Leaving T-Mobile the right way

R34GTT

Normal bill today generated 11/02/15 and there is an MNP Early Termination Penalty (VAT Exempt) £15.81 on there plus a full month of line rental at £26.20.

I used the PAC on 11/02/15 as my contract end date was 10/02/15 so there is no way the bill generated should have the penalty on it.

I was expecting the line rental charge because at that point T-Mobile don't know when exactly I will use the PAC to terminate the contract.
They really need to fix this error in their billing system. I will be calling up to challenge this charge.

R34GTT

Just called T-Mobile and questioned the charge and without hesitation the adviser says "That's fine I'll get that removed for you".

So the next steps are that I should receive a call or text from T-Mobile within 48 hours telling me what my new recalculated bill should be.

They clearly get this type of call frequently. I find it infuriating that they make customers take action like this for what is obviously a badly designed or intentionally flawed billing system. :mad:

grumbler

As this lasts for years, I am sure the system was designed this way on purpose, not 'badly'/erroneously. Most leaving customers either don't notice the excessive charges or don't have guts to claim them back. Nice little earner and a consolation for losing a customer.

R34GTT

grumbler wrote: »

As this lasts for years, I am sure the system was designed this way on purpose, not 'badly'/erroneously. Most leaving customers either don't notice the excessive charges or don't have guts to claim them back. Nice little earner.

This is the sort of thing Watchdog would get their teeth into isn't it :cool:

Olduserpasswordforgot

I first gave T-mobile my 30 days on 5/2 and the advisor then stated to me did i want my PAC there and then which i questioned following the thread i ready on MSE. advisor stated give the PAC is fine and i would have the use by 27/2 which was my billing date but the 30 days would end on the 5/3 and i should have nominal charge of about £3.

we shall see as i plan on porting the number next week to the new network.

Can someone confirm upon porting the number and only paying upto 27/2 can i challenge the five extra days fees? which they claim will terminate my minimum Term after the 30 days notice

grumbler

Olduserpasswordforgot wrote: »

Can someone confirm upon porting the number and only paying upto 27/2 can i challenge the five extra days fees?

Don't ever believe in anything that 'advisers' tell you. If it's an important information request it in writing or by e-mail/text.
If you gave the notice on the 5th you owe charges for the next 30 days, i.e. until 7/3, even if you use the PAC earlier. Part of this amount was paid in advance - until your next billing date (27/2) to be precise. So, in this case the 'ETC' has to be the pro-rata cost of 28/2-7/3.

R34GTT

Olduserpasswordforgot wrote: »

Can someone confirm upon porting the number and only paying upto 27/2 can i challenge the five extra days fees? which they claim will terminate my minimum Term after the 30 days notice

It will be refunded automatically after your final bill on 27/03/15 as long as you port out after contract end date.

horsepills

My experience of leaving T Mobile recently was that despite doing a load of research and following the process recommended here, they still charged me an extra £20 termination fee.

When I asked them why, the explanation was so mind boggling that I just gave up protesting. To be fair, I just thought "is it worth my energy for the sake of £20?" but I'd love someone to take them to task over their practices.

R34GTT

Update:
I received the text I was promised regarding recalculation of the bill. However it basically said the charges were correct.

So another call to T-Mobile, this time to their 07953966150 number because I've now changed network so can't call 150. Anyway, there was no option to speak to the billing department so I chose to go through to the 'leaving us' option. I explained I'd been told the ETC would be removed but today's text had said otherwise and asked what the problem was. So the adviser went through the notes and said "OK I can see that you didn't port out until after this bill and contract end date" and then manually removed the ETC and so my next Direct Debit will be just a month's line rental of £26.20.

The final bill will be generated on the normal billing date of 11/03/15 after which I will be credited back all the unused days since porting out. This is actually better than I expected because I previously understood I'd have to pay to the end of the notice period but this is not the case. In fact the notice period only exists if you are not using a PAC.

I queried the billing system causing problems for customers in chasing removal of ETCs. The explanation was that eventually I would have been refunded the ETC and unused line rental after the final bill. Well I have no way of knowing if that would have happened but I guess I will take her word for it. So basically she's helped me out by getting the ETC removed now rather than me paying it and being refunded it in the final bill.

TL;DR
For future reference the ETC is calculated by monthly line rental divided by the number of days in the month and multiplied by number of days between PAC request and contract end date. This is added to the following bill plus normal line rental.

After porting out the final bill will refund line rental for days since porting out plus the ETC as long the porting is done after contract end date.

I assume there's no ETC if PAC is requested after contract end date.

What a palava

R34GTT

Update:

Checked my T-Mobile account online and the balance due has been reduced by the £15.81 ETC so my last Direct Debit will just be the month's line rental of £26.20 to be taken on 26/02/15.

Then hopefully a refund of most of this line rental after my final bill is generated on 11/03/15.