Can I cancel my Vodafone contract?

[neonplanet40]

Hey guys, Well some of you may or not know that Vodafone are now introducing a £5 fee for every extra 500MB a month you use whether your 1MB over your 500MB limit or 100MB.

However when I signed up to Vodafone in January I was told that it was a soft cap which I need not worry about unless I was using 1GB plus every month. However even then no price plan existed to charge for excessive usage. Which means my contract agreement contained no such charges.

Up till now I have always been under 500mb but now that I am finished uni and am travelling more I am using it more. This month I have already used 550mb or so.

However doesnt this charge contitute a change in my contract with Vodafone as the £5 charge was never listed before?

Introducing the new £5 per 500MB charge will increase my bill by more than 10% which as the terms and conditions says under §7.b of my Terms and Conditions it states that they will give me 30 days notice when withdrawing or changing services. This has not been the case and Vodafone is therefore in breach contract.

1) The removal of agreed services, the significant disadvantage this will have on me and the breach of contract Vodafone made by Vodafone.

Information posted on the Vodafone eForums on 12 May 2010 at 14:38 and what Vodafone themselves have told me in these emails, states that Vodafone intends to introduce Out Of Bundle charging for Pay Monthly customers from 1 June 2010. The net result is that my agreement with Vodafone for unlimited data access will no longer be honored and instead, a 500mb limit will be put in place.

Under §7.b of my Terms and Conditions it states that they will give me 30 days notice when withdrawing or changing services. This has not been the case and Vodafone is therefore in breach contract are they not?

2) The introduction of charges resulting in more than a 10% increase in my bills and the significant disadvantage these charges impose on me.

Under §7.a their introduction of a planned £5 per 500mb charge on the 1st of June would have resulted in more than a 10% increase in my previous months (May’s) bill because I know I have used over 500mb this month. It also puts me at a significant disadvantage by massively limiting the use of my mobile phone. Can I not exercise my right to cancel the agreement under §11.b.


The introduction of charges and removal of service also offend §(i)-(l) inclusive of Schedule 2 and §5 of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. In particular, Schedule 2 (1) “(l) …allowing a seller of goods or supplier of services to increase their price without in both cases giving the consumer the corresponding right to cancel the contract if the final price is too high in relation to the price agreed when the contract was concluded”.

Ofcom’s Guidance says that this is objectionable “under continuing contracts where consumers are 'captive' – that is, they have no penalty-free right to cancel” but you have not seen fit to comply with Ofcom’s advice that to be fair; Any kind of variation clause may in principle be fair if consumers are free to escape its effects by ending the contract. To be genuinely free to cancel, they must not be left worse off for having entered the contract, whether by experiencing financial loss (for example, forfeiture of a prepayment) or serious inconvenience, or any other adverse consequences.”

These are things I have read in various forums.

I have emailed Vodafone numerous times but every single email has been contradictory to the one that came before it so I am getting nowhere. I told them in the last email that they were constantly contradicting what each of them were saying and that I wanted to know who I could contact higher up for reliable and consistent information but they have not replied to that.


Im just looking to know what you guys think about it. I don't want to be stuck with an internet hungry HTC HD2 if its going to cost me even more than the £35 a month I am already paying.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this long post guys. I just want to know what I should do. If i have to write a letter any help in wording it would be great.

Many Thanks

Mark

P.S Sorry for any typos.....

[DeludedGuy]

You will have to test the water.

I know nothing about the law but I'm sure they have some clause in their terms and conditions which enables them to do this, however if it means you begin to incur charges you didn’t initially sign up for, it would be up to the courts to decide if its fair or not.

Are these changes in the contract fair? I’m pretty sure you would get a unanimous no vote from everyone. Lets make up an extreme example…you take out a new contract for £30 a month and they have the typical “these terms and conditions are subject to change” or some nonsense along those lines. Then all of a sudden they begin to charge you £100 a month, is that fair? You signed the contract agreeing to their terms and conditions, however if you took it to court the judge may have a different view and allow you to cancel your contract, as its clearly obvious that its unfair.

Again, I have no knowledge about the law regarding this, just my thoughts.

[Champman99]

My opinion is that they said all the stuff about "only if the changes would have resulted in a change to your bill" etc I think was simply to discourage people from trying.

As far as I'm concerned (I'm in the same boat), my past usage has nothing to do with anything. I may have signed up to a 2 year contract, knowing my usage would be high in some specific months, for the world cup for instance.

I really dont know the law, but I dont think its on for one side to just unilaterally change the contract. After all, I couldnt just ring vodafone and say 'I dont agree with my package anymore, I want to pay less money'. I seriously think someone needs to challenge this to set a precedent for the rest of us to do the same.

My guess is that they will actually let people release from the contract if you kick up enough of a storm, but that their idea is just to stop people from trying by releasing these kind of messages. My contract isnt that far from expiry, so its not worth the effort for me, but I certainly wont be renewing, and I'll be letting them know exactly why when I get put through to the "Retention" staff.

[neonplanet40]

well to be honest mate i dont think they are fair. ive got a heavily intensive data using phone which i was assurred i wouldnt get charged for if i went over the soft limit of the "unlimited internet" deal i got with it.

it says in section 11.2.c that if they introduce price changes which increase my bill by more than 10% that i can cancel the agreement as they have broke it.

I'm on the phone to them now and have already been hung up on twice. Basically their terms say the increase of 10% is based upon the usage of the last 1 month.

The guy has just told me that it is the last three months and ive had to tell him that the terms say 1 month. so he is "away to check this out".

[finlay666]

http://www.bitterwallet.com/vodafone...t-stinks/29661

That is the best place, there is a LOT of info there

http://www.bitterwallet.com/vodafone...atistics/29526
http://www.bitterwallet.com/vodafone...uestions/29508

Beat in mind it most be done in writing apparently, don't give them an opportunity to refuse the cancellation request because it wasn't done correctly

[neonplanet40]

Just off the phone guys. Got a nice guy from Belfast who didnt knoiw about the charges and is cancelling himself after work He told me I should send the letter now so that I avoid vodafone shafting me.

He said going my my usuage etc this month that I have rights to cancel the agreement. But it has to be done in writing and done now.