EE contract dispute

Ducksauce

Hi guys,

My girlfriend is in a bit of a pickle. She had a contract with Orange and had agreed with them to suspend the contract for the maximum allowed time of 6 months, This was because of commitments where she had to work abroad for 12 months and it was not practical or financially fesable for her to run the contract abroad. However, she had to return to the country after 6 months.

upon her return to the UK, she contacted customer services who had told her they couldnt find her account and they would look into it with their supervisor. She as promised a call back which never happened too! So she went into her local branch who told her the same....the account doesnt exist.

Now fair enough.....no contract you think.....no agreement in place....go look for another you'd think? We would have done until they got in touch with us with a debt letter saying we owed them about £90.

Now am I right in thinking that for them to be unable to find the contract because it "doesnt exist" any more, there is no legal agreement and therefore they cannot "demand" the amount as the contract isnt there and even their customer service advisors had said them very words!?

Anoneemoose

Ducksauce wrote: »

Hi guys,

My girlfriend is in a bit of a pickle. She had a contract with Orange and had agreed with them to suspend the contract for the maximum allowed time of 6 months, This was because of commitments where she had to work abroad for 12 months and it was not practical or financially fesable for her to run the contract abroad.

upon her return to the UK, she contacted customer services who had told her they couldnt find her account and they would look into it with their supervisor. She as promised a call back which never happened too! So she went into her local branch who told her the same....the account doesnt exist.

Now fair enough.....no contract you think.....no agreement in place....go look for another you'd think? We would have done until they got in touch with us with a debt letter saying we owed them about £90.

Now am I right in thinking that for them to be unable to find the contract because it "doesnt exist" any more, there is no legal agreement and therefore they cannot "demand" the amount as the contract isnt there and even their customer service advisors had said them very words!?

It is highly unlikely they couldn't find it (not that I am saying they didn't say that). It may have been the information given to search was not enough. If she had given them the mobile number, it will have shown disconnected which may have led them to believe it was closed completely but they should still have been able to access the account.

I assume the debt collection letter has the account number on? And yes, the agreement does still exist and she will have to pay for it, I'm afraid?

grumbler

Ducksauce wrote: »

Now am I right in thinking that for them to be unable to find the contract because it "doesnt exist" any more, there is no legal agreement and therefore they cannot "demand" the amount as the contract isnt there and even their customer service advisors had said them very words!?

The account possibly doesn't exist because she had it suspended for 6 months, but was missing for 12 and, I guess, DDs failed.

The debt surely exists. So most likely does a default in her credit history.

Ducksauce

She gave them her telephone number, name and postcode which they asked for.

She suspended it for 6 months as that was all she could do. She came home about then too and contacted them but because it was 7 days after the 6 month time frame, her "account had been lost" was their words.... a new number had been generated and they would get back in touch with her if they could find her old number which they didn't.

Anoneemoose

Ducksauce wrote: »

She gave them her telephone number, name and postcode which they asked for.

She suspended it for 6 months as that was all she could do. She came home about then too and contacted them but because it was 7 days after the 6 month time frame, her "account had been lost" was their words.... a new number had been generated and they would get back in touch with her if they could find her old number which they didn't.

If it is not reconnected immediately after the 6 months, it is passed to collections and the number quarantined (put in reserve for another 6 months ish and then recycled)! I think it's part of the terms (although not sure). I know with certainty that they will have been able to see the account - I know exactly how they search for it (unless it's changed but I don't think so). So I think when they've said it was 'lost', maybe they were more referring to the number and wer concentrating on trying to sort that. Or maybe whoever you spoke to thought that that was 'it' as it had been passed to collections. 7 days doesn't seem very long before the pass it over though.

Anyway, I'm rambling...yes she will be liable to pay it...they should however allow a reconnection now you have found the details, so at least she can use what she's been/being charged for.

macman

It is very unusual for any telcoms provider to agree to 'suspend' a contract in the manner you describe. The normal grounds for termination without penalty are death or bankruptcy only: not leaving the country, unless on military service-and the latter is purely at the provider's discretion.
Did she get the 'suspension' confirmed in writing?

Anoneemoose

macman wrote: »

It is very unusual for any telcoms provider to agree to 'suspend' a contract in the manner you describe. The normal grounds for termination without penalty are death or bankruptcy only: not leaving the country, unless on military service-and the latter is purely at the provider's discretion.
Did she get the 'suspension' confirmed in writing?

Orange have always offered a temporary disconnection for up to 6 months for any reason. The time off line gets added to the end of contract date.

d123

Anoneemoose wrote: »

Orange have always offered a temporary disconnection for up to 6 months for any reason. The time off line gets added to the end of contract date.

Is it still offered 'moose? I haven't seen it mentioned for a while (just a curiosity question, not disagreeing with you).

Anoneemoose

d123 wrote: »

Is it still offered 'moose? I haven't seen it mentioned for a while (just a curiosity question, not disagreeing with you).

Yes, it still is but I don't think they're proactive about it now. So my source tells me!