Telecoms credit reclaiming. Guide discussion

I can't believe that these companies don't automatically refund the credit - it's like they insist on taking the monthly fee in advance and then they just decide to keep it at the end?

I would have expected that out of common sense they would just refund it.

:beer:
Got £10.30 back from O2

THANK YOU!!!

:beer:

I'm with Tesco Mobile Pay-As-You-Go and just about to switch to a new mobile phone provider.

I have £10 in credit left on the phone. Tesco's have told me this credit will be wipe off my account when I switch telephone number across.

Do Tesco Mobile have to refund your credit by law?

I had taken out a BT openzone wifi account but ended it 10 days into the 14 day cooling off period as connectivity was poor. I had been charged for the first month.
On calling them it turns out that they owed me £14!
Waiting on the cheque now. Fingers crossed it turns up!

A couple of years ago I had a long running dispute with a branded PAYG version of Carphone Warehouse (CPW) labelled as "Fresh Mobile". They texted me in early January and said they were withdrawing Fresh mobile as we know it and would move me to a different CPW brand, which funnily enough had a higher tariff.

I informed them that I was unhappy and would be porting away and can I have my prepaid credit back. They continously refused, claiming I was leaving them and by their terms any remaining credit is not refundable.

Firstly, if this is a correct interpretation of their terms it is highly one sided, unfair and probably rejected in court as an unfair contract. Secondly I had a few legally qualified people review their terms and they advised me they did not have a leg to stand on.

After repeated requests for a refund (only a small amount c. £25ish) CPW always refused so I threatened them with court action. I took them to a small claims court and won by default (they didn't respond to the court summons in time). I received a full refund, reimbursement of my court costs and was able to charge interest on the amount from the time I requested the credit back.

My argument to them was that they had broken the contract by giving me notice they were withdrawing a service I had prepaid them to provide.

The whole saga took around 6 months and my determination to get justice because of the way they treated me saw me threw. I can be stubborn that way.

Due to CPW's arrogance and stubborness, it not only cost them the refund of my credit, but my court costs, interest, plus they hired a solicitor in the end to deal with my claim! Blatant stupidity on their part, IMHO. Yet just think of the cost/benefit ratio of their policy and how many people will give up and CPW keep the credit.

As part of this process I also ran a Dunn + Bradstreet report on CPW and there are numerous county court judgements against them. Maybe a sign of the mentality of the company?

The whole process has left a nasty taste with me. I don't care what price or deal CPW (or a branded company of theirs may offer) I will NEVER, EVER use them again and am happy to advise others to avoid them.