unfair cessation fee on Talkmobile

pyrwo

I had two mobile phone contracts with Talkmobile. On one of the mobiles I have made a number of international calls within a short time period and by doing this my call charges had reached and gone over a kind of chargeable call limit. At that point the operator terminated the service on both phones and sent me termination bills with cessation fees. I have been told by the customer services department that the mobile service has been terminated for operational reasons because I have breached the terms and condition of the contract and I am liable to pay the cessation fees on both contracts. It looks as a cessation fee is calculated as sum of the monthly line-rental charges until the end of the contract’s period.
I feel that it is not right the operator to charge me a cessation fee for the second contract on which I have not made any calls. Would anyone here, on this forum, be able to advise whether I have a good ground to complain and challenge the cessation fee on the second mobile contract?

d123

pyrwo wrote: »

I had two mobile phone contracts with Talkmobile.

On one of the mobiles I have made a number of international calls within a short time period and by doing this my call charges had reached and gone over a kind of chargeable call limit. At that point the operator terminated the service on both phones and sent me termination bills with cessation fees.

I have been told by the customer services department that the mobile service has been terminated for operational reasons because I have breached the terms and condition of the contract and I am liable to pay the cessation fees on both contracts. It looks as a cessation fee is calculated as sum of the monthly line-rental charges until the end of the contract’s period.

I feel that it is not right the operator to charge me a cessation fee for the second contract on which I have not made any calls.

Would anyone here, on this forum, be able to advise whether I have a good ground to complain and challenge the cessation fee on the second mobile contract?

That's a strange way of doing business. Were you in arrears on the account? What was the amount of the excessive calls that were made?

What do the t&c's say with regard to termination?

MrsE_2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4889179

They have a crazy system.

grumbler

pyrwo wrote: »

I have been told by the customer services department that the mobile service has been terminated for operational reasons because I have breached the terms and condition of the contract

Well, ask them what exactly part of the T&C you have broken. I assume that you pay your bills on time and have not missed any.

and I am liable to pay the cessation fees on both contracts.

Again, they can suspend the service until you pay while keeping charging you, but they have no right to demand the advance payment for the remaining months. Ask them to quote the relevant part of the T&C.

I feel that it is not right the operator to charge me a cessation fee for the second contract on which I have not made any calls.

I feel the same. They can suspend the number, but they have no reasons for terminating the contract.

Would anyone here, on this forum, be able to advise whether I have a good ground to complain and challenge the cessation fee on the second mobile contract?

Unless you defaulted you have to challenge termination of both contracts.

oldharryrocks

MrsE wrote: »

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4889179

They have a crazy system.

The OP is discussing Talk Mobile not TalkTalk Mobile a different kettle of fish.

oldharryrocks

Normally they would only suspend your account to start with if you went over your credit limit.

Has your account been suspended before ?

Did they give you the required 30 days notice?

Have you asked them to explain what they mean by operational reasons,and exactly what part of the contract you have broken.

redux

oldharryrocks wrote: »

http://www.talkmobile.co.uk/legal/terms-and-conditions

None of the clauses given as fair reason for them to terminate seem to fit the circumstances suggested in the original post here.

... unless there is something like GSM gateway use associated with obtaining these international calls, which seems a little unlikely given the price of such devices.

The original post seems to say something about a notional credit limit, which isn't mentioned in those terms.

If it was me I'd be looking at their complaints procedure

oldharryrocks

redux wrote: »

If it was me I'd be looking at their complaints procedure

Most definitely all things being equal.

http://media.secure-mobiles.com/talkmobile/pdf/TalkMobile_Code_of_Practice.pdf

pyrwo

Thank you for the unexpected amount of quick replies so far. Below are details about my circumstances and answers to your questions.
•I have always paid my bills in full by DD (direct debit). Normally on both accounts I would never go over the inclusive amount and pay approx £7.70 per month. The amount of excessive international calls made is a bit over £200. The termination bill on the first account with all call charges and cessation fee has been paid by DD on the payment date. The DD due date on the second account is coming very soon and the last bill with the included cessation fee will also be paid.
•Here is how the excessive calls have been made – I have made a DIY system at home where the Talkmobile SIM is inserted into a USB mobile broadband dongle (also known as USB 3G modem) and the dongle is plugged into the home computer. Software allows voice calls to be routed through the Internet, through the home PC and through Talkmobile SIM in the dongle. This was made so relatives could call me on my mobile phone through the Internet instead of making expensive international calls to UK mobile. Unfortunately software vulnerability allowed a hacker to exploit the above-described system and to make those calls.
•I have not received an answer to my question which paragraph of the agreement I have breached. 10 days ago I have been told that my account is currently under review and that the department will contact me within 28 days via letter.
•The service is not temporary suspended. It is disconnected for operational reasons and following investigations my accounts cannot be reconnected.
•My accounts have not been suspended in the past.
•The Talkmobile T&C say something about Credit limit in paragraph 3.10, 3.11 and 3.12.
So I have to admit the DIY system at home, which I have set up, allowed those calls to be made even though I have not wanted or planed it. Initially I was not happy that the call charges were allowed to reach £200 when the call limit had been set to £50. But on a second thought I am glad that it was not allowed the bill to reach thousands of pounds as in some horrible articles about stolen mobile phones.
And I would like to ask again my question, which is probably of a legal nature. Whether I have breached or not the T&C of one Talkmobile contract should that reflect a second contract? Is the operator right to treat those two accounts as associated and not treat them as separate?
Many thanks.

sdduk

pyrwo wrote: »

Thank you for the unexpected amount of quick replies so far. Below are details about my circumstances and answers to your questions.
•I have always paid my bills in full by DD (direct debit). Normally on both accounts I would never go over the inclusive amount and pay approx £7.70 per month. The amount of excessive international calls made is a bit over £200. The termination bill on the first account with all call charges and cessation fee has been paid by DD on the payment date. The DD due date on the second account is coming very soon and the last bill with the included cessation fee will also be paid.
•Here is how the excessive calls have been made – I have made a DIY system at home where the Talkmobile SIM is inserted into a USB mobile broadband dongle (also known as USB 3G modem) and the dongle is plugged into the home computer. Software allows voice calls to be routed through the Internet, through the home PC and through Talkmobile SIM in the dongle. This was made so relatives could call me on my mobile phone through the Internet instead of making expensive international calls to UK mobile. Unfortunately software vulnerability allowed a hacker to exploit the above-described system and to make those calls.
•I have not received an answer to my question which paragraph of the agreement I have breached. 10 days ago I have been told that my account is currently under review and that the department will contact me within 28 days via letter.
•The service is not temporary suspended. It is disconnected for operational reasons and following investigations my accounts cannot be reconnected.
•My accounts have not been suspended in the past.
•The Talkmobile T&C say something about Credit limit in paragraph 3.10, 3.11 and 3.12.
So I have to admit the DIY system at home, which I have set up, allowed those calls to be made even though I have not wanted or planed it. Initially I was not happy that the call charges were allowed to reach £200 when the call limit had been set to £50. But on a second thought I am glad that it was not allowed the bill to reach thousands of pounds as in some horrible articles about stolen mobile phones.
And I would like to ask again my question, which is probably of a legal nature. Whether I have breached or not the T&C of one Talkmobile contract should that reflect a second contract? Is the operator right to treat those two accounts as associated and not treat them as separate?
Many thanks.

OP you say you used your Sim in a dongle
Have you got teething on your mobile contract?
If not then that may be were you are breaking your contract
Unless you have teething on your contract its illegal to use a dongle or modem
You are only aloud to use the internet though your phone not take the Sim out and put it in a dongle.

System

I think the following clauses in the T&Cs covers what you have been doing

4.4. Certain uses of the Services are prohibited and not included in your Tariff. Examples of prohibited uses include without limitation the following; illegal internet based streaming services, non Talkmobile voice or video services over the internet, peer-to-peer file sharing, redirecting television signals for viewing on mobile devices.

and

7.8. Your Talkmobile SIM card and tariff can only be used in the device you received/chose at point of purchase/connection to Talkmobile. The SIM and tariff can only be used in conjunction with current commonly used device technologies and cannot necessarily be used with new technologies that emerge in the future. Your SIM Card and Tariff can only be used in a mobile phone or tablet device. Your SIM Card and/or Mobile Device cannot be used in conjunction with or as a modem, dongle or Mobile Hotspot device unless stated at point of sale. The use of the SIM Card and Tariff is for personal use only and cannot be used for commercial or business purposes.