Fredbargate

I've sold my house and am in the process of tidying up the loose ends.

Today I phoned Voadafone to end my adsl landline contract.

I took the contract out in March last year for 18 months, so it has a month to run at a cost of €40 ish.

If I cancel it now there is a €90 charge.

So let it run for the final month, can I send you a fax now informing you that I don't want to continue after the 18 months period.

Yes but we will cancel it as soon as the fax arrives and charge you €90.

Ok I will phone up on the last day of the contract, That is OK we will charge you €90 because the contract is still active.

What should I do. Phone us up the day after the contract ends.

But then I will have started a new month will you charge me for that month, Silence.

When exactly does my contract end October the 10th

But I signed the contract around the 20th of March so 18 months takes us to the 20th September No the 10th of October

petew

They really are the pits................ From my experience with Vodafone it's just luck whether or not you get someone who talks sense. If you are unlucky you may as well be talking to an amoeba! It might be worth another try?? They sometimes answer e mails via "mi vodafone".

lynnxa

this might help

http://www.usuariosteleco.es/Derecho...sybajas.aspx#3


the last paragraph essentially says that you can cancel at any time - if there is a 'clause of permanence' & you cancel before that time is up they can't penalise you (charge a cancellation fee).The most they can do is charge you the monthly fee until the end of the contract.


and that's the law

snikpoh

That might well be the case but in my experience they continue to charge what they want and then tell you to 'take them to court' if you dare!

The law might be on your side but to stop them taking extra money from your account is quite hard. Cancelling the direct debit doesn't help because they just run up a debt against you and then you have a bad credit rating - very hard to rescind!

lynnxa

true enough - which is as good a reason as any to never pay by direct debit in the first place

and why so many simply say they are 'leaving the country'

amideislas

Direct debit is NOT obligatory under the law. Nonsense.

Best way to stop it? Call them and tell them you don't want direct debit anymore - or better yet put it in writing. They can't refuse, but they may simply (will likely) ignore your request.

Failing that, simply go to your bank and block their debits. At La Caixa, it takes about 1 minute and doesn't cost anything. From that point on, they can only send you facturas, which you can usually pay through your online banking or at you bank's ATM, but only when you agree they are correct.

They CANNOT give you a bad credit rating simply for not agreeing to direct debit.

You're better off without direct debit anyway, because it's only a licence for them to take whatever they want from your account, and make YOU fight to get it back.

NEVER allow any Spanish company to have direct debit. In the UK there is the OFT and other agencies capable of combating this type of fraud. But in Spain, whatever organisations exist, they are all completely impotent.

lynnxa

exactly - we might agree to direct debit if/when we are told we have to have it & then we do excatly what you do - after the first month is taken, we simply go the bank & cancel it, paying on receipt of bill

I think we've only had to do that a couple of times though - usually we just say we'll pay bills in cash and there's no problem

snikpoh

That wasn't my point.

Vodafone started charging us for products (unlock codes) that we didn't order. After many complaints we cancelled the DD and asked for a correct bill. The bill sent was still wrong so we only paid what was correct.

They then cut us off, sent in the debt collectors and my wife has a bad credit rating!

No amount of discussion seems to work - they verbally agreed to their mistake but will put nothing in writing nor correct the debt.

amideislas

Welcome to Spain.

Fredbargate

I am leaving the country and once they have taken my 18th payment as per the contract I'm closing the bank account