Forced contract CICAS

[adi1986]

My contract ends on 10 September, I moved my broadband from my old house to my new house on 31 August. A new account number appeared on my account that day with a new contract for another 18 months. 2x more expensive. I am not interested in continuing the contract and am on cooling period. I have tried on chat and tried calling to end the contract but it is a joke. No one can help me to leave. Maybe here someone can help me because I think I will go to CICAS

[Andrew-G]

It used to be the case that VM insisted that customers moving house with less than a month remaining of their contract would be put on to a new 18 month contract, and in the maelstrom of confusion, chaos and ignorance that is VM's customer services, it's possible that the company are still (unlawfully) implementing this practice. 

But that's not what the current T&Cs state, and more importantly than VM's T&Cs, such practice would be a breach of Ofcom's General Conditions, specifically C1, which state under para C1.10 "Without limiting the extent of Condition C1.8, Regulated Providers must not, at the end of any Commitment Period, renew their contract with a Relevant Customer for a further Commitment Period unless they have first obtained the Relevant Customer’s Express Consent. Such Express Consent must be obtained in relation to each new Commitment Period." 

The only exception is if you knowingly changed a material aspect of your bundle at the time of moving and your attention was brought to the fact that such a change would start a new fixed term.    

[adi1986]

Thanks. I have complained to VM and also to Ofcorn and to CICAS. I don't understand how in this day and age you can't terminate a contract online

[Kain_W]

Hi there adi1986,

Thanks for your post and welcome to the community.

Apologies for the issues faced with this, to clarify when was the complaint raised and have you received a response regarding it?

Also I take it that it was your previous deal that was transferred over to the new account?

Let us know,

[adi1986]

I had one account number until I moved out on 31 August. Then the account number changed. In addition with a fix term contract and not the Rolling contract as it should have been after the end of the headland on 10 or 11 September. This is cheating and forcing a new contract which I was not willing to do. I am not going to pay anything beyond what I signed 18 months ago. The complaint was sent today and no one responded. It even disappeared from the tab where there were active notifications and complaints. This is some kind of joke

[Andrew-G]

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@adi1986 wrote:

I had one account number until I moved out on 31 August. Then the account number changed. In addition with a fix term contract and not the Rolling contract as it should have been after the end of the headland on 10 or 11 September. This is cheating and forcing a new contract which I was not willing to do. I am not going to pay anything beyond what I signed 18 months ago. The complaint was sent today and no one responded. It even disappeared from the tab where there were active notifications and complaints. This is some kind of joke

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For the time being, I strongly recommend you keep paying.  I know that's a pain, but you should get the money back.  If you stop paying (eg cancel the direct debit) then VM will report your account as in arrears to credit reference agencies causing a litany of problems that can linger for years.  Whilst VM can be forced to sort that out if they are at fault, it's an additional mess that will cause you more stress and result in additional work for you.  

[adi1986]

So what to do now? Let them take that router and stick it in....

[Kath_F]

Hi adi1986, 

Thanks for coming back to us and explaining things further. 

In terms of the account number, this is assigned to the property itself so when moving, you would get a new account number. Providing you keep your package the same then the terms would just roll over at the new property. If you discuss a new package, or change it in anyway including accepting a new discount, there would be a new contract term and the price would be the new one quoted. 

We can check both the accounts for you and if they are the same then we can ensure the price and contract match for you too. In order to do that, we will need to confirm some information with you and pass data protection. 

I have sent you a private message regarding this and will investigate further once I receive your reply. Just click on the little plum envelope at the top right-hand side of the page to access your inbox.

Thanks,