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Is it right that I have to give 30 days notice to cancel even when out of contract?

crazyjeyesy
On our wavelength

This is ridiculous. The email I got when I passed my first year contract end (and went onto a higher tariff) says, "If you decide to switch, you’ll need to give us 30 days’ notice by calling 0345 454 1111, but if you cancel after your contract ends on 01/06/2021 you won’t have any early termination fees to pay."

That to me looks like nothing to pay... but I'm still having to pay a fee because I'm not giving 30 days notice (so I guess it's not an early termination fee as I'm not in contract - clever bit of wording there Virgin).

In the small print of the email there is nothing about 30 days notice and a fee if not, so I feel like I've been conned. How on earth can Virgin get away with this? For all the shoddy broadband I've had in recent times, Virgin should be COMPENSATING me, not charging extra when I leave.

52 REPLIES 52

Anonymous
Not applicable

@jamesofmerton wrote:
'I explained that, regardless of if the contract states something or not, it is still unfair...'

but legally binding. you agreed to it by using the service. it is all in the terms and conditions. there is nothing to argue about. there is no 'masking'.

rolling contracts are there for a reason. if they were not then after 12/18 months, customers would just lose access. maybe virgin/sky/bt should tell customers their contract will revert to the rolling one, but adults tend to do things without their hand being held all the time.



 

I disagree. 

They (companies) could easily send an email stating in month 11, 17 or 23 that cancellation is required now to avoid paying extra outside of contract.  Heck they could even word it as "recontract now to avoid a higher bill next month"....... but they don't.

Especially as Virgin Media's pricing shoots way up as soon as the minimum period ends they are using this to their advantage.  I haven't seen any other supplier who does this so substantially with their bills.  My sister's BT package has a price increase of a maxinum of £8 when the minimum term ends and she's on better pricing that VM offered her.  She was caught by a price hike of £32 by VM for her 30 day notice period before she switched, about 20 days of it was not needed.  BT will move to a rolling contract of 30 days but as stated an £8 max increase based around RPI.

As for the 30 days notice... The comms companies should be held to this to allow a consumer to find alternate suppliers but they surely have the billing capabilities to charge a customer up to an end date of their choosing.

Because I hang around forums like this and consumer boards I will know when to cancel my VM and will be switching to BT Openreach full fibre.

jamesofmerton, it's not about "having your hand held" - It's about transparency. There was nothing in my switchover email that said I needed to give 30 days' notice, and as the following poster in this thread alluded to, I don't hang around on consumer forums like you evidently do.

If they'd simply stated, clearly, "If you now wish to end this rolling contract you must give us 30 days' notice or face a fee" I'd have no problem at all. That would be fair and up front.

What they actually say in that email is "If you decide to switch, you’ll need to give us 30 days’ notice by calling 0345 454 1111, but if you cancel after your contract ends on 01/06/2021 you won’t have any early termination fees to pay." That clearly looks like I now don't have to give 30 days' notice.

Hi @crazyjeyesy,

I do apologise for any inconvenience or confusion here, but it's correct that you would need to supply us with 30 days notice of cancellation from the date of your request, regardless of whether you're in the middle of an agreed minimum term or if it has since expired.

Once submitting your request to cancel you would pay for services during those 30 days as normal. If you cancel before the end of an agreed minimum term, you would also be charged an Early Disconnection Fee.

This is all outlined within the Terms & Conditions that you will have agreed to upon joining us.

Thanks,
 


Zach - Forum Team
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I know all this Zach. I know you're officially correct. But do you not agree the wording in the email I received from Virgin (as quoted above) is misleading? Do you not agree it makes it look like I won't pay a fee for not giving 30 days' notice?

Hi crazyjeyesy,

Thank you for reaching out to us in our community and welcome, sorry to hear there is some confusion in regards to giving notice of Disconnection, 30 Days notice is always required even if the contract term has come to a end, generally we advise giving your notice 30 Days before the contract is due to end, apologies if you weren't aware of this, this is in our Terms and Conditions which can be found here.

Regards

Paul.

 

Hi. Sorry if this is a dumb question but how do I do a "final response letter"? 

japitts
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

Just to add a little to this...

In order to use VM services, you need to have an active contract. The same is true of any pay-monthly mobile service.

Once a contract ceases to exist, then services are disconnected. Hence the concept of a minimum-term then a rolling contract being commonplace across the UK telecoms industry.

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Nothing I have read in this thread explains why you need to give 30 days notice.

Lets say a rolling contract ends on 25th October. I should be able to call in on the 24th October and tell them not to renew my contract. Why the need to call 30 days before? It doesn't take 30 days to click some buttons on a computer to turn off my internet, takes about 30-40 seconds.  But I've had cases where a 30 second job has taken virgin media almost 3 months to complete. So its not surprising that it takes them 30 days just to turn off an internet connection.

Therefore my personal conclusion is that it's just a cash cow. If any company can get an extra month's worth out of everyone who ever wants to leave then that's a lot of extra money.

japitts
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

@asim18 wrote:

Nothing I have read in this thread explains why you need to give 30 days notice.

Lets say a rolling contract ends on 25th October. I should be able to call in on the 24th October and tell them not to renew my contract.


Section N of the T&Cs covers it... here - clause 1 covers the 30day period.

If you're desperate to disconnect bang on the end of the minimum term, then give your notice 30days prior to that. It's a rolling contract, so there is no concept of needing to renew anything. It either continues, you expressly cancel, or renegotiate your package which will; come with a new minimum term.

 

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I'm not asking what's in the T&C.

Something in the T&C doesn't explain why it's in the T&C.

You could have in the T&C that you need to do 30 pushups before you're able to disconnect. Doesn't explain why you need to do 30 pushups.

I'm asking why you need to wait 30 days for a 30 second job. It is a question of morality.

I've dealt with customers wanting to leave companies in the past (not VM). Takes about 3-5 minutes tops and we can stop providing services immediately, and we stop taking payments immediately and send out any refunds the very same day. VM seems to take an extra bill at the end too, and then holds onto funds for up to 40 days, and then you need to chase up the refund cheque. The mechanism is a bit of a palaver.