Broadband Provider Entered Me Into 18 Month Contract Without My Permission

JohnnyJekyll · 8 August 2018 at 7:08PM

I recently got in touch with my broadband supplier with a connection problem. To cut a long story short, during the call I requested details for the complaints department because I was out of contract. The agent informed me that I was currently in an 18 month contract until the middle of 2019. I knew I had not entered into anything so I asked for proof. After a while the agent admitted that I had been wrongly entered into an 18 month contract about six months ago, and there was also no record of them informing me that they had done so. They have officially admitted to wrongly entering me into the contract. I have slowed things down to consider my options. Surely it is illegal for a company to enter a consumer into a contract without permission or agreement (whether it be a mistake or intentionally). Would anyone know the types of options I have? This is a very big company. Thank you.

dj1471 · 8 August 2018 at 7:59PM

Quite simply the new contract is void and they can't hold you to it. Did your monthly payments change as a result?

JohnnyJekyll · 8 August 2018 at 8:25PM

Thanks for the reply. Monthly payments did not change and they have said they will void the contract. I'm just annoyed that they have entered me into a contract in the first place. I have questions like:

What if I was old and vulnerable?
What if it has affected my credit rating?
What if I stopped the payments and they had started proceedings?
And what about my time in dealing with this?

They illegally entered me into a contract. Surely the law is very much on my side in this case?

Cornucopia · 8 August 2018 at 8:36PM

JohnnyJekyll wrote: »

Surely it is illegal for a company to enter a consumer into a contract without permission or agreement (whether it be a mistake or intentionally). Would anyone know the types of options I have? This is a very big company. Thank you.

I doubt that it's a criminal offence, if that's what you mean. Not unless it was done for the purpose of fraud (and in the case of business errors, that will be a difficult thing to prove).

Greta_Sharbo · 8 August 2018 at 8:48PM

JohnnyJekyll wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. Monthly payments did not change and they have said they will void the contract. I'm just annoyed that they have entered me into a contract in the first place. I have questions like:

What if I was old and vulnerable?
What if it has affected my credit rating?
What if I stopped the payments and they had started proceedings?
And what about my time in dealing with this?

They illegally entered me into a contract. Surely the law is very much on my side in this case?

If you were old and vulnerable the contract would still be void.
If it affected your credit rating you could pursue them to have this corrected. If they pursued you for payment they would have to prove it was owed.
You may have a claim for reasonable quantifiable losses suffered. What are they?

Have you told them how much compo you want and how did they respond?

Ectophile · 8 August 2018 at 8:49PM

If you didn't agree to the contract, then there was no contract. A contract requires the agreement of both parties.

However, their mistake has probably worked in your favour. You said the price didn't go up. Normally when a broadband contract comes to an end, any special deal expires and the price goes up. So it sounds like they continued giving you a discounted rate on the basis of their error.

JohnnyJekyll · 8 August 2018 at 9:05PM

Thanks for the replies everyone, very kind of you. Sorry the price went up to the normal full retail price (minus a ridiculous £2 offer to enter me into the contract). I guess my loses are my time in dealing with the matter.

I just feel this is a pretty bad thing to happen e.g. when I mentioned old and vulnerable I was referring to if I was old and this was confusing to the elderly person, who may have accepted the contract being in place (which can then lead to all sorts of problems further down the line if they can't afford it). I had to explain multiple times and ask for proof of my acceptance into the contract. Only then did they dig through it all and find it was their mistake.

I just feel this is a pretty poor thing to happen.

unholyangel · 8 August 2018 at 9:08PM

JohnnyJekyll wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. Monthly payments did not change and they have said they will void the contract. I'm just annoyed that they have entered me into a contract in the first place. I have questions like:

What if I was old and vulnerable?
What if it has affected my credit rating?
What if I stopped the payments and they had started proceedings?
And what about my time in dealing with this?

They illegally entered me into a contract. Surely the law is very much on my side in this case?

Virgin Media by any chance?

JohnnyJekyll · 8 August 2018 at 9:11PM

Sorry I can't divulge who it is.

Labsuper · 8 August 2018 at 9:19PM

Your 'what if's' count as zero....they didn't happen. How much time did spend sorting it out? A goodwill gesture from them is probably in order.

unholyangel · 8 August 2018 at 9:20PM

JohnnyJekyll wrote: »

Sorry I can't divulge who it is.

Provided you are telling the truth and haven't signed a non-disclosure agreement, theres no reason for you not to name them.

Not that it matters, it was just personal suspicion based on my own experience of VM.

Broadband Provider Entered Me Into 18 Month Contract Without My Permission

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