Contract min term ended long ago, O2 kept charging

Whumpie

I think this must be a common problem, but I've not found anything on here about it so I'd like some feedback from anyone with experience with trying to resolve the issue.

The 18-month minimum term on my wife's contract with O2, it has turned out, expired over two years ago. Since then she's been paying the £35 a month that included paying for the phone. that means she's paid £500 over the odds since then when she should have switched to SIM Only.

A quick plea: PLEASE don't bother to type about how it's her fault and she should check it and blah, blah. :doh: Legally, that's obvious. Morally, it's the opposite.

I firmly believe that O2 and other companies use this open-ended contract approach knowing that few will bother to send a snail-mail letter to them a month before their contract expires, to cancel. Most will either phone up to put a new contract in place, or - as in this case - will forget and leave it running. This case may set a new record for how long the situation runs on for - but no doubt these companies make millions a year from this and other 'not-quite-foul-of-the-law' approaches.

It's exploitation in my eyes. It's taking advantage of the fact that most people have a stack of such contracts running with utilities companies and others and they are deliberately taking advantage of the fact that few will keep up with the admin on them. It's like a finance scheme on a car that keeps taking payments after the balance is paid off; just the legal wording is different but the intent is the same.

I've checked all the applicable Codes of Practice, distance selling laws, unfair contract terms and so on - but nowhere does it say "thou shalt not deliberately sell a contract likely to end up costing your customers a lot more than they think unless they are live like stamp-collecting accountants". :mad:

We'll try 'guilting' them into submission, but I doubt if they'll move much because they know that they have the legal high-ground and that Ofcom are industry patsies.

However, if anyone has had any luck with this situation, please let me know - it would be very much appreciated!

simax

Good luck with that. They've done nothing wrong.

d123

There is only one answer, and you are already aware of it, it's her fault and she should check it and blah, blah

Contracts are supposed to be entered into by adults with the ability to diarise the end of the term and to then make arrangements to renew by upgrading or moving to a sim only. The initiative rests with you and your wife to do so.

Jon_01

If you expect any company, mobile of not to have Morals you're about 40 years too late.

Plus, the networks don't have enough staff to properly service their day to day customer service issues, they would have no way of contacting hundreds of thousands of people every month whose contract were coming to an end.

Rev

What situation? You entered a contract. And didn't call or tell the company you wanted to cancel that contract after he minimum term passed. Thats not the fault of the company. They provided the service they were being paid to provide. If you didn't call to tell them you no longer wanted that service how is it you think they know?

Contracts don't 'end' unless you end them. They simply have a minimum term which you can't end them before without penalty.


You don't need to send a letter to cancel your contract. You can call. I've never sent a letter to cancel a contract. Just made a quick call and that was that.

It's nothing like a loan company continuing to take payments after the loan is repaid because a phone contract isn't a loan and there isn't a loan to pay off. There's a minimum term to fulfil. When you've done that it's up to you to end the contract. Nobody else.

macman

So you'd prefer that the phone co. just disconnected the phone at the end of the minimum term? Her contract is her responsibility, no-one else's.

cookie365

it's her fault and she should check it and blah, blah.

Don't worry: I didn't type it, I cut and pasted it.

mobilejunkie

Lol! What a load of rubbish. Anyone who lets £500 disappear from their bank acoount without noticing it is either very rich, very stupid or both. In any case, they deserve what they got.

nidO

Whumpie wrote: »

I firmly believe that O2 and other companies use this open-ended contract approach knowing that few will bother to send a snail-mail letter to them a month before their contract expires, to cancel. Most will either phone up to put a new contract in place, or - as in this case - will forget and leave it running.

I'm not sure why you think these are the only options. You can also:

Cancel your contract entirely over the phone
Switch to PAYG over the phone
Switch to a sim-only tariff (ie not paying the built-in portion of the contract price that pays for the phone any more) over the phone
Cancel your contract entirely over online chat
Switch to PAYG over online chat
Switch to a sim-only over online chat
Switch to sim-only via their self-service online portal without needing to so much as talk or type or write to anyone.

I would also point out: O2 now (and have for quite a while) offer their tariffs under the label of O2 Refresh which does specifically mean that your contract is divided into an airtime payment and a phone payment, and once the phone is paid off, the payment for the phone stops - In other words after your 18-24 month minimum, your total contract price effectively halves.

Whether you feel the fact that O2 now offer contracts in this way helps or hinders your complaint about your old tariff not working in this way, is down to you.

pmduk

Would you go into a shop and expect them to refuse to sell you an item because you already have a serviceable one at home? At the end of the day a business is there to take your money. The consumer's role is to pay as little as possible.

Kernel_Sanders

Whumpie wrote: »

I've checked all the applicable Codes of Practice, distance selling laws, unfair contract terms and so on - but nowhere does it say "thou shalt not deliberately sell a contract likely to end up costing your customers a lot more than they think unless they are live like stamp-collecting accountants". :mad:!

The fact that you actually believe there should be such a clause sums up your attitude admirably.
Either she couldn't be bothered to read the contract or she couldn't be bothered to diarise the date when notice became due. There's one provided on the phone, you know; it can even be set to appear as an audible alarm when action is required.
Ten replies now from ten different people and not a scrap of the sympathy you seek. Doesn't that tell you something?