Help Buymobiles.net claims i owe them money.

Silk

custardy wrote: »

Yes,but how did Buymobiles find out? No doubt T Mobile have a contract that allows them to recover/not pay commission.

I would imagine it was when Buymobiles realised that commission was not being paid against the account.


I would write back asking why the cost has gone up and how they calculate an 18 month old Xperia Z is being costed.


Meanwhile drop Trading Standards a line, might as well start making life difficult for them

robbies_gal

even though it seems to be in their terms its ridiculous! you might aswell not pay the network if the reseller is going to charge u!

Herongull

Do you actually have a contract with Buymobiles? Or is it only with the network?

If the contract is with the network, then I find it difficult to believe anything in the fine print of Buymobiles T&C would be enforceable?

Suppose you buy some flights through an online travel agent and suppose you subsequently changed the flight (and paid the airline for the privilege) but it turned out that in the fine print of the travel agent website it said you have to pay them £1000 if you change your flight, that would never be enforceable.

Any website could have anything in their fine print eg charges of £100 just for visiting a website.

grumbler

Herongull wrote: »

Do you actually have a contract with Buymobiles? Or is it only with the network?

How is this different from common cashback/redemption deals that were proven to be legally enforceable (in the opposite direction though)?

Herongull

Because of consumer protection laws.

Unfair terms in contracts etc etc

See: http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/problem/i-think-theres-an-unfair-term-in-my-contract-what-can-i-do-

This term in the T&C looks very unfair and I suspect a court would agree with me. I also suspect the BuyMobiles know this and won't want it to go to court.

grumbler

In your previous post you questioned the existence of the contract, not the fairness. Many people seem to have agreed already that it's unlikely that the company will be able or will even try to enforce this contract in a court.

parttimeskint

I'm sorry but I bet the OP was happy with the T & C a year ago when he was getting a £400 phone for free and cheaper than he would through the actual network. I don't know if the company is any good or not, but these companies make their income through active subscriptions with the mobile companies. Paying off the network early doesn't pay off the contract with buymobiles, it terminates it early as they stop receiving payment. In which case you pay for the phone if you want to keep it,which they supplied for free, or send it back.


It is practically a higher purchase agreement where you have not reached the final payment date. The fact you weren't paying them anything is immaterial (the network were). As the full term wasn't reached the hired equipment needs to be returned or paid for in full.


I would argue its value, but the phone belongs at this time to buymobile not the OP

Herongull

But the phone wasn't free. Part of the contract payment goes towards the phone and part of it goes towards the allowance of calls. texts, and data, but it is all bundled together to make it difficult to see how much the phone actually costs, other than by comparing with sim only contracts.

The OP didn't default, they paid off the remainder of the contract in one go and this means they have paid for the phone.

parttimeskint

It wasn't an O2 refresh contract as far as I'm aware. The OP was paying the network for the airtime only. The network paid for the hired purchase of the handset. By paying off the contract early the handset is no longer being paid for by the network and so buymobiles are now at a loss as they probably haven't even recouped the cost of the handset yet.


What the OP has is a hire purchase agreement, not a credit agreement. The phone isn't his until payments have been received for the full term of the contract. The OP didn't pay off buymobiles he paid his network provider. As the network provider are now no longer paying for the hire purchase agreement the goods need to be returned.


The fact the OP wasn't paying for it directly is not relevant, the hire purchase agreement was between the OP and buymobiles and the T & C are pretty clear, enforceable, and common for any hire purchase agreement. They probably wouldn't go to court over it, they would send it to a debt collection agency though.


The OP should argue the value or even make an offer as he can't actually send it back. if a new one is £299 as stated earlier, he shouldn't be paying any more than that anyway

Herongull

But if you read the T&Cs you will see that it is most definitely not a hire purchase agreement, and OP owns the phone from day 1.

There is no suggestion anywhere of it being hire purchase and no suggestion anywhere of Buymobiles retaining ownership of the phone.

The agreement is clear that the OP is getting a contract phone.

However there is a strange clause buried in the fine print that says that if the OPs downgrades or ends his contract early, he must return his phone to them or else pay them a sum of money. But if the contract has been paid off and the legal owner of the phone (from day 1) is OP this is unlikely to be enforceable.