a Signal Box. Therefore calls will not hand over between Signal Boxes, but if you start a call at home and walk down the road, the call hands over from the Signal Box to a weak external mast.