Topic
Topic ID 7293
26/07/2013 by Drama Queen
Verbal Contract..... Mobile Phone Customer
Hi Appealing to any "legal beagles" out there in Forum land. If your mobile phone company rings you to offer you as a "loyal customer" to reduce your bills, change the bundle of texts/calls etc and then a week later a different person says they can no longer honour that.. have they broken a "verbal agreement"? I was taken through procedures, informed my call would be monitored etc, etc... Just like in one of their shops.. so when this was "withdrawn" a day ago I was left wondering can they do this? I have not upgraded my phone just was offered a better deal by reducing my monthly payments.. Any advice, can I hold my mobile company to their word from 9 days ago????
Replies
Reply ID 94787
26/07/2013 by james
In a word, No.
Unless you've signed something, they can do what they like.
What you can do though is move providers. Most mobile phone companies have special offers for new customers. However, you will soon learn that all mobile phone companies are as s**t as each other when it comes to customer service.
Reply ID 94790
26/07/2013 by James007
quote:
Originally posted by Drama Queen
Hi Appealing to any "legal beagles" out there in Forum land. If your mobile phone company rings you to offer you as a "loyal customer" to reduce your bills, change the bundle of texts/calls etc and then a week later a different person says they can no longer honour that.. have they broken a "verbal agreement"? I was taken through procedures, informed my call would be monitored etc, etc... Just like in one of their shops.. so when this was "withdrawn" a day ago I was left wondering can they do this? I have not upgraded my phone just was offered a better deal by reducing my monthly payments.. Any advice, can I hold my mobile company to their word from 9 days ago????
Of course you can, a verbal agreement is worthy of a written agreement. If they deny that then ask them to supply a written transcript of your agreement to the contract (they record everything) from the phone call.
Ask them what their returns policy is. Should be 14 days.
If they challenge the claim that 'some calls may be recorded for training purposes and yours wasn't one of them', you are well within your rights to make a claim in the county court and levy claims against your time taken off - work loss, travel expenses. 35 quid is what it will cost to start the proceedings and the court is likely to find favour with you if it even gets that far.
My advice would be to go to the store, state your grievance, and demand a full refund under the terms of the standard UK consumer service agreement (14 days) and just ask the sales person to contact their senior manager for consumer clarification entitlement in relation to their particular terms and conditions.
They will soon buckle, if your case is genuine, which it sounds to be.
I have used the above with Virgin Broadband and it took time but I received a letter and email stating that my terms that were NOT signed would be honoured for the term of the contract after they conveniently decided to double my terms.
It would be interesting to know which operator you are you using.
Reply ID 94795
26/07/2013 by Mark MG
As some of you may know, I am a lawyer, and the post from James (not James007) is wrong.
The contract does not need to be in writing, in fact very few do need to be evidenced in writing (the sale of land, employment particulars, and credit agreements are notable exceptions). That said, you will have problems of proof if something is not in writing, however that is not insurmountable if the call was recorded as they usually are.
The main issue is the law of contract, when something is an invitation to treat, when there is an offer, and when there is acceptance. From your post it is not clear whether you actually accepted the offer before it was revoked. It sounds as if you were made an offer, you may have thought about it, and when you reverted to them it had been withdrawn. That may be the case, it may not. Offers cannot stay open for ever obviously (most advertisements are not even an offer anyway, they are invitations to treat).
Without knowing more it is hard to be definitive. Did you accept the alleged offer when you spoke to the first rep? If so, what was the purpose of your second call? If you did not accept the offer when you spoke to the first rep, did they not tell you that the offer would be time limited? If so, were you in time?
James007 hits the nail on the head, however all I would urge is caution - in suing for a slightly reduced mobile phone contract which you may or may not win, are you willing to risk paying to issue a claim and to cover their legal costs if you lose?
I would be tempted to progress the internal complaints procedure first and indicate that you reserve the right to lodge a claim within 28 days if a satisfactory outcome is not forthcoming. I think going to court really should be your last resort, if at all.
Reply ID 94827
29/07/2013 by Drama Queen
Hi Guys
Well, I did verbally accept the offer to reduce my costs by about £5.00 per month from what I am currently paying. They informed me my call was being recorded etc, etc and that it would all be in writing sent to me within the next few days and that although not upgrading my current phone, they would be sending me a "new" old style phone of the type I am still using by courier etc,etc. As I stated on the ninth day I get a call from them out of the blue to revoke what their operator had previously stated, thus in real terms I would not be getting anything by being a "loyal customer". Because my use of the phone is minimal I am not bothered, just when I get a chance to upgrade to something I want I am not sure it will be with the current provider. I wanted to know if I could demand to have the lower rate quoted to me 12 days ago and hold them to it. After all it was them who offered it to me not me asking for it!
4 replies