Contracts - when is a contract not a contract?

[FortyTwo]

We (me and Virgin Media) agreed a contract (I pay £x and get y for z months).  If I break that contract I must pay a penalty.  My contract is up to December 2023.  I got a letter today (as did you all I presume) saying that from 1st May I must pay an extra £21.50.  

How come if I break the contract I must pay a penalty and VM can break if anytime without penalty?

[Keenzo]

Dial 150 from your home phone line, options 1,1,1,4,4 for thinking of leaving.

call between 8-9 am and you should get straight through to the uk call center and they should help

Good Luck

[FortyTwo]

I should add . . . . 

I've been with VM for over 10 years and last June I went through the PAINFUL process of the 'I am leaving lets do a deal' call I swore I would never go through that again.  And, at that time after numerous complaints I was assured that the deal was done and would not change for 18 months.  Now I am back to square one!!

[goslow · Accepted solution]

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@FortyTwo wrote:

I should add . . . . 

I've been with VM for over 10 years and last June I went through the PAINFUL process of the 'I am leaving lets do a deal' call I swore I would never go through that again.  And, at that time after numerous complaints I was assured that the deal was done and would not change for 18 months.  Now I am back to square one!!

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Check the details of your contract (which should be available in 'My Virgin Media') and compare what it says there with what you think you agreed at the time.

Customers often assume they are getting a fixed price but VM more commonly offers a fixed discount. VM's current T&Cs allow it to raise prices but also allow the customer to leave without penalty with a certain time of a price hike. That changes next year when the ability to leave is removed and inflation-linked price rises are baked into the deal. It is also common in the topics on here for customers to report they were told one thing on the phone and the contract that came through was something different.

If you are fed up with VM and its pricing antics, now is the time to decide if you want to stay or go as any future opportunity to leave will be removed in the future.

[Ashleigh_C]

Hi there @FortyTwo 

There will be a Right To Cancel for all impacted customers, who can choose to cancel their contract within 30 days from receipt of their communication. Customers will not incur early disconnection fees if requesting their cancellation within this 30 day period.

Customers will start to receive letters and emails from 26 January 2023.  The letter will contain the information our customers need about exiting their contract and the final date they have to contact us to cancel.

[FortyTwo]

There will be a Right To Cancel for all impacted customers, who can choose to cancel their contract within 30 days from receipt of their communication. Customers will not incur early disconnection fees if requesting their cancellation within this 30 day period.

This comes back to my question - when is a contract not a contract?  A valid contract must be many things including ‘fair’ and clearly enforceable. 

1.   I accept that my contract might be . . . VM will provide ABC for base cost £100 less a discount of £20 and might increase that base cost but it cannot be fair that if they do that I must be bound to pay a penalty if I leave – what if they increase that base cost from £100 to £10,000 – that would not be fair.
2.   How can I hae a contract that stipulates that I can cancel within 30 days from receipt of their communication, who is to say when or if I ever received that communication.

Is VM making this up as they go along regardless of the law and fairness?

If all this stuff is in my contract how do I geta copy of it (to take to the Office of Fair Trading)?

[Matthew_ML]

Every customer will receive an individual price rise specific to them. If you wish to discuss your increase further, you can reach us online (virg.in/contactvm), by calling 150 from your Virgin Media landline, or 0345 454 1111 from any other phone. Thanks