T-mobile problem

[s_jan2]

Hello,

Im a newbie to this site, and would appreciate it if you you could give me some advice.

The thing is i am a student and i took out a mobile contract with " mobile connections" a buy 1 get 3 free!. They offered me cashback and after 4 or 5 months they closed down leaving thousands of people in the same situation unable to pay to the agreed phone plan.
This matter has been investiagted by Trading Standards, and I believe watchdog also. I explanied my situation to the network providers,
T_Mobile.However they were not understanding and refused to canncel the agreement as it is for 18 months. Like I said i am a student an cannot afford to pay for the phone , so i cancelled by direct debit since i was already overdrawn. I am now required to pay £750 for each phones and do not have £3000 pounds. T_Mobile reffered me to debt collecters who demand payment, withou considering the fact that i cannot afford to pay.
Now they are going to take legal action and take matters to the court if i dont respond to their recent letter.

I would like to be advised on what my legal standing is, if any? At the time i stupidly thought i was dealing with mobile connections only, and later phoned that with them i had a separate contract. Before the retailer closed down i got a phone call saying that i should cancel my direct debit to T Mobile since they themselves will not be able to pay me cashback and that they have informed t-Mobile of this and i wouldnt need to be responsible and owe them anything, which now seems an absurd option to have belived. I also have know that no contract with t-mobile was signed as retailer didnt pass or give me anything from them to sign which made me belive that i was dealing with them only. However i found that this is not necessary.Since t-mobile provided me with a service and me making payments suggests that there is contract.

Anothe thing is that the contracts were taken out by me and what the retailer done was put and took my dads details and put two on his name. so he has been getting the same calls from debt collecting agency. It was my contracts as money and cashback were given to me.


i know this is long and complicated but i would appreciate any advise you could give me. trading standards are saying that i should get a reduced plan from t-mobile but if i did i still wouldnt be able to pay as they are likely to knock of £5-£10, they aslo said that if matters were taken to court then i would have the advantage due to my financial circumstances and the circumstances concerning the cashback, which is the only reason taht i entered in to contract.

plase can you give me anything to go on .

Thanks.

[rory32]

Hi and welcome to CAG. I have moved your post to a thread of its own in the Telecoms Forum where you should receive relevant advice.

[installspark]

This is the main reason why I loath cashback deals.

All too often I have to deal with cancellation requests from customers who have been caught out by what appears to be a very good deal at the time, half price / free line rental. Most of these companies don't tell the customer that they are liable to pay the network provider the full cost of line rental throughout the duration of the contract, irregardless to whether or not they get the cashback deal.

Unless you are being billed directly by the third party provider, there are very few that do this now, the airtime is provided and billed by one of the main networks and your contract for airtime provision will be with them and subject to the network's T&C. You will find that most networks will allow one price point reduction per month, normally after month nine, to be made, and any termination or contract buy out fees will be based on the tariff in force at the time.

The cashback deal was a major influencing factor for entering into the contract with the third party but you will need to check their T&C's very closely in respect to cancellation as you will probably find that it is hidden in the small print that any early termination will be subject to the termination fees.

Should a customer come to me who is nearly at the end of their contract with less than 2 months left to run I generally credit the account with the term fee they would be liable for in these circumstances or give them a much better deal.

[s_jan2]

Hi thank you for your information.

Well when I signed and agreed to the third parties conditions, they did input the clause, that if i fail to pay or cancel my contract then i would be subject to the Network providers Charges.

However, during that time they promised me that they will give me full cashback up until the minimum, because i did say to them that it would be better if they give me all 18 months in one go, but they reassured me that is they failed to pay then i would not be liable under any circumstances and that the clause wouldn't apply.
That is why they called me and told me that they cancelled my agreement as they couldnt stick to their word.

Obviously, all this is verbal but it is true. I am hoping that if matters progress to court then this will be taken into consideration.

[installspark]

You would be able to argue that cashback scheme was the main basis for your decision to enter into the contract, however it probably would be argued that you are still liable for T-Mobiles network charges and that the cashback would have to be pursued from the third party provider.

Although I think this is unfair, it is correct. Liability still remains with you for T-Mobile's network charge, even though the third party provider has cancelled it's agreement with you.

Until such time as the regulator and/or the networks crack down on theses cashback scams, there will be cases such as yours.

The networks are now starting to finally take a tough line with third party providers, with one of them issuing warning to a major high street third party provider about the mis-selling of sim only contracts to the point where if it continues the third party will lose their contract.