Advice on Terminating a Contract with Italk

AmIBeingRobbed

I want to terminate a Broadband and Phone contract with iItalk without running the risk of early termination fees. On what basis can this be done ? The situation is:

1. I agreed to a 2 year contract in April this year for "Unlimited Broadband". Unbeknown to me in the very, very small print in the Key Terms there was a reference to an in unspecified Fair Usage Limit. More details were supposed to be in the T&Cs which was not the case. In the T&Cs there was though a reference to a Price List. The first 23 pages of the Price List gave rates for all possible types of call. On the 24th Page, there was a usage limit of 60GB every 30 days. There was a statement to the effect the speed would be reduced if the limit was exceeded. I think it is fair to say key terms of the contract were not evident.
2. When the limit was exceeded, the Internet Connection speed has been reduced to the point many web sites and videos simply will not run. As a result, I agreed a new contract without a download limit. This was on the proviso the speed restriction would be removed until the new package came into service. I was told the new contract without a limit would start in 14 days after the cooling off period.
3. Now Italk has reinstated the speed restriction, extended the agreed date to start the new service from 14 to 30 or more days. Its Customer Services are not available for long periods which means it takes far too long to resolve an issue or fault. If I contact Italk, they immediately suggest BT or someone else is likely to responsible BEFORE they have checked anything.

The key point for me is Italk is wholly unreliable and cannot or will not deliver on any verbal representations it makes. I gave the company the opportunity to correct the problem by agreeing to a new contract. It did not remove the speed restriction as agreed. It then extended the time to start the new contract without limits , it is now even restricting the service when the usage limit has not been exceeded.

I wonder if the best reason to terminate the agreement is the fact its Customer Services and Support are not available 24X7, they are unable to respond quickly enough and are not reliable.

It may well be if the service is reduced, I may only be entitled to a refund or compensation for the periods of restricted service.

Any contract experts with good ideas on good grounds for termination?

The other point is should I let Italk take the penalty payment from my bank account then sue them - or should I simply sign up with another operator, not pay and leave Italk to sue me if it dares?

teddysmum

If you terminate you will have a cease charge to pay, the only way to avoid it being to ask another company to migrate you to them.


However, if you lead within the minimum term (agreed time) they will also charge a proportionate amount to the time you are cutting the contract short by.


Lack of 24/7 customer service is not a good enough excuse, but you can leave if there is a price increase which is beyond that agreed in the T&Cs. Otherwise the only person to be sue is you and if you cancel the direct debit, they will take you to court to obtain their money, as it's you who broke the contract.


You should have realised that the package you took was capped, if it didn't state 'unlimited'.

AmIBeingRobbed

Thanks for the reply. It did state unlimited. The company now says that unlimited referred to time, 24x7 service. It is fairly clear that on the first agreement:
1. The limit was a key term which was not highlighted
2. The reference to an unspecified fair use limit was in the Welcome Pack but in 4 point text in light grey, so it was barely visible
3. The Welcome Pack referred to the unspecified Fair Use Limit suggesting details were in the Terms and Conditions. There was no reference to the limit in the T&Cs. There was a reference to a Price List. The first 23 pages of the price list gave consisted of a table on and on the 23rd Page was a 60 GB Fair Use Limit. And a statement saying speed would be reduced to an unspecified level if the limit was exceeded. That level can quite often be zero, not enough for the service to work....
And there is more to come....

AmIBeingRobbed

In the circumstances I agreed to a another contract without a usage limit for the same price on the verbal understanding that:
1. The term would be the balance remaining, not 2 years
2. The speed restriction would be removed until the new agreement came into effect
3. The new agreement would start within 2 weeks of agreement.
So:
A). The speed restriction was put back on again and Italk refuses to remove it
. The new contract will not start for 4 weeks, not 2
C). I found out that there was 5 GB was remaining on the limit, yet the service speed was slow suggesting it was still restricted.Must be a BT fault of course .....
So I have written to Italk asking for compensation on the basis it is not entitled to reduce the speed to the point the service is largely inoperable.I have suggested the breaches and continuous "misunderstandings" are serious enough to warrant early termination.
I am waiting for a response and have suggested it makes no sense to try to retain a disaffected customer.

AmIBeingRobbed

I see the cunning point about about waiting for a price increase or change in the Ts and Cs. It would be difficult because:
* Customers are not notified of changes to either prices or Ts and cs
* Spotting a price change in 23 pages would be hard and difficult to argue if you never used a service to say phone Afghanistan
* Generally the Ts and Cs improve. Could you really reject a contract change if it improved it?

teddysmum

AmIBeingRobbed wrote: »

I see the cunning point about about waiting for a price increase or change in the Ts and Cs. It would be difficult because:
* Customers are not notified of changes to either prices or Ts and cs
* Spotting a price change in 23 pages would be hard and difficult to argue if you never used a service to say phone Afghanistan
* Generally the Ts and Cs improve. Could you really reject a contract change if it improved it?

You are misunderstanding here.


If a company such as BT puts up its prices, it has to let you know. All T&Cs say that the company can put up prices but , when this happens ,they usually give you the opportunity of accepting the increase or leaving.

teddysmum

I've just looked at the web page and assuming this is the same company , it does say unlimited broadband (fibre or ADSL), with no offer of a capped package.


Try calling and speaking to another person, then if you have no luck, tell them that you are going to consult OFCOM.


Unlimited internet is understood to mean unlimited in amount used and not unlimited time of day, to access.

AmIBeingRobbed

Please correct me if I am wrong on any of these points:

1. If the Prices increase or the Ts & Cs worsen in any way, then a contract can be terminated.
2. The reality is Prices and Ts & Cs tend to improve and continually comparing them is onerous. So terminating a contract on this basis is theoretically possible but also impractical.
3. If key terms exclude important factors like usage limits and connection speed restrictions, the contract cannot be terminated without the other party's consent. Therefore the only option is to seek a new agreement, if you can.
3. A contract for supply of Broadband Service will stipulate it will be provided and it will also describe circumstances in loose terms when the service may not be provided. Faults and restrictions for short periods of time are acceptable. However, it does seem that so long as the service provider can say they are providing the service agreed for short periods of time, then the contract still cannot be terminated.

If I want to keep the service unrestricted, I have to tell everyone in the house not to use video which was the main of getting it in the first place.

JJ_Egan

<<2. The reality is Prices and Ts & Cs tend to improve and continually comparing them is onerous. So terminating a contract on this basis is theoretically possible but also impractical. >>

But the ability to cancel without paying remainder of the contract is for your contract and not for other contracts . So no need to continually compare .
You are notified your contract has a price rise then is the time to compare and cancel or not .