Refusing to cancel my contract within 14 days as they are saying is a business contract

andrewskywalker

I have had the displeasure of dealing with a company called CLEAR VISION COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED in Birmingham.
They said they were 02 and my contract was up for renewal. The contract was up for renewal and they had all my details so I assumed it was genuinely 02.
It wasn't this is a separate company who 02 sell your details to.
They have now trapped in a three year, yes three year "business" contract which I tried to cancel via email (so I have evidence). They have come back and said I cannot cancel because it is a business contract and I do not have a "cooling off" period.

Any advice would be appreciate in how to get this contract cancelled? 

DullGreyGuy

Are you a business? Were business tariffs in any way discussed? What's the actual issue with the contract other than you now dont like the seller?

andrewskywalker

No i'm not a business, never discussed a business and wanted to cancel the contract immediately because it  was over three years and more expensive than quoted on the phone.
If you are an expert on mobile contracts DullGreyGuy I'd really like some sound advice?

Penguin_

How did you come to deal with them? 

Only reason I ask is their website makes it clear they sell to businesses. Clear Vision Communications – The best in mobile communications 

andrewskywalker

Very good question Penguin, they called me and were given all my details from 02. They made out they were from 02, the only way i found out they weren't was when I rang 02 and they said I was no longer a customer of 02. 
I had been a customer of 02 for over 8 years, I was astonished

What would you suggest from your experience with business mobile phone contracts?

movedto03

This falls under the definition of slamming.
https://www.bt.com/help/landline/what-is--slamming--
(Fourth bullet point of first list)
Complain to Ofcom.

Slamming can happen on landlines, broadband or mobiles.

andrewskywalker

Thanks movedto03 I have never never heard of this, I will follow this up

Grumpy_chap

andrewskywalker said:

more expensive than quoted on the phone.

In what way is it more expensive?  VAT?

Penguin_ said:

their website makes it clear they sell to businesses.

This, or similar matters have been discussed in the Consumer Rights board about businesses saying that the purchase is from a business (or class of customers where business customer is the default) and yet the purchase was a consumer purchase - can the suppliers "business terms" override consumer rights.  There is some discussion and nuances, but the view seemed generally that if a purchase is clearly by and for a consumer, then terms says "business contract" cannot be enforced.

The devil will be in the detail and the nuances could be important.

One factor will be the time for a "cooling off" period and whether the provider has already started providing services.  When was the contract signed and when did the OP's previous term expire?

Frozen_up_north

This is a good subject for Martin to cover on his ITV show. Like I guess many on here, I have had calls from various scam companies claiming to be "Three" and similar networks. I always refuse to deal with any and all cold callers, when checking the phone number they use on the "who called me" type web sites, it inevitably shows the caller is not from the network they claim to be from...

prowla

I've had a call from an operation like that; I specifically asked them if they were the company they mentioned.

I wasn't going to go with them anyway - I don't do business with cold-callers.