Cable TV legal question
Discussion
A friend of mine has a contract with a large cable TV provider, she is moving house, she have requested that the service be moved to the new house, she has eventually been told that there is no cable in that street and been asked for an early termination fee of £250, my view is that they are unable to provide the service so nothing is due, interestingly her mother lives in the same street she is moving to has been bombarded with junk mail from the same supplier offering cable TV. Is the money due?
Adrian W said:
A friend of mine has a contract with a large cable TV provider, she is moving house, she have requested that the service be moved to the new house, she has eventually been told that there is no cable in that street and been asked for an early termination fee of £250, my view is that they are unable to provide the service so nothing is due, interestingly her mother lives in the same street she is moving to has been bombarded with junk mail from the same supplier offering cable TV. Is the money due?
Did they force her to move house?The service is to her current address. If she terminates that early, she is liable for the early termination fee. The offer to waive that fee if she takes up a new service at the new address is discretionary and is made so that she is locked in for another 18-24 months or whatever the minimum term is. It will all be written in the contract - no need to fill her head with "opinions".
Check and double check the availability in the new place.
In my old house I checked online and it said it was available at my postcode. After filling in my details online twice I still heard nothing from them so called them:
First call:
"Sorry it's not available in your area"
"Your website says it is and my car's parked on a manhole cover with your name on"
"Oh, it appears it is available in your area, we'll get an engineer to call an make an appointment"
Second call, having heard nothing from them:
"Sorry it's only available part way along your street, it's available at number 11 but not at number 9"
"Number 11 is the other half of my semi detached and there's one of your manhole covers on our boundary"
"Oh, it appears it is available, we'll get an engineer to call an make an appointment"
The third time I phoned them they actually admitted I could get cable and sent an engineer out.
In my old house I checked online and it said it was available at my postcode. After filling in my details online twice I still heard nothing from them so called them:
First call:
"Sorry it's not available in your area"
"Your website says it is and my car's parked on a manhole cover with your name on"
"Oh, it appears it is available in your area, we'll get an engineer to call an make an appointment"
Second call, having heard nothing from them:
"Sorry it's only available part way along your street, it's available at number 11 but not at number 9"
"Number 11 is the other half of my semi detached and there's one of your manhole covers on our boundary"
"Oh, it appears it is available, we'll get an engineer to call an make an appointment"
The third time I phoned them they actually admitted I could get cable and sent an engineer out.
I had this....
If she is on a package or multi service deal then they will cancel TV alone for free but she will have to take out their national phone and broadband service as they can provide these at the location.
Problem is most people refuse to do this as its back to rubbish ADSL and its expensive as you have no real other option
If she is on a package or multi service deal then they will cancel TV alone for free but she will have to take out their national phone and broadband service as they can provide these at the location.
Problem is most people refuse to do this as its back to rubbish ADSL and its expensive as you have no real other option
andburg said:
I had this....
If she is on a package or multi service deal then they will cancel TV alone for free but she will have to take out their national phone and broadband service as they can provide these at the location.
Problem is most people refuse to do this as its back to rubbish ADSL and its expensive as you have no real other option
I'll get her to try that, thanksIf she is on a package or multi service deal then they will cancel TV alone for free but she will have to take out their national phone and broadband service as they can provide these at the location.
Problem is most people refuse to do this as its back to rubbish ADSL and its expensive as you have no real other option
"Back in the day" I renewed an NTL "broadband" connection - this was my 1mb line.
2 months later we were looking to move and it was into a non-cabled area. Called them up, they confirmed we were moving to an rea they didn't cover and the rest of the contract was cancelled.
Guess things aren't like the used to be - but then again, that was 1mb and they were called NTHell for a reason.
2 months later we were looking to move and it was into a non-cabled area. Called them up, they confirmed we were moving to an rea they didn't cover and the rest of the contract was cancelled.
Guess things aren't like the used to be - but then again, that was 1mb and they were called NTHell for a reason.
andburg said:
I had this....
If she is on a package or multi service deal then they will cancel TV alone for free but she will have to take out their national phone and broadband service as they can provide these at the location.
Problem is most people refuse to do this as its back to rubbish ADSL and its expensive as you have no real other option
The Cable TV company in question don't do ADSL anymore. They sold their ADSL customer base on recently.If she is on a package or multi service deal then they will cancel TV alone for free but she will have to take out their national phone and broadband service as they can provide these at the location.
Problem is most people refuse to do this as its back to rubbish ADSL and its expensive as you have no real other option
Durzel said:
Adrian W said:
A friend of mine has a contract with a large cable TV provider, she is moving house, she have requested that the service be moved to the new house, she has eventually been told that there is no cable in that street and been asked for an early termination fee of £250, my view is that they are unable to provide the service so nothing is due, interestingly her mother lives in the same street she is moving to has been bombarded with junk mail from the same supplier offering cable TV. Is the money due?
Did they force her to move house?OP I'd look in to unfair contract terms, and ask to speak to a call centre manager.
Collectingbrass said:
Her move may not be entirely voluntary.
OP I'd look in to unfair contract terms, and ask to speak to a call centre manager.
Indeed the voices in her head may have told her to go an live on a island where the grumblies cannot tickle her toes at night, but she signed a contract, which included her making undertakings which she intends to breach. OP I'd look in to unfair contract terms, and ask to speak to a call centre manager.
Onboarding a new customer and installing cable TV to a property will have costs associates. A company may well require a minimum term of usage to recover those set-up costs (being a business not a charity) and make a profit. How much would she have paid them if she had completed her term? The company is entitled to be put back in the position it would have been in if she hadn't defaulted. Post installation, the additional operational costs of a single additional user is almost zero, so I would guess it could be OK to be almost the full amount charged. You would have to show it is a penalty clause for it to be invalid.
I would suggest her best hope is to explain and ask for a good will gesture for public relations purposes. A customer service manager is possibly a better best than a call centre manager.
Collectingbrass said:
Her move may not be entirely voluntary.
OP I'd look in to unfair contract terms, and ask to speak to a call centre manager.
It won't do any good.OP I'd look in to unfair contract terms, and ask to speak to a call centre manager.
When people sign up to broadband online or over the phone they're asked if they accept the T&C's of the service.
You can't claim unfair contract terms after you have agreed to the terms and conditions (well you can but won't get you anywhere).
If the above suggestion worked, anytime someone wanted out their contract they could just find a random area without cable then phone up and claim they're moving there and need let out their contract.
Edited by Retroman on Thursday 12th February 18:17
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