Account termination dispute

dr228

Hi all,

First of all apologies if I have posted this in the incorrect forum or if there is a topic that I've missed where I could have asked this question (mods, feel free to move). In any case, I will try to be brief.

I am currently with a TV/Phone/Internet provider and have encountered a number of issues, resulting in multiple calls for support and several engineer visits. As a result, I decided to cancel my contract with them and served them notice late last month (they have a 30 day notice period).

Earlier this week, their Customer Retention team phoned me and after a lengthy discussion, they offered me a pretty attractive deal, so I agreed to stay on for an additional 12 months.

The very next day, they cut off my services (obviously their mistake) which took an hour on the phone to resolve, as well as sending me some strange emails (saying they'd taken payment for line rental for example – They claim they haven’t). Having been promised that I would be put through to Customer Services by their technical staff, I got cut off.

This led to me calling Customer Services again this morning and telling them that given the additional issues, I had changed my mind and would like to revert to my notice period, cancelling the agreement made earlier this week. I was told that notice would apply again now and that I would have to serve them another 30 days. I queried this with several managers and am now unsure how to proceed.

My main displeasure is that under 'The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013', my understanding is that under regulation 38 (Effects of withdrawal or cancellation on ancillary contracts), I should be entitled to reinstate the original notice period that I had served, effectively reverting to the position I was in prior to the contract being agreed. I would also argue that the company in question are in breach of regulation 10 (Information to be provided before making an off-premises contract), as at no point did their representative mention that my original notice period would be affected, should I choose to cancel (although they did indeed inform me of my right to cancel the agreement and that I would go 'back to how things were').

Given that the company in question are unwilling to budge on this, my main questions are:
1) Am I right to pursue this further, or is my interpretation of the regulation incorrect/have I missed something that would justify their behaviour
2) What are my next steps, as Ofcom seems to have discharged their responsibility to do anything in cases related to billing?

Many Thanks for any opinions.

D

talktalktobt

dr228 wrote: »

Given that the company in question are unwilling to budge on this, my main questions are:
1) Am I right to pursue this further, or is my interpretation of the regulation incorrect/have I missed something that would justify their behaviour

Firstly 'Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013' is only valid on contracts entered into since June 2014. As you entered into a new minimum term and not a new contact this is not valid legislation in your case. I also question its validity in your case more generally

dr228 wrote: »

2) What are my next steps, as Ofcom seems to have discharged their responsibility to do anything in cases related to billing?

I am unsure Ofcom would do anything as long as your provider has compensates you for the lost service at a given rate.

The issue you have here, and is similar to many other gripes posted her is that you were under contract and committed to a new minimum term. This does minimise the rights you have.

I agree that it would be there mistake - it is clear to me that the retention was processed too late to stop the cut-off. If they have compensated you for the loss of service I would say this is fair and you should move on.

If you have not been compensated - call them and ask to be. You will be due the pro-rata payment for your lost services. If you have additional costs (as in calls on you mobile that would be otherwise covered) you would be able to reclaim the cost for these.

dr228

Hi,

Thanks for your response. Just a couple of clarifications:

1) The original contract 'tie in' period is up and I'm just on the same terms. The agreement I reached with the company earlier this week was for another minimum 12 months (and for the provision of slightly different services). Would this not constitute a new contract? They also referred to it as a new contract, although what you say about it just being new terms also makes sense.

2) They cut me off having agreed new terms (ie even if I hadn't agreed to the new terms and tie in period, my notice wasn't up for another 2 weeks). Effectively they made a mistake (and admitted as much on the phone earlier), whilst their customer services also gave me misleading information to begin with (claiming an engineer visit was required when it was configuration at their end). They said they won't reimburse the loss of service as it lasted less than 24 hours and the call was on their free phone number.

robin58

Did you go past any customer service person and ask for their supervisor.?

They tend to have a bit more of a leeway in resolving disputes.

I did this once when i rang up a customer support line. Would not talk to the front line person but asked for a supervisor straightaway.

It did get things sorted but it may not always work.

talktalktobt

dr228 wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks for your response. Just a couple of clarifications:

1) The original contract 'tie in' period is up and I'm just on the same terms. The agreement I reached with the company earlier this week was for another minimum 12 months (and for the provision of slightly different services). Would this not constitute a new contract? They also referred to it as a new contract, although what you say about it just being new terms also makes sense.

It wouldn't have been a new contract as you were still contracted to them at the time. The only way you would be able to get around this is to claim that the operator stated it would be a new contract and you would need to have them listen to the call. If it is Sky you are with - they will do this upon request. Virgin will do it too but you need to be a bit more persistant

dr228 wrote: »

2) They cut me off having agreed new terms (ie even if I hadn't agreed to the new terms and tie in period, my notice wasn't up for another 2 weeks). Effectively they made a mistake (and admitted as much on the phone earlier), whilst their customer services also gave me misleading information to begin with (claiming an engineer visit was required when it was configuration at their end). They said they won't reimburse the loss of service as it lasted less than 24 hours and the call was on their free phone number.

To me it sounds like an honest (but inconvenient) mistake on the part of your provider. If they compensate you for lost service I would say that was fair

Just out of interest - what are you looking for? Is it to leave or are you looking for higher financial compensation? By complaining you may get the former... i doubt you will ever get the latter.