Can anyone Help TML/Utility Warehouse Early Terminations Fees after 6 years

JJ_Egan

MrAConcerned wrote: »

I understand what your saying where do you suggest I post it?

A small business forum .

MrAConcerned

We do not have small print t&c that takes advantage of customers deciding to take their custom away after 6 years. I can understand Early termination fee for 12 month or even 36 months on initial set up. But not after 72 months. I do take your point and thank you.

MrAConcerned

When we gave notice at no point did TML contact to say we would receive these bills. They did contact via txt, email and letters to say the service was going to move and if we had not requested this to get it touch. Why could they not say and by the way there will be early term fees to pay?

You are correct it is my fault for not revisiting the contract and I will have to take the punishment for this. But if I can hi-light this practise to of people that may be thinking of choosing and Telephone company not go to TML because they do not play fair.

MrAConcerned

Thank you all for you help and advise. I will post this on a business forum website as suggested.

MrAConcerned

UPDATE: At the time we sign the contract we were classed as a small business so these fees are illegal as per Ofcom rulings.

Ofcom today confirmed that rollover contracts, which tie landline and broadband customers into repeated minimum contract periods unless they opt out, will be banned from December this year.

The contracts, also known as Automatically Renewable Contracts (ARCs), roll forward to a new minimum contract period - with penalties for leaving - unless the customer actively opts out of the renewal. The ban will apply to ARCs for landline and broadband services sold to residential and small business customers.

BT is the largest communications provider currently offering these contracts and Ofcom estimates that approximately 15 per cent of UK residential consumers are on rollover contracts. Other residential providers include Adept Telecom, Axis Telecom, Eze Talk and iTalk, while TalkTalk Business, Titan Telecoms, and Optimum Calls offer ARCs to business users.

Ofcom Chief Executive, Ed Richards, said: "Ofcom's evidence shows that ARCs raise barriers to effective competition by locking customers into long term deals with little additional benefit. Our concern about the effect of ARCs and other 'lock in' mechanisms led to our decision to ban them in the communications sector."

Removing rollover contracts from the market
Ofcom has set out a timetable for the removal of rollover contracts from the telecoms market which takes account of systems changes that will need to be made by communications providers.

The sale of new automatically renewable contracts to residential and small business customers will be prohibited from 31 December 2011.

Ofcom will also require communications providers to move all residential and small business customers currently on rollover contracts to alternative deals, and to completely remove rollover contracts from the market by 31 December 2012.