Can I end my Vodafone contract early if I am leaving the country?

franc99

I renewed my 18mth contract with Vodafone last month but now I have to leave the country for personal reasons and I don't even know if I am ever going to come back.

I know that a mobile contract is binding but I don't think it is fair to pay for something I will probably not use anymore.

Does anyone know if I can end my contract early if I return my phone? They will have the money for my usage and their handset back, so they won't be losing anything.

Please help.

Quentin

franc99 wrote: »

I know that a mobile contract is binding....

You answered your own question!

You can cancel it now, they will charge you an early termination fee.

You might be able to help pay it by selling your nearly new phone on ebay.

Sid_Harper

At least you're honest - my brother's tenants (various students) have for 4 years running left the country without addressing such things, and then the landlord has to deal with the hassle of bailiffs, not to mention worry caused to new tenants

Hopefullyuseful1

franc99 wrote: »

I renewed my 18mth contract with Vodafone last month but now I have to leave the country for personal reasons and I don't even know if I am ever going to come back.

I know that a mobile contract is binding but I don't think it is fair to pay for something I will probably not use anymore.

Does anyone know if I can end my contract early if I return my phone? They will have the money for my usage and their handset back, so they won't be losing anything.

Please help.

Hi Franc,

There are a few options available for you.

You can end your contract now and pay an early termination fee. The early termination fee will be the price of your line rental times by how many months you have remaining in your contract. Once the fee is paid your contract will be terminated immediately.

The second option would be to transfer the contract to a friend or family member. If someone is willing to take on the contract for you they would need to be over 18yrs old and be willing to go through a credit check. You and the person wanting to take over the contract would need to give us a quick call on 08700 700 191 or 191 from your phone. The transfer of ownership is then completed over the phone.

If you have any more questions please don't hesitate to contact us.

Hopefullyuseful1
Vodafone UK

tightbudgetman

Hello all,

This is actually a really good question. I live in London, and like many others here, I am an immigrant.

I might go back to my country, but I have no idea when. So let's say I subscribe to an 18 month contract and decide to leave after 3 month.

Then I close my bank account and decide I will never come back to the UK.

How can the operator get the money back?

Because yes there is a contract binding the subscriber to the operator but this must be a big problem for UK operators with so many people from abroad.

It would be great to have feedback from the Vodafone UK representative who posted here.

Regards

jenny_f

When I was leaving the country they offered to reduce the line rental for me this might be worth looking at cost wise

tightbudgetman

Thanks for the input Jenny_f

Moving to a cheaper call plan seems to be what most people do when they want to have a new phone, or when they want to leave for a few month and come back to the UK.

However, I'm not sure that people who are sure they won't come back are that considerate.

The question is: Do operators have a legal way to track people abroad and reclaim their money (or the handset) ?

If they can't, then there is a big flaw in the system. People might just make the most of it.

People would be blacklisted in the UK, but there will face no consequence in their home country.

Would love to have legal advice on that.