TescoMobile - Confusing Terms & Conditions

dilallio

I recently decided to change my mobile phone carrier.

I looked around and decided that for my needs (Sim only), TescoMobile would provide the best value.

As they don't have a physical store near me, I decided to order it online, and my first question was - When will they start billing me from?

I checked their T&C's and found the following relevant section:

10.4 Monthly charges for your tariff will start when the SIM Card is activated. If purchasing the Service in a Tesco Phone Shop, your SIM Card will be activated at the point of purchase... For all other sales, activation instructions will be provided to you with your SIM Card.

As I was not purchasing the SIM Card in a Tesco Phone Shop, I assumed that billing would commence once the card was received and activated.

I was wrong! Billing actually begins when they dispatch the SIM Card.

I contacted them, pointed out their T&C's, but despite admitting that the T&C's 'could be clearer', they are refusing to budge on this.

While the amount of money is small, if you add it up for all their pay monthly customers, it turns out to be a nice little earner for them.

I am looking for some advice here - am I in the wrong? - or should I ask again for a refund?

Mods - I would prefer to leave this thread here rather than the Talk to Tescomobile forum.

Thanks,
dilallio

AlwaysAmber

I would presume the SIM card is activated before they dispatch the phone, so it seems correct to me.

dilallio

Thanks AlwaysAmber.
If their terms & conditions state:

"For all other sales, activation instructions will be provided to you with your SIM Card."

Why would they say this if the sim was already activated?

Surely there's no need for them to provide activation instructions if the sim is already activated.

wmpdd3

It was the same with three, I was going mad that I ordered it on the Friday of a long weekend, got it Wednesday.

rubadub

dilallio wrote: »

"For all other sales, activation instructions will be provided to you with your SIM Card."

That line would have led me to believe the same as yourself, it's a far more reasonable assumption than it to be the other way around.

"could be clearer" is nonsense, I couldn't even describe it as ambiguous, for them to use that phrase they should be able to say "I can see why you thought that, but if you read it again carefully you can see it actually means" -but they could not say that.

dilallio

The Tesco Mobile UK site has no such ambuigity:

2.4 Monthly subscription charges for your tariff (if any) will start when the SIM Card is activated, which is at the point of purchase.

dilallio

Update

This is for the benefit of anyone else who feels that they have signed up to something based on Terms & Conditions which are not clear.

I contacted the National Consumer Agency who quoted:

Before a consumer enters into a contract they should review any terms and conditions attached to the network, as once you have agreed to the service, you have also agreed to the terms and conditions and are bound by them.

However, The European Communities (Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts) Regulations, 1995 require that all standard contracts between a supplier/trader be:

• Fair
• Written in simple language that can be easily understood
• Not biased against the consumer As previously mentioned, when a consumer is purchasing a product or service they should read and fully understand the terms and conditions.

Therefore, based on the information provided in your email, as you feel the terms and conditions for the activation of the sim and account billing are possibly misleading, we will refer the matter you raise to Commercial Practices Division (CPD) for their review. Our CPD will examine the issue raised in the context of general consumer detriment and will take whatever follow up action (if any) is necessary and within our available resources. In this regard, our focus is to examine the commercial practices of traders to ensure compliance with the legislation for the benefit of all consumers rather than pursuing a trader on behalf of individual consumers.

I also contacted ComReg who asked Tesco Mobile to resolve the issue.

Tesco Mobile have agreed that their T&C's were not updated in line with a recent change in they way they activate Pay Monthly SIM's, and have agreed to refund me.

wmpdd3

Well done OP!