Cancelling T Mobile

[EleanorRigby]

My brother had a contract for two years with T Mobile for a broadband dongle for internet.

He paid it every month but after two years and three months he wrote to them saying he wanted to cancel the contract as he was going abroad to the Philippines.

He's 70 and likes to do things the old fashioned way and as he only has a mobile for voicecalls he doesn't phone much especially as some nos from a mobile are expensive to call.

 

He asked me if T Mobile had written back to confirm the cancellation and I said I'd checked his mail and no.

 

He's in the Philippines now.

 

I went into the T Mobile shop in town and gave them his details and they said the account is active and can't be cancelled in writing he has to phone up T Mobile to cancel.

 

My brother has emailed me to say it's quite difficult for him to ring them from the Philippines and can be expensive. A letter has now arrived telling my brother he's £14.99 in arrears. He cancelled his DD to T Mobile before he left.

 

So what now ???????

[rebel11]

Hi Eleanor,

 

I think written notice is sufficent to cancel a contract. The only reason I can think of why they might want him to ring, is to try an retain his custom, they've probably got a large customer service team. If you can get hold of the letter your brother sent, I would send it with the arrears letter, recorded. In fact address it to the Richard Moat, Managing Director of T-Mobile. I would advise going through

Customer Service, but I can envisage this continuing for months.

[EleanorRigby]

Thanks for that.

 

Well I'm surprised that a signed letter saying you wish to cancel the service is insufficient according to T Mobile.

 

And a stamp can also be cheaper than calling from a mobile and waiting in line to speak to an advisor.

[rebel11]

Make sure you keep on top of it.

[buzby]

You mean he sent a letter of termination, yet didn't follow through to ensure his instruction were carried out? I have to say, these days it Is folly to assume a letter will have been acted upon in much the same way as a phone call. Unless sent by RD, they can retain the upper hand and deny the notice was ever received.

 

He needs to email Tmobile, confirming his initial communication with dates, adding that whilst they ard investigating the issue of the original cancellation date, they take his follow up emai

As a further confirmation of termination and to cancel immediately.

[EleanorRigby]

He followed thru in the respect that after he sent the letter and once he was abroad he asked me to go into the T Mobile shop and check that the contract was cancelled. They said it wasn't and he needed to phone them as a letter wasn't enough.

It's unfortunately if in this country a letter of instruction has to be followed up by phone calls and emails just to make sure that the instructions on his letter are carried out.

Surely the companies should be able to follow the customers wishes after he writes them a letter ?

 

I'm sure that after he wrote the letter it was a couple of weeks at least before he went abroad so surely they had time to write back and say fine the contract is now cancelled thank you for using T Mobile for the last two years.

 

They must have got his letter if they have contacted him to say the letter isn't enough.

 

What do they do read the letter and then chuck it in the bin ?

 

I remember a time when you could write one letter to a company to cancel and they would cancel.....why have companies become so inefficient ?

 

My brother wrote a letter and thought they would follow his instructions.

 

 

If he was wrong in not emailing and phoning as well then I think our methods of doing business need to change.

Edited September 13, 2010 by EleanorRigby

[buzby]

Nothing to do with 'in this country', if he hadn't committed himself to a legally-binding contract, but as he did - tyhere is too much at stake to leave to chance. The letter may not have arrived, or due to sending it to the wrong address, it got lost in the transfer process. If it was sent to the correct department, at the correct location, they would have acknowledged it, and no doubt followed up with unbeatable deals in a vain effort to keep his business. As you noted, this would probably habe been the result, however a scenario alternative is the letter arrived, got lost due to incompertence and was not acted upon. There is nothing magical or extraordinary about that.

 

You also say he had TWO items, a Phone and a BB dongle. Also that they said a 'letter wasn't enough'. It might not be if it did not contain the required elements to identify the user and legitimse the request, however, this isn;t mentioned anywhere in your initial message, so you might like to expand.

[EleanorRigby]

No I never said he had two items, he only had a T Mobile dongle for broadband.

 

His mobile phone is PAYG and not with T Mobile.

 

The letter arrived and obviously got to the right dept as they say they contacted him,not sure which method they used, to say writing a letter wasn't enough. Well this is what the T Mobile shop said.

 

 

 

Anyway thanks everyone for your help and advice and I will pass it on to him.

Edited September 13, 2010 by EleanorRigby

[buzby]

Shop staff are usually a bad move as they are invariably 'Retail' or 'Sales' and have no input to existing or back-office systems affecting customers. Providing they have acknowledged his letter to terminate, it is not up to them to disregard it, unless there is an issue over authenticity. Keep us posted as to how it pans out!

[EleanorRigby]

Yes I will thanks.