Unfair Trading - Pricing

[Axle81]

Hi,

Does anyone know, is there a law somewhere which would prevent an organisation from inflating the prices for a product or service because they know that the customer can ONLY buy from them?

I'll try with this scenario first. Let's say you're a small business and the customer of a software company who hosts and manages a database for you with all of your clients. You're contract is about to expire and you want to switch to another software company (for whatever reason). However, in order to switch, you need a copy of this data to take to the new company to host for you. Only your existing company can get this, nobody else.

Your existing software company decides they don't like the fact they're losing a customer, so puts a price on obtaining a copy of this database that is so over inflated the customer cannot afford to pay it and in some cases is forced to stay put.

Now in any normal buyer / seller scenario, you don't like the price? Well you go somewhere else. In this scenario though, no other company can provide the service you need.

It almost like, "We know you are forced to buy from us, so we will take advantage of this and charge you what we like?"

There must be something out there to protect consumers from this sort of practice?

Thanks,
Axle

[Amethyst]

And there's nothing in the original contract regarding rights over the data held or later transfer of data ? Download format of data for removal etc ? Migration ?

( also sounds like a B2B contract rather than business / consumer contract?)

[ostell]

My take is that the data belongs to you and they are illegally holding it

[Axle81]

It is B2B. The data is a combination of business and individuals. Not in these contracts that I can see, with other company's it says they charge time and materials for a data extraction.

[jaguarsuk]

My take is that the data belongs to you and they are illegally holding it

That's my take also, you the OP are the Data Controller and they are the Data Processor. They have no right to continue to process that data without your consent and should return it to you once you withdraw their consent to hold it so as to comply with the Data Protection Act 2018.

They do not hold the consent of the subjects to be in possession of that data once you withdraw consent and they cannot just delete it as they along with you have an obligation to maintain the records until such point the subject requests deletion.

A lot of businesses like this will have a clause in their terms about not returning it until all bills are settled or a "transfer" fee is paid. I'd check the terms you agreed to as a first point.