Is a SIM only really a contract - thought fixed ( I use the term lightly!) term contracts were due to the handset cost? Just porting my number to a SIM only service now and there is no lock in contract - £12.50 a month on Orange via Utility Warehouse. 500 mins 500 Mb data.

Libel!? Hmmmm?!! VERY safe! No problem Auntie Breaking Fixed Contracts/terms/agreements/understandings!

Have made a small contribution Can you fix my name meantime (my second name isn't really 'problem') LOL Cheers

I had a 'positive' conclusion thanks to Lee's help here. He cut through the nonsense and just acted on facts. Thanks for this site

Just had a reply from them to my 2nd communication. They categorically ignore and misinterpret things written and seek no background info/history on issues:!:. I've told them that losing Passport will cost me c £160 pa and given them the maths but they end with ‘we haven’t prejudiced you by more than 10%’ line. Dumb. Also spinning me some line about stopping sending me bills (unless I pay more) as its all about the environment – guess what I have to do my end then….. PRINT!!! Banks etc who suggest paperless billing ASK for their customer's consent - seems a better way of doing business to me. Going to ask them to agree to a deadlock in next letter (which I'll send to the VF web team here) so I can then go to Ombudsman as I don’t have the time to waste to-ing and fro-ing like they seem to, picking and choosing which bits to reply to and which to ignore. Thanks for the advice here meantime.

Was disappointed to be told (by txt) that Vodafone are putting prices up mid contract on both our phones - seems that they can though (not that I've ever seen a contract from them). This was after the earlier disappointments of deleting the itemisation on my bills (unless I paid more, then stopping sending me bills altogether (unless I paid more). They have also ducked and worn us down on trying to get the iPhone 3GS' (known) intermittent reception issue fixed. Last straw however is losing the Passport service (25Mb daily free data abroad) which I used regularly and was the deal clincher in agreeing to a 2yr contract. So its clear to me they have breached their part of the contract and I sent a 'substantial disadvantage' letter to them. They sent me a txt with both PAC codes and wanting £400 to terminate. I responded by webform refuting the charge and got an awfully amateurish response from India (stating that 'the price increase is not in our hands' but is 'to be decided by telecom companies'. I responded to this quoting my reasons again for 'substantial disadvantage' and hope for a more professional response (and not a txt m8!) and asking them for their reasons if they do not agree with me about a breach of contract/disadvantage. I believe I can take it to the Ombudsman within another month if they don't agree they acted unfairly etc and don't see why they should get the full profit of the contract by adding an early termination fee. I think I need to state the term 'deadlock'? I'd just be happy to have the contract back to the terms I agreed to in the first place - what is wrong with them!? If anyone has any help, tips or advice then I'd love to hear it. Thanks

They did find the correct reg somehow in the end and had been hassling me. (although nothing for a few months now). I look forward to producing the ticket in court A

Hi Does anyone know if this 12 month max backdating rule mentioned above also applies to other utilities Co's? In my case it is the Water Board who I have just realised haven't been billing me for over 3 years. The law of common sense seems to say its their own stupid fault for not billing the address and managing their business effectively, but I'm sure its the little guy who gets clobbered and has to cough up as usual - well they have dividends to pay and massive bonuses for fat cats!!! Any insight would be gratefully received. Thx

Great site here! Already got great info about how to deal with these VERY unethical private parking [problematic]. Here's my story: My vehicle received a 'civil penalty notice' in Oct at a train station from APCOA - it was half expected as driver had awful difficulty calling from the train to pay the parking fee 'the easy way'. Train moves & mobile cracks up... Driver did it when reached destination ultimately. Turns out penalty was in fact for 'parked over 2 bays'. Vehicle was in the back corner of the lot (to avoid dings) and positioning was dictated by the car straddling the lines next to vehicle. Caused no hardship to anyone as there were so many empty bays around where parked. Anyway, they printed vehicle number incorrectly on this unsigned ticket - this being a reg number that isnt registered to keeper and seemingly doesnt even exist (after doing an online insurance check on the reg). Anyway 1st ever letter received today to the keeper stating that charge has been upped and passed to a collection agency Hunter Forrest. The reg number on this demand is not the number on the ticket - they have corrected this number in order to find RK. Did they refer to a picture? If they were legit enough to print their address a short response letter would be in order, but they want it 'off the record' by phone. I dont think so! Any suggestions of best course of action guys? This really is a 'walking on the cracks in the pavement' type moneymaking [problem] that ruins this country for honest hardworking people so I'm up for a fight. Cheers Auntie