idMobile not honouring 30-day cooling off period...

IanDMcC

Hello to anyone reading this.

I joined idMobile for a a2- month contract with an e-SIM in February this year - 2024 - and after some problems in the first couple of weeks I decided to leave. It was for less than £7/month, first month paid in advance. Their 'customer services' was very hard to get hold of or talk to as EVERYTHING needed to be accessed via their 'chat' which is slow and probably mostly AI. No matter, I did chat with actual people, I'm told. Luckily I keep ALL conversations/transcripts and emails so had evidence. Anyway, I decided to leave well within the 30-day initial cooling off period as I wasn't happy with a couple of things which couldn't be resolved. Mainly that I couldn't use any 'premium rate' numbers for texts or calls and I do use these for competitions. I discussed how and when I will leave and there were several conversations but at some point I was definitely told I can leave within 30 days and would not be charged beyond this. I then left by requesting my PAC and had left a few days before the end of this 30-day 'cooling off period'. idMobile later claimed I had failed to complete the RETURN as according to their policies and procedures. I had nothing to return as it was an e-SIM so I simply left. The contract does not cover leaving either within the 30-day cooling off period or at any time during the contract. Things ended up with The Communications Ombudsman after idMobile billed me for the whole year then almost immediately handed this to debt collectors and the bill was more than doubled to over £170 in days after this. There were FOUR different debt collectors hounding me constantly by phone calls, texts, emails and even letters. Obviously things were out of hand and the stress was terrible. Cutting this short, the case was finally closed in my favour THIS WEEK after idMobile agreed they were wrong to add the additional rental period and send this to debt collectors. Actually talking to them was almost impossible and they did not respond to emails as the only email address I could find was via their 'sales' address. It's early days but it may actually be over even though their last email is worded such that it can be interpreted in a couple of ways but sometimes legal documents are like this.

sdduk

To be honest afaik you only get 14 days cooling off period after that you are stuck with the contract to the end or till you pay it off.

d123

sdduk said:

To be honest afaik you only get 14 days cooling off period after that you are stuck with the contract to the end or till you pay it off.

ID give 30 days for online purchases if I recall correctly.

PHK

d123 said:

sdduk said:

To be honest afaik you only get 14 days cooling off period after that you are stuck with the contract to the end or till you pay it off.

ID give 30 days for online purchases if I recall correctly.

Sort of.

if you buy in store you have 14 days to return to store

if you buy on the Curry’s website you have 14 days to return it to a store

if you buy on the iDmobile website you have 14 days to return to Curry’s or 30 days to return by post. 

It’s not clear from their terms what the situation is if there’s no physical product ( eg eSIM)

d123

PHK said:

d123 said:

sdduk said:

To be honest afaik you only get 14 days cooling off period after that you are stuck with the contract to the end or till you pay it off.

ID give 30 days for online purchases if I recall correctly.

Sort of.

if you buy in store you have 14 days to return to store

if you buy on the Curry’s website you have 14 days to return it to a store

if you buy on the iDmobile website you have 14 days to return to Curry’s or 30 days to return by post. 

It’s not clear from their terms what the situation is if there’s no physical product ( eg eSIM)

By Currys, do you mean CarPhoneWarehouse? Currys only sells PAYG sims from ID.

But yes, there are some different terms for CPW and the other subsidiaries. I’d add, the OP made no mention of buying from CPW or the other subsidiaries.

https://www.idmobile.co.uk/legal/terms-and-conditions/pay-monthly

11.4.3 If you'd like to cancel this Agreement, you can do so at no cost during the cooling-off period, which is 14 days for in-store purchases and 30 days for iD Mobile online and over the phone purchases. If you purchased your phone or SIM from carphonewarehouse.com, mobiles.co.uk and e2save.com you can return your item within 14 days from the day your product is delivered. You'll have to pay for any line rental, usage, and additional purchases, such as add-ons, accrued up to the point of disconnection. If you bought a phone from us, you'd need to return it within the cooling-off period, together with all packaging, accessories, and included extras