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NOWTV 14 day cooling off period- when is it valid?
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While they could.
Neither cancelling a CPA or DD does not cancel a fixed term contract.
The fact is OP signed up to a 12 month contract. As such Now could go legal to reclaim the rest of the 12 months subscription.
We would remind the customer that canceling the payment, does not cancel the contract & that they could be taken to court by the retailer to reclaim the funds.
Life in the slow lane3 -
Correct.
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Just wanted to point out that you've referred to the wrong regulation as NOWTV would be classified as digital content and not a "service" in the traditional way.
You can lose your cooling off period for digital content if the criteria is met under Regulation 37.
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Is that classification established by precedent? I can see the argument that digitally-supplied subscription services could easily be categorised as either services or digital content, but if there have been judgments or even clear guidance then so be it!
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I can't think of a case that specifically addresses this point nor do I think one exists, but the CCRs need to be read in conjunction with the CRA. Both definitions of digital content in each legislation are exactly the same, the government guidance also backs this up too. The CRA is derived from the EU Consumer Rights Directive and their guidance also refers to digital content as including streaming. Taken together, you'd be hard pressed to argue that streaming services like NOWTV are not classified as digital content. Certainly in the legal sphere I think it is well accepted this is the case.
BIS Guidance: Consumer Rights Act: Digital Content
See page 4 and Page 14 as examples of what is digital content and cooling off.
EU CRD Guidance: Guidance Document
see page 64 on the meaning of digital content as "data which are produced and supplied in digital form'. Recital 19 provides examples: 'Digital content means data which are produced and supplied in digital form, such as computer programs, applications, games, music, videos or texts, irrespective of whether they are accessed through downloading or streaming, from a tangible medium or through any other means."
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I did wonder about digital content but they seem to be selling a membership, the benefit of which is digital content, I would argue their membership is a service, of course if it were established as such that they are selling digital content I stand corrected 🙂
In the game of chess you can never let your adversary see your pieces0 -
Thanks - you're right that those guidance documents do refer to streaming, but as they're from 11/12 years ago, it's unclear to me that they're truly reflective of the types of services available today, but it would be interesting to see this tested in court…
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I have run the T&Cs through several AI programmes (I know not 100% accurate but used for guidance) and all come back and say there is nothing that says the 14 day cooling off is invalid so should be legal.
I wish people would stop doing this.
What did you input out of interest - I ran it through google a single time and it came up the opposite to what you're saying (not that I think you should take it seriously either)..
Know what you don't3 -
By UK law I have 14 days cooling off period.
it doesn't specify that it is excluded from the 14 day cooling off period which is UK law.
within 14 days tried to cancel but despite it being UK law that we have that right
There's significantly more experienced people in this thread than I on consumer rights, but my initial thoughts were that this would be considered slightly differently due to being digital content. You don't seem to acknowledge that there's nuance with digital services.
I know from buying and downloading games for example (as they make it very clear!) that I waive my right to cancel (presumably to prevent me completing the game and then cheekily invoking my right to cancel for a refund). In the same vein, I expect the same rules to apply to prevent people subscribing to watch premium content, and then cancelling once they've finished watching it.
I think the fact that you accessed the content, and they are citing this as a reason, and they had you consent to waiving your right when agreeing to the contract suggests this.
Withdrawal from digital content is defined under the CCR part 3, section 37 which is based on EU legislation from the right of withdrawal of directive 2011/83/EU article 16 (m).
37.—(1) Under a contract for the supply of digital content not on a tangible medium, the trader must not begin supply of the digital content before the end of the cancellation period provided for in regulation 30(1), unless—
(a)the consumer has given express consent, and
(b)the consumer has acknowledged that the right to cancel the contract under regulation 29(1) will be lost.
(2) The consumer ceases to have the right to cancel such a contract under regulation 29(1) if, before the end of the cancellation period, supply of the digital content has begun after the consumer has given the consent and acknowledgement required by paragraph (1).
I think your example of "if I purchase a pair of jeans and they don't fit, I can take them back, but I must have tried them on 1st to know the service is not correct." is flawed and not comparable, because you're not 'consuming' the jeans by trying them on. A better comparison might be to think of it as going to an all you can eat buffet, eating some food, then asking for a refund because they didn't have what you wanted.
Unfortunately the big issue seems to be the signing up to a 12 month contract. NowTV does monthly memberships (I think they also do one-day memberships and 7 day free trials, though not sure if this applies to sport?). Apologies if I sound a bit like captain hindsight here.
Know what you don't2 -
Well, I thought I would look to see if there's any case law on this point and as luck would have it, there is. Even more of a coincidence, it is a case against the Austrian entity of Sky that has been escalated to the European Court of Justice as recent as last month.
The way the European Court operates is that there is an Advocate General (AG) i.e. a lawyer who gives a non-binding opinion of the law based on their interpretation and the ECJ will then decide whether to agree with that opinion or go against it. More often than not the ECJ usually follows the AG's opinion, especially in consumer rights cases.
Case C‑234/25 (Sky Österreich Fernsehen GmbH v Verein für Konsumenteninformation)
Link to article for a simplified summary of the case
TLDR: The AG found that Sky's streaming service did not fall within the definition of digital content, rather it was a digital service and so the 14 day cooling off period was still available to the consumer.
The decision either way is not going to be legally binding over here, but the courts have consistently followed EU decision post-Brexit where the relevant legislation pre-dated Brexit and it would be hard for a judge (at least at County Court level) to ignore a decision of the highest court in Europe and/or deviate from it without good reason.
Assuming the ECJ follows the AG's opinion, the OP could use that as a good base to argue that they had the right to cancel within 14 days.
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