Moving home - cancellation fees

mtsachev

I signed up for a 12 month contract with Magnet, 12x 55 euro which is 30 euro for service + 25 euro rental. Now I want to move to another place and they said they can't provide a line to me and I'll have to get that from eircom.

Called eircom, they told me they've never heard of that address and I need to pay 120 euro setup + 30 euro per month rental. On top of that Magnet want to charge me 40 euro per month for service instead of 30. So my total bill would jump from 55 euro to 70.

I just told Magnet that it's too expensive for me but they want me to pay cancellation fees, I have 7 months out of 12 on my contract so they want me to pay 5 months of 55 euro, nearly 300 euro.

It sounds to me like a robbery because I made my decision about the contract based on a price of 55 euro, not 70. Do they actually have the right to charge me for cancelling the service provided that they can't offer me a similar service for a similar price. And also through a third party to ask me to pay a setup fee in the middle of the contract.

Cabaal

So they are charging you a cancelation fee for the cancelation of your service with them at your old address?

If thats the case then yes they are entitled to charge you, you knowingly signed up to a contract with them for a period of 12 months, You broke it early by moving and as such ceasing the service at your old address and as such they can charge you.

Magnet have no control over what location you have chosen to move to and like any DSL provider in the world each install is subject to location, availability and line checks.

Magnet also have no control over eircom's records or install fee's, thats a seperate matter you can take up with eircom.

However its worth noting that if no service is active they are also very likely entitled to charge you install fee's (eircom that is).

As for the higher price, well you broke the first contract so your actually starting a whole new contract and that includes any new prices.

Whilst you could ask Magnet nicely if they'll give you the lower price legally they don't have to and if your unhappy you can choose a different provider.

jor el

Yes, they can and will charge a cancellation fee for any service that's still within contract. All ISPs (a mobile phone operators, etc) do this, and normally the fee is the value left in the contract period.

Now, you could contest the amount they're looking for, and see if you can reduce that. Since the line will be cancelled, you shouldn't have to pay the line rental portion of the fee. Now it's down to 5x€30, which is €150. Almost half the price. Put this to them, and see what they say. You could also see if they'll discount that further. They may or may not, but it's worth a shot.

Magnet: Rory

Is there anything I can do to help here?