Early Cancellation

Pinkdebster

Hi everyone

Just after a little advice.

I have decided to cancel my mobile phone Contract early. Long, long story that I won't bore you with but I'm better off cutting my losses.

The Contract is with 3 and I have six months left on the Contract. I believed that I would therefore have pay 6 x monthly charge in order to end the Contract early. However, they have said that I need to pay this amount PLUS an early upgrade fee, although the Contract is being cancelled, not renewed. I have taken out a new, separate Contract with them which has nothing to do with this Contract.

Could some knowledgeable please tell me what the correct amount is? Do you have also have to pay a fee on top of the remaining months in order to cancel?


(Just briefly, because I know someone is bound to ask, the Contract I'm cancelling is because the phone is unusable. It is an Apple iphone which is out of warranty. I have been offered £200 from Mazuma for this phone (despite it being faulty) which would in effect pay off the six months line rental outstanding).

Thank you in advance.

keith1950

Should really only be 6 months minus the vat......don't understand the upgrade bit !

grumbler

Read the Pay Monthly Terms and Conditions

Cancellation Fee:
means, for Pay Monthly Customers, a fee charged if we end the agreement due to your conduct or if you end your agreement within the Minimum Term.
The fee is set out in the Price Guide and is calculated as a lump sum equivalent to the total of the Monthly Charges remaining during the Minimum Term of your agreement less a discount of: (i) 3% for new connecting customers who are in the first Minimum Term of their agreement with us; or (ii) 10% for existing customers that have upgraded or renewed their existing contract with us for a further, subsequent Minimum Term.

Next time when some idiot from the CS tries to mess with you, simply quote them the T&C.
And don't forget, that you pay in advance for at least half of a month, that makes the actual cancellation fee smaller.

macman

But you are not upgrading. You are cancelling early. The fact that you are taking a new contract as well is incidental.
But I fail to see how cancelling 6m short is 'cutting your loses'. You'd have paid the same over the next 6m, rather than a lump sum upfront now, and had the use of the phone, if you'd seen the contract out. That would not prevent you selling on the handset any time you wish to.

Herongull

Why don't you just buy/borrow another phone and put the sim into that and see out the contract? You can still sell the broken one.

Pinkdebster

Thank you for your advice. This is exactly what I thought. The reason I cancelled early was simply because I was unable to use the phone. The phone wouldn't hold a charge and Apple confirmed the phone was beyond repair. I had already paid out over £50 for a new battery which failed to work. The only way I could use the phone was to have it plugged it which kind of defeated the object of "mobile". Apple told me they would provide me with a replacement at a cost of £200.

I'm going to back to 3 to challenge them - again, thank you all for your help.

Edited......Having been offered the money from Mazuma, I just decided to cut my losses and start again. I knew I would be liable for the remainder of my Contract and was happy to pay that - I just didn't get the "early upgrade" part.

grumbler

Pinkdebster wrote: »

Thank you for your advice. This is exactly what I thought. The reason I cancelled early was simply because I was unable to use the phone. The phone wouldn't hold a charge and Apple confirmed the phone was beyond repair. I had already paid out over £50 for a new battery which failed to work. The only way I could use the phone was to have it plugged it which kind of defeated the object of "mobile". Apple told me they would provide me with a replacement at a cost of £200.

If it's just a faulty battery, it costs much less to replace: http://support.apple.com/kb/index?page=servicefaq&geo=United_Kingdom&product=iphone&select=BATTERY_REPLACEMENT


Also, instead of cancelling the contract and wasting money on cancellation, you can keep using it with any other 3g-capable phone. Very decent smartphones are available for less than £100 and very good are available for a little more.

And, be prepared that after Mazuma receive your phone they (like all similar companies) will use every excuse to pay you less than they offered originally.

So, most likely you are increasing your losses, not cutting them.

Buzby

keith1950 wrote: »

Should really only be 6 months minus the vat......don't understand the upgrade bit !

And your basis for this erroneous supposition? VAT remains chargeable.

grumbler

Buzby wrote: »

VAT remains chargeable.

Maybe it remains (who cares?), but some networks (not '3') don't charge it and explicitly show this in the final bill.

Silk

It may be the contract you are canceling was an early upgrade, in which case you would owe for the period that was outstanding at the time.

keith1950

Quote:
Originally Posted by keith1950
Should really only be 6 months minus the vat......don't understand the upgrade bit !
And your basis for this erroneous supposition? VAT remains chargeable.

I found out when I cancelled a couple of contracts years ago.

A Vodafone manager told me that, as VAT is charged on goods and services, then when that service is cancelled ,VAT is not chargeable as they are no longer providing the service !