Can i cancel my mobile phone contract..they've conned me??!?

Question

I had a contract with Orange with 200 free minutes. When i said i was leaving Orange, they offered 300 mins and 50 texts for 18 month contract which i took up. 12 months in they offered me a free phone upgrade to stay with them for another 18 months. I was told my 300min deal would be finishing in 6 months but when those 6 months were up i would be offered another deal anyway. However, the 300 min deal has finished as the original 18 months is up, im lumped with a massive phone bill cos they didnt infom me it was up and are refusing to offer me a better deal like they promised and say im contracted to them at this rubbish package for another 12 months. I agreed to another 18 months cos they said i would be offered another deal when my original 18 was up. They havn't and therefore lied to me so i want to cancel?? Do i have grounds??? Help!!!! None of it was in writing but i never signed anything either. Surely a contract is only valid if its signed???

Answer 1

only if you pay the outstanding balance then you can

Answer 2

Easy Answer to this question my love ! Cancel the Contract and tell them why u want to in writing . If they Don't listen then don't pay them anything and just shout down the phone of they Ring you to Piss off ! I did this and they never phoned me again and the whole Contract got wiped ! X Easy way out . if they keep calling Phone Bt and get them to Stop the Number. They cant make you pay for something you have not payed for . If you want the best answer use pay as you go ! Miles better and you know what your using . Contract is a total con.

Answer 3

You really need to speak to someone at Orange, but you must remain calm and say your piece, do not be aggressive as chances are your call may be recorded and used against you should things get heated. I was in a similar situation with T-Mobile, i wrote to their head office, sent the letter by recorded delivery and kept a copy of the letter. i told them basically that they were not getting a penny from me unless this mess was sorted and agreed terms met, i told them that the contract was not valid because they broke the agreeement. I received an apology and the new contract they offered was excellent. Just state your case and take it from there. Good Luck!!

Answer 4

You're stuffed.

Mobile phone companies are phoenominally good at this. They really are total scum. Vodafone did it to me.

You've got two choices. Default on the contract, don't pay and let them chase you for the for the 12 months still to come. They will chase you, they will credit blacklist you as a defaulter, and they will sell the the debt to professional debt recovery agents.

The other choice is to take it as a lesson learned, shut up and pay for a year.

Personally I go with shut up and pay for year, just don't use the phone at all so you're not a victim of their stupid charges, you'll just pay the standing contract fee, no calls/texts. Buy yourself a really cheap contract/pay as you go phone elsewhere and use that instead. If you really like your Orange handset you can always just swap the sims over.

Answer 5

If you're not happy with the contract, write to Orange at St James Court, Great Park Road, Almondsbury Park, Bradley Stoke, Bristol BS32_4QJ. Head your letter COMPLAINT and give your account and mobile phone numbers. Tell them your understanding of the contract and give them 14 days to stand by it or you'll cancel and seek compensation. Tell them that you will only accept a written reply and that any telephoned offer will not be accepted. Send a copy of your letter to Ofcom, Riverside House, 2a Southwark Bridge Road, London, SE1_9HA. If they haven't replied within 14 days, stop paying them.

Answer 6

Used to be that you had to have a signed contract, but these days there are new laws that allow cell phone companies to prove a contract existed simply by virtue of the fact that you used their service. The only way you can get out of the contract is to show that they did not follow their own terms of service. Your chances of proving that they lied or misled you are very slim unless you have a documented account of every phone call (date, time, person you spoke with) that details what they said and what you said. Remember, a judge doesn't care what you know -- he/she only cares about what you can prove. So if you don't have that information, your best bet is to find the terms of service (which is the actual "contract") and try to find something that the company was bound to do but failed to do. Cingular tried to screw me when I dumped them after they completely screwed me over and put me on a plan that I didn't authorize, and I was able to find something in the terms of service that required them to notify me any time the service plan changed in any way and to give me 30 days to terminate service if I so desired. They didn't do that, so they got screwed out of their $300.00 early termination fee. There may be something similar in the terms of service with your provider, so take a close look.

Answer 7

Get on the phone and ask for the customer retention desk,not the helpline desk. Tell them you feel as though you have been sold short and ask them what they can do to help you feel better. If you go in all nicey-nice you are more likely to get results. My best mate works for Orange and says they are cr@p at putting on extras as promised. Good luck

Answer 8

You don't really have any grounds to complain unless you can prove they lied to you. As soon as you accept an upgrade you are starting new contract with new terms.

Answer 9

Read the small print in your contract.
If you've signed it, and they are lying, you will get compensation.
However, I think in the small print it says that they can change terms and conditions, and if you've signed, you have therefore agreed to that.
Sorry to be the bearer of doom.

Answer 10

Sound like they've tied you up in knots!

Answer 11

sounds like you need to speak to their managing director