Moved house, can't get Virgin, but they won't let me terminate contact

[starsailor123uk]

Originally Posted by TraxData

If they cannot provide you service in your new house then just tell them and ask to speak to a manager, you do not have to pay the cancellation charge if the outcome is not your fault.

Its was the original person who moved and he therefore legally caused the force majure so he is required to pay the balance ( however I would hope that some reasonableness could be found by VM I have read elsewhere that they will accept £10 per service per month which may be less than they are requried to do so

Also as an aside all th etalk of unfair contract terms in the case of the OP is slightly irrelevant


VM, like most ISP and Telephone providers are signed up to third party arbitration (CISAS and OTELO) and in such any court would expect that these routes are used first ( courts don't like their time being wasteed by what they would consider petty matters even if you consider them rightly more important )

CISAS and OTELO , when played to its full conclusion by the companies (I know as I used it to get out of a vodaphone contract mid term) takes about 4-6 months during which time you continue to pay for the service. if you are succesful the decision is not retrospective so to recover the monies paid out you then have to use the courts probably small claim courts where you would face their legal team against you ( no point in having legal represeanttion as legal fees cannot be recovered from the other party and they would be more than your claim if you won 100%) and I would say your chances of winning would be less than 15%

[Chrysalis]

in reference to the new 12 month contract you should be protected by the distance selling act, I believe its a 14 day time to bailout of the new contract so then you would be left with the other 3 month sof the old contract.

[LostintheNW]

Sorry just a question - you sign up for Virgin cable - not adsl then you move and they force you to take out their adsl service which is not the same as the cable service?

Thats unfair in any form of contract and they cannot enforce this on to you, especially if the move is out of your hands.

Another example of how this company thinks and believes its above the law, cancel any DD you have with them and let them take you to court, you will find they lose out in this. Plus if they moved you on to the new contract without explaining what the contract is this is again grounds for termination as you were not given the full facts of what you was entering into before they signed you up.

Argue away but contract law is plain and simple and its about time VM actually employed people who learned it, not just people who quote VM's ever changing to suit their needs T&C's!

[BenMcr]

Originally Posted by LostintheNW

Sorry just a question - you sign up for Virgin cable - not adsl then you move and they force you to take out their adsl service which is not the same as the cable service?

Virgin charge you a early disconnection fee when you disconnect your cable account. Same as they do if you move abroad.

However because you are continuing with ADSL services (which I agree are not the same), they then refund the fee.

You are not forced to do anything

[nffc]

Originally Posted by LostintheNW

Sorry just a question - you sign up for Virgin cable - not adsl then you move and they force you to take out their adsl service which is not the same as the cable service?

Thats unfair in any form of contract and they cannot enforce this on to you, especially if the move is out of your hands.

Another example of how this company thinks and believes its above the law, cancel any DD you have with them and let them take you to court, you will find they lose out in this. Plus if they moved you on to the new contract without explaining what the contract is this is again grounds for termination as you were not given the full facts of what you was entering into before they signed you up.

Argue away but contract law is plain and simple and its about time VM actually employed people who learned it, not just people who quote VM's ever changing to suit their needs T&C's!

Actually, cancelling a DD puts YOU in breach of contract as you are stealing services by taking them and removing their means of payment.

[coastered]

Originally Posted by nffc

Actually, cancelling a DD puts YOU in breach of contract as you are stealing services by taking them and removing their means of payment.

Rubbish, cancelling a DD does not put you in breach of anything. And besides, how can you steal something you pay for in advance anyway?

Hmm, maybe VM are stealing from me, maybe THEY are in breach of contract? Judging by the amount of cockups they make on customer bills on a monthly basis I say they are.

[LostintheNW]

Originally Posted by nffc

Actually, cancelling a DD puts YOU in breach of contract as you are stealing services by taking them and removing their means of payment.

How does cancelling that put you in breach of any contract? if Virgin continue to supply you with a service after you refuse to pay for it then thats their problem not yours. I'd send the boxes and everything else back to them so they know I no longer want the service, how would I be stealing then considering I wouldn't have access to their service?

And the fact that Virgin refund the disconnection fee if you take out ADSL is just another way of getting you to stick with their crap service which is traffic managed again. One question if you move abroad how are the pathetic idiots at VM ever going to chase you for payment? it costs more to trace people abroad and attempt any form of recovery so methinks you just say I am moving to Botswana shove ya fee and then ignore any correspondence from them.

but that course of action will cause a blot on your credit rating. If its pants now then stuff it if its good then consider this

[BenMcr]

Originally Posted by LostintheNW

How does cancelling that put you in breach of any contract?

Well I thought the contract was a two way thing, Virgin supply services at the adress that you asked them. In return you pay them for it. If either of those two things don't happen, sounds like a broken contract to me.

if Virgin continue to supply you with a service after you refuse to pay for it then thats their problem not yours.

So if you go into a shop and refuse to pay for stuff, is that your fault or the shops fault?

I'd send the boxes and everything else back to them so they know I no longer want the service, how would I be stealing then considering I wouldn't have access to their service?

If you included a note with the returned equipment advising that you wished to terminate the service then you wouldn't be stealing, as you had given the required notice

And the fact that Virgin refund the disconnection fee if you take out ADSL is just another way of getting you to stick with their crap service which is traffic managed again.

Er, its actually calls business. Of course Virgin are going to offer an incentive to those people who stay with the company.

If you think it is crap, don't take it out. Simple really.

One question if you move abroad how are the pathetic idiots at VM ever going to chase you for payment?

I doubt they could, but as has been said, it would impact your credit rating within the UK. But Virgin will still try and chase it, and then turn it over to a recovery agency. So if you are still in the UK you would be found eventually

I am moving to Botswana shove ya fee and then ignore any correspondence from them.

I'm sure you could do that but if that is your usual way of dealing with companies, eventually you wouldn't be able to get anything from anyone

[colin-bennett]

Originally Posted by LostintheNW

Sorry just a question - you sign up for Virgin cable - not adsl then you move and they force you to take out their adsl service which is not the same as the cable service?

Thats unfair in any form of contract and they cannot enforce this on to you, especially if the move is out of your hands.

Another example of how this company thinks and believes its above the law, cancel any DD you have with them and let them take you to court, you will find they lose out in this. Plus if they moved you on to the new contract without explaining what the contract is this is again grounds for termination as you were not given the full facts of what you was entering into before they signed you up.

Argue away but contract law is plain and simple and its about time VM actually employed people who learned it, not just people who quote VM's ever changing to suit their needs T&C's!

Cotract law is not as simple as you make out,
Implied / implicite cover many aspects.
When was the last time you signed a contract for your gas / elecricity / water.
Once you use the service you have agreed to the companies T & C's
Simple yes ???

[nffc]

Originally Posted by coastered

Rubbish, cancelling a DD does not put you in breach of anything.

I think you will find that you have a contract with VM.

They are obliged to provide you with a service according to their levels of service etc.

You are obliged to pay them for the service.

Originally Posted by coastered

And besides, how can you steal something you pay for in advance anyway?

Because you are taking a service which you are not paying for, and by wilfully cancelling your DD have no intention of paying for.

If you go into Tesco and walk out with a bottle of vodka without paying, and have no intention of paying for, that is stealing. So why is it any different not paying for a month's BB or something?

Originally Posted by coastered

Hmm, maybe VM are stealing from me, maybe THEY are in breach of contract? Judging by the amount of cockups they make on customer bills on a monthly basis I say they are.

If the bill is wrong, then you are (not) paying for services which you are (not) receiving (the option in brackets is because a wrong bill can work either way) and so you are either entitled to a rebate of the difference or required to pay for the services you have used.

Originally Posted by LostintheNW

How does cancelling that put you in breach of any contract? if Virgin continue to supply you with a service after you refuse to pay for it then thats their problem not yours.

Then you correspond in writing sending them a properly WRITTEN notice of cancellation using a guaranteed delivery service informing them that you are giving them x months' notice of cancellation and that once the contract is concluded you will be cancelling the DD. Don't just do it - that puts you in breach not them, and is not advised by consumer protection experts eg Watchdog, CAG, MSE, and the lawyers who write for magazines etc.

Originally Posted by LostintheNW

I'd send the boxes and everything else back to them so they know I no longer want the service, how would I be stealing then considering I wouldn't have access to their service?

That is slightly different since they have the equipment, but presumably they collect this anyway once you have agreed a cancellation.

If they continue to take money from you when they are not seeking recompense for providing you with a service then that's them stealing - effectively it's unauthorised transactions, if that's not fraud you are still entitled to that back through the DDG anyway.

Originally Posted by LostintheNW

And the fact that Virgin refund the disconnection fee if you take out ADSL is just another way of getting you to stick with their crap service which is traffic managed again. One question if you move abroad how are the pathetic idiots at VM ever going to chase you for payment? it costs more to trace people abroad and attempt any form of recovery so methinks you just say I am moving to Botswana shove ya fee and then ignore any correspondence from them.

I'm pretty sure the ADSL is under separate terms and a new contract, so this waiving of a fee is just a goodwill gesture.

[coastered]

Ahh but you see, you claim that cancelling your DD alone is a breach of contract. I say not so.

Credit card payments and other forms are surely still ok? VM have screwed up my bill so many times I, and I am quite right to do so, no longer trusted them with MY bank details.

If anyone has a key to my bank account I'll make sure its never VM.

And before you quote me the DD guarantee, why the hell should I chase their balls ups (almost monthly)?

[BenMcr]

Cancelling a D/D and then not making any other payments in certainly a breach (which is what was being suggested)

[handyman]

Originally Posted by WHISTLED

Why do some of you people always expect VM to do something that NO other company would do?

A 12 month contract is just that - If you leave after 6 months VM more than likely make a loss overall. Its a business not a charity.

It cost at the time about £800 per property to put in the up to the driveway infrastructure. This is however vm's infrastructure which they put in place regardless of and service being taken up.

If your talking about broadband then a cable modem is around £10, a Digital tv stb is £100 (which you rent so do not purchase). Installation in total is less than £150. (Educated guess)

Broadband admin costs are a pittance and vm make a lot of money on it, telephone also makes good money and digital tv makes some.

It only seems to be telecom and broadband providers that insist on 12 month contracts (and sky). I'm free to change my electricity and gas to move with the best deals.

Oh and I left vm 3 months into the contract (twice) and was not charged both times :-) (and both times I was not staff).

[coastered]

Originally Posted by BenMcr

Cancelling a D/D and then not making any other payments in certainly a breach (which is what was being suggested)

Then thats what should have been said