Leaving Cuckoo early - question

Oakley2702

Hello.

Currently with Cuckoo month 22 of 24, contracted until 3rd January. Signed up to Vodafone fibre 910 and the service is due to start on 28th October.

Cuckoo are trying to charge £224 ETC, I asked for a breakdown of the charges as we're paying £46 per month, they came back with this:

Reduced monthly charge: £25.00 × 2 remaining months = £50.00

Remaining 7 days of the minimum contract term = £25.00

Activation fee = £149.00

This brings the total ETF to £224.00.

All seems quite made up, especially being charged £25 for 7 days!

But my main question is, can they charge me an activation fee? The fibre line was already existing and the router that was sent to me will be returned.

They also said

"Please note that the activation fee remains payable even if the service is cancelled during the cooling-off period, in accordance with the terms of the agreement."

I'm possibly going to contest this but do I have a leg to stand on as Gemini states this:

Under Ofcom General Condition C3.11, Early Termination Charges can only consist of the remaining monthly payments up to the end of the minimum term (less saved wholesale costs). Retroactively adding a £149.00 activation fee upon exit acts as an unfair penalty under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and is not allowable under Ofcom rules.

Thanks

Woodstok2000

The activation fee is often waived as a promo offer. Cancelling early negates that and so the fee becomes payable.

Oakley2702

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82176358#Comment_82176358

I figured as much. Vodafone are going to cover any termination fees, so it doesn't matter so much but it really annoys me that these companies can act like this

QrizB

as Gemini states this

And you've illustrated one of the problems of relying on a Large Language Model.

Ofcom's general conditions can be found here. C3.11 states:

It concerns disconnection following non-payment, not early termination of a fixed-term contract.

Looking at the general conditions, Item 5 of Annex A to Condition C1 says that Cuckoo should have advised you of their early termination charges when you took out your contract. They're part of their T&C, that you agreed to when you entered your contract, and the T&C refer you to their Price Book for details of how ETCs are calculated.

You'll find Cuckoo's price book here. In there it says:

So you'll be charged a monthly termination fee for every month or part month remaining, which in you case is 3x £25. And you'll be charged the activation fee, which in your case is £149.

You mightstill be able to cancel your switch to Vodafone, and stay with Cuckoo to the end of your contract?

Woodstok2000

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82176363#Comment_82176363

Just to remind you, you're the one cancelling the contract - they have lived up to their part of the deal.

iniltous

If you were paying this early termination fee yourself presumably you would delay for the relatively short time necessary to get you to the end of your minimum term ,that way you would avoid ETC and the deferred activation fee , I suppose if VF are going to reimburse you the early termination charges by way of a bill credit you don’t suffer financially and VF offer this incentive to get customers on board so are happy enough to call this a cost of doing business , so it’s VF’s loss (that they accept no one forces them to cover your ETC ) and Cuckoo’s gain , obviously you could still delay until the new year , but the beneficiary would be VF not you …..FWIW , it is the dodgy end of the market that retrospectively charge the installation fee if you don’t complete the minimum term , not just Cuckoo but other ISP do it to , Onestream spring to mind , even in cases where Openreach didn’t actually charge the ISP anything like £149 (quite possibly it was nothing at all) but ultimately it was in the T&C’s so you don’t have a legal case .

FYI , I’d check with VF that they will cover the entire charge Cuckoo make incase VF only cover the £75 ETC and not the deferred (and now chargable ) activation fee .

Oakley2702

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82176441#Comment_82176441

That's a good point about the activation fee at the end, I will look into that today.

flaneurs_lobster

Just out of interest, have you read the details of Vodafone's Early Termination Charges?

JSmithy45AD

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82176441#Comment_82176441

Yep, I'd bet good money that only the ETCs are covered.