Vodafone contract with no physical proof

[Frenchie65]

Hello, 

 

I purchased a new contract through a different company as I thought I only had a SIM card from Vodafone. However I have tried to cancel my sim only from them and they are saying I’m in a ‘sim only’ contract and I will be liable to pay a £400 release fee. 

 

however, I don’t remember signing myself up to be in a 24 month contract in a SIM card. As well as this I’m pretty sure there’s no physical proof of this so contract. I never signed a contract for this sim and shouldn’t have to pay the £400 release fee. 
 

can someone advise me on what my options are in this situation. Do I have a leg to stand on in terms of arguing with vodaphone. 

[BankFodder]

Did you activate the Sim or use the service?

 

When did you purchase the sim and which is the "different company"?

[Frenchie65]

The sim is currently in my pocket old phone and so has been in use since November 2020. I was not made aware at time of purchase that I was tied into a 24 month contract 

 

I have now purchased a contract with a new phone on three. 

[BankFodder]

So I understand that you had a Vodafone Sim card. They say there is a 24 month contract and you didn't realise this.

You then decided to change and you entered into a contract with Three.

To your surprise you are now discovering that in fact you have two contracts and Vodafone are trying to impose a £400 cancellation fee.

If this is correct – then I'm afraid there is very little you can do. In my view, you would be committing a breach of contract if you stop paying and they would then be entitled to charge a fee. Under the contract rules, the fee that they will be entitled to charge would simply be a fee to cover their administrative expenses caused by your breach. £400 is far more than that so in my view the £400 cancellation fee is unenforceable.

The trouble is, that if you want to challenge this you will first of all have to stop paying. Then you will have to do hope that Vodafone sues you for the £400 – which is most unlikely. It said they will simply launch into debt recovery mode, spice up your credit file, wreck your financial credit reputation, Harris you with threats and letters for a long time. Eventually sell the debt on to someone else who will start hassling you in the same way and you will never get the matter settled.

Things will only go quiet after you have done the six years of a wrecked credit file and then the default marker will drop off.

I'm afraid that I don't have any positive news for you.

If you want to try and prove that it was simply a monthly Sim contract, then send Vodafone an SAR. However, I'm not aware that they do monthly Sim contract at all. I think you can only get this kind of thing with companies like Giffgaff - which quite frankly is probably about the best telephone provider in the country. I don't think we've ever had any complaints about them. They do month only contracts and you can chop and change every month to get something more suitable.

 

[Frenchie65]

Okay thank you for your advice. My only query is I never signed a contract for the sim and was Mis sold at the time. The advisor never mentioned that it was a ‘contract’ 

 

There is no physical copy of the ‘contract’ so am I liable to pay a fee for a contract that doesn’t explicitly exist? 

[BankFodder]

I'm afraid that by using the service you have effectively accepted the terms of the contract. You want to say that it was a monthly contract and they will say that there is a 24 month contract. You will have to produce evidence to show that you won't informed about any of this because I'm afraid that 24 month contracts are so much in the culture of mobile phone ownership now that it's most likely that the judge will consider that you must have known when you entered into the contract.

A monthly Sim arrangement is extremely unusual.

You can send Vodafone an SAR and see what that produces – as I've said, even if you have evidence that it was never brought your attention, the best you will be able to do is to stop paying and then I've already described will happen.

It's very unfair but when these companies feel that they are owed these kinds of money, they never go to court and have the matter tested by an impartial judge. They simply launch into debt recovery mode

[Frenchie65]

5 minutes ago, Frenchie65 said:

Okay thank you for your advice. My only query is I never signed a contract for the sim and was Mis sold at the time. The advisor never mentioned that it was a ‘contract’ 

 

There is no physical copy of the ‘contract’ so am I liable to pay a fee for a contract that doesn’t explicitly exist? 

As well as this, the website offers three types of SIM cards 30 day, 12 months and 24 months. I was never offered a choice from the advisor on the chat and I believed it was a 30 day rolling plan 

[BankFodder]

I didn't know that they offered a monthly contract – but if they do, then certainly it will be worth getting sending them an SAR to see what you get back.

[Frenchie65]

Thanks for your help