Forum Discussion

phelpsey83's avatar
phelpsey83
Tuning in
9 months ago

VM Cancelled my contract with out speaking to me

Hi All,

I have what I believe to be a strange situation, which I don't believe is 100% legal.

I'm moving out of my property this week. VM disconnected yesterday, and I got my final bill today. I owe VM £185 as my contract legally ends in April 2025. Now, if I cancelled, I would abide by the contract; after all, I signed up under those terms.

But I didn't cancel the contract; the new owner phoned up and (I would assume as I wasn't party to the call) stated he was moving in on the 12th and would like to set up services. I had 1 missed call from VM, which came up as spam, so I didn't answer. The next thing I knew, I got a message and email stating that my contract had been cancelled and would be cancelled on the 9th. Under no circumstances did I agree to this and VM made no attempt to contact me after the 1 missed call. Under contract law "Silence cannot amount to acceptance - as in Felthouse v Bindley" 

I had thought at the time that it would save me a job, that they must be transferring the contract somehow, and that I wouldn't be charged early repayment.

Had I known I would have been charged, I would have transferred my services but they were cancelled before i got the chance to call back (had i know it wasn't a spam caller as well).

Were VM actions legal, and could i consider this a breach of contract and save myself the early repayment fee?

 

Many Thanks

Rich

contract
legal

6 Replies

  • Matthew_ML's avatar
    Matthew_ML
    Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team
    9 months ago

    Hey phelpsey83, thank you for reaching out and warm welcome to the community.

    I am sorry to hear this, however if you are moving out to a place where you can take our services you would be charged an disconnection fee.

    If you was moving out somewhere where our services cannot be taken and you have legal documents we can waive this.

    Which one applies to you? 

    • phelpsey83's avatar
      phelpsey83
      Tuning in
      9 months ago

      Hi Matt,

      I'm effectively homeless at the moment as I'm not buying or renting currently. I'm staying with family while I sort my permanent living arrangements. So I would assume the second one is applicable to me. I cannot transfer because I don't own any property.

      Also please could you specifically state if you can or can't cancel my contract without my approval. Unless I was in breach of contract which allowed you to cancel it. I was under the impression you had to gain my approval. What's to stop anyone from phoning up and cancelling my contract?

      • Steven_L's avatar
        Steven_L
        Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team
        9 months ago

        Thanks for coming back to us phelpsey83. This was an error on the part of Virgin Media with your contract being cancelled, this should not have happened to you, so we apologise for this happening to you. Have you spoken to the team about this issue or raised a complaint about this? Are you seeking to have the early disconnection fees waived due to these issues with your account disconnecting in this manner?

        Kind Regards,

        Steven_L