Broadband company says one thing on the phone, but does another via email?

[NibbledBit]

Hi there,

tldr; A Broadband company sent me a new contract, then explicitly stated I was within my cooling off period. However when invoking the cooling off period, they said it was a contract continuation, said the terms fell back to the previous contract and that I still have to pay a cancellation fee - is this legally allowed?

We have internet via a well known broadband provider and we've recently moved house. The move happened very quickly and we didn't have time to give the provider the full notice they normally required.

Our old contract, for the old address had a discount applied and was due to end within 16 months.

My partner called up and asked for the house move - the phone line was very quiet and she couldn't understand everything that was said on the phone. But the general gist was that they would move the internet without paying a cancellation fee and that the new services would cost the same.
We received an email, stating they were creating a new account, there would be a final bill due to the disconnection. This email then went on to list our new bill amount - full price without discount. There was also a contract attached suggesting the contract period had restarted to 18 months, with the price without full discount applied.

When the engineer comes he installed the box with literally a foot length of cable, it wouldn't even go onto my sideboard (next to where he left the box on the floor). I'm super annoyed.

I call up several times with all this armed, but over the course of a few days I'm getting the good ol' "We can't do nothing to the account right now it's not available due to (just about to be installed/has just been installed give it 48hrs)" - I'm wasting my time. They suggest they'll put the discount on the account so that we won't pay more than we should have at the agreed price but I'll have to call up again to sort it out properly once the account is activated.

A live web chat guy said at one point that I'm within my cooling off period. I'm looking to invoke it now.

I contact them to raise my concerns about how I don't feel valued as a loyal customer, I'm wasting my time for which I'm not being recompensed, I'm chasing them to get done everything they said they would do. I'm moving on; please cancel.

During this call it's pointed out to me that what I actually have is a "contract continuation" and that the email was sent as a part of their automated system.

I'm now being charged quite a hefty cancellation fee as I followed through with the cancellation. But I want to know if this is right or allowed?

Thank you for reading - I don't have long before I can undo what I've done here, but honestly I'm so annoyed about all the misinformation provided by this company, and the slippage in their services (they used to be the best year on year!) that I just want out on principle at this point.

Any help would greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Nibbles

[echat11]

Hi Nibblebit

What's the name of the Service Provider?

Unfortunately, as with most service providers they can't be trusted. A conversation on the phone ends up to being something totally different in reality. They do this by design or on purpose, most of this is 'staff commission' driven. Everything needs to be done in writing.

What you need to do is first send a SAR , get Proof of Postage, they have 30 days to provide all the data on the account, including notes regarding phone conversations.

https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...ccess-request/

Then write a Formal Letter of Complaint to the CEO, mark it as such. Explain the issues, how those issues are unfair and how they have impacted you and what you want them to do to resolve the Complaint. They will send you a final response, if you are still unhappy with the outcome, then you can lodge a Complaint with the Services Ombudsman (your service providers pays them to look into your complaint).

https://www.ombudsman-services.org/

[NibbledBit]

Thanks for the reply ECHAT1,

The service provider is Virgin Media. I realise now they can't be trusted, they made out like my closing date is what is on my new contract, but then quickly reneged on that and stated it is what is on my old contract now that I've attempted to use my cooling off period.

Ideally, I want to end this contract now - without paying around £250 in cancellation fees. But if some of the more legally savvy people in this forum suggest what they're doing is completely legal then I better call them up and call the whole thing off?

Currently, I've cancelled the contract, made a formal complaint and I am waiting on my deadlock confirmation from them so I can take it to the ombudsman.

Thanks again,

Nibbles

[echat11]

Wait to see what they come back with. The thing is that, they've misinformed you,, then they are relying on their T & C's to make you pay fees, if they hadn't misinformed you, you would have made different decisions.

https://www.virginmedia.com/content/...conditions.pdf