Problems with O2 phone contract

[loado...@yahoo.com]

Hello,

My wife took out an O2 phone contract 13 days ago. I say contract, she signed two. One for credit on the phone (which she has 14 days to cancel), and the Monthly Mobile Agreement.

It wasn't explained at the time that these were two separate contacts and she was led to believe that she would simply be paying the Monthly Mobile Agreement.

While she has until tomorrow to cancel the Credit Agreement, she would still end up having to pay nearly £400 for the phone, and stuck on the Monthly Mobile Agreement.

She wasn't explained at the time, and the terms on the Monthly Mobile Agreement say "I agree to be bound by the current terms of O2's terms and conditions, a full copy of which I have received."

She didn't receive those terms until today, 14 days after signing the contract.

Is this worth fighting? She would like a phone, but this is coming in at almost double the cost that she was told.

Thanks

[R. Mark Clayton]

<loado...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:ddbe7345-1052-4617...@googlegroups.com...

Hello,

My wife took out an O2 phone contract 13 days ago. I say contract, she
signed two. One for credit on the phone (which she has 14 days to cancel),
and the Monthly Mobile Agreement.

It wasn't explained at the time that these were two separate contacts and
she was led to believe that she would simply be paying the Monthly Mobile
Agreement.

While she has until tomorrow to cancel the Credit Agreement, she would still
end up having to pay nearly �400 for the phone, and stuck on the Monthly
Mobile Agreement.

The contracts are separate, so if she withdraws from the handset purchase
shw won't pay �400.

She wasn't explained at the time, and the terms on the Monthly Mobile
Agreement say "I agree to be bound by the current terms of O2's terms and
conditions, a full copy of which I have received."

She didn't receive those terms until today, 14 days after signing the
contract.

They were on the back.

Is this worth fighting? She would like a phone, but this is coming in at
almost double the cost that she was told.

O2 have started marketing separate phone and airtime contracts - she would
have to be pretty green not to spot thie - e.g. when she signed two
contracts...


Thanks

[loado...@yahoo.com]

No, there is a "summary of key terms and conditions" on a second piece of paper, but definitely not the full terms and conditions.

I haven't seen marketing which refers to two separate contracts either.

So, since she *didn't* get the full terms and conditions, surely the contract is invalid?

[Peter Crosland]

So she signed the agreement stating she had received the full terms and
agreed to be bound by the conditions and now she says she has not read
them. Who do you think the court is going to believe if it comes to
that? It is difficult to see what defence she has.

--
Peter Crosland

[loado...@yahoo.com]

On Friday, 24 May 2013 08:26:38 UTC+1, Peter Crosland wrote:
>
> So she signed the agreement stating she had received the full terms and
>
> agreed to be bound by the conditions and now she says she has not read
>
> them. Who do you think the court is going to believe if it comes to
>
> that? It is difficult to see what defence she has.

Thanks for the comment Peter. The terms and conditions are not in the stapled bundle of paperwork that came with the phone. They were in fact supplied later with the first bill.

Yes, obviously she can't prove that the didn't read them, but if they were not given out at the time (a summary was instead), she cannot of read them. She wasn't given the time in the shop to read the contracts before signing (she still should have done but that is another matter).

I also think that there was a unilateral mistake here as my wife explained how much she was paying on her current contract and made it clear that she wanted to be paying less, not more, on her new contract. So the OS salesperson was aware of her wishes, and yet sold her a more expensive contact based on her not understanding the full costs (because the costs of the phone were not stated on the "plan" summary, they were on the separate credit agreement).

Anyway, she is off to see the shop so hopefully it can be rectified...

[R. Mark Clayton]

<loado...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:9a772f15-b1ff-4a58...@googlegroups.com...

> No, there is a "summary of key terms and conditions" on a second piece of
> paper, but definitely not the full terms and conditions.
>
> I haven't seen marketing which refers to two separate contracts either.

There is a link to this
http://www.o2.co.uk/refresh
on O2's front page.

>
> So, since she *didn't* get the full terms and conditions, surely the
> contract is invalid?

Not at all.

=========
anyway she can change the phone whenever she likes [to a first
approximation]

[loado...@yahoo.com]

On Friday, 24 May 2013 10:04:48 UTC+1, R. Mark Clayton wrote:

> > So, since she *didn't* get the full terms and conditions, surely the
>
> > contract is invalid?
>
>
> Not at all.

So the seller is under no obligation to provide the T&C's of a contract?

>
> anyway she can change the phone whenever she likes [to a first
>
> approximation]

Sorry, not sure what you mean by that..

[David L. Martel]

>My wife took out an O2 phone contract 13 days ago. I say contract, she
>signed two. One for credit on the phone (which she has 14 days to cancel),
>and the Monthly Mobile Agreement.

One for credit on the phone? Do you mean that she purchased a phone and
agreed to make monthly payments towards this purchase?

>It wasn't explained at the time that these were two separate contacts and
>she was led to believe that she would simply be paying the Monthly Mobile
>Agreement.

Have you spoken with the seller? What did your wife think the arrngement
was? Did she think that the phone was free if she made the Mobile payments?
Such arrangements are not uncommon. Why did she sign this "credit on the
phone"? What did she think it was?

>While she has until tomorrow to cancel the Credit Agreement, she would
>still end up having to pay nearly �400 for the phone, and stuck on the
>Monthly Mobile Agreement.

Can you return the phone and find a less expensive one?

>She wasn't explained at the time, and the terms on the Monthly Mobile
>Agreement say "I agree to be bound by the current terms of O2's terms and
>conditions, a full copy of which I have received."

If your wife is a competent adult why would she agree, in writing, that
she had received documents that she did not recive, read, or understand? You
are looking rather weak here.

>She didn't receive those terms until today, 14 days after signing the
>contract.

>Is this worth fighting? She would like a phone, but this is coming in at
>almost double the cost that she was told.

I've no idea what "worth fighting" means to you or whether you can afford
this phone. It sounds as if your wife was either mislead or she made a big
mistake but I've no way of telling which. It does not sound as if you were
there and your "second-hand story" of these events may be inaccurate.
You may discuss this with a solicitor but I suspect that the "legal"
approach will be expensive. Does a local newspaper or television show
investigate consumer complaints? A bit of negative publicity might be
corrective.

Good luck,
Dave M.

[loado...@yahoo.com]

On Friday, 24 May 2013 14:30:45 UTC+1, David L. Martel wrote:

> One for credit on the phone? Do you mean that she purchased a phone and
>
> agreed to make monthly payments towards this purchase?

Yes. She was under the impressions that the total cost was less than her previous contract (which also included the phone).

>
> >It wasn't explained at the time that these were two separate contacts and
>
> >she was led to believe that she would simply be paying the Monthly Mobile
>
> >Agreement.
>
>
>
> Have you spoken with the seller? What did your wife think the arrngement
>
> was? Did she think that the phone was free if she made the Mobile payments?
>
> Such arrangements are not uncommon. Why did she sign this "credit on the
>
> phone"? What did she think it was?
>

The difficulty is, she knows someone at the store so there was an element of trust going on.

> >While she has until tomorrow to cancel the Credit Agreement, she would
>
> >still end up having to pay nearly �400 for the phone, and stuck on the
>
> >Monthly Mobile Agreement.
>
> Can you return the phone and find a less expensive one?

That wasn't an option that I could see on contract(s).

> >She wasn't explained at the time, and the terms on the Monthly Mobile
>
> >Agreement say "I agree to be bound by the current terms of O2's terms and
>
> >conditions, a full copy of which I have received."
>
> If your wife is a competent adult why would she agree, in writing, that
>
> she had received documents that she did not recive, read, or understand? You
>
> are looking rather weak here.

Because of a personal relationship, she took some things at face value. I don't argue that it is a weak position to be in!

>
>
>
> >She didn't receive those terms until today, 14 days after signing the
>
> >contract.
>
>
>
> >Is this worth fighting? She would like a phone, but this is coming in at
>
> >almost double the cost that she was told.
>
>
>
> I've no idea what "worth fighting" means to you or whether you can afford
>
> this phone. It sounds as if your wife was either mislead or she made a big
>
> mistake but I've no way of telling which. It does not sound as if you were
>
> there and your "second-hand story" of these events may be inaccurate.
>
> You may discuss this with a solicitor but I suspect that the "legal"
>
> approach will be expensive. Does a local newspaper or television show
>
> investigate consumer complaints? A bit of negative publicity might be
>
> corrective.
>

Thanks, it is all resolved now, thankfully.

Thanks to everyone for their comments.