Do you have to pay the 30 days notice fee?

bob skunkhouse

Hi,

I'm with a BB provider whose service has become more than useless and not what they've advertised or I signed up to. I've been with them for 4+ years.
Given the service they are providing is so bad, I've decided not to pay my latest bill plus the bill for the 30 day notice - in that I'm not receiving the service I signed up to. What's my rights here? Must I cough up despite not receiving anywhere near the service they should be (I'm talking about no connection at all or at most 0.1mb upload).

Thk

dudara

What steps have you taken to resolve the issue with the BB provider? If you can demonstrate that you have taken all steps, then you could argue to be released from the contract by the provider.

However, if you are unilaterally deciding to stop paying, then you are liable for the remainder of the contract amount etc.

bob skunkhouse

Thanks for the prompt reply.

No, I've followed their own actions to troubleshoot the issue and communicated to them accordingly but they've seemed to fob off the issue blaming routers or weather or some other reason. I actually raised the issue with Comreg as well (while they weren't able to give consumer advice). To expand a little, I've actually cancelled my payment and not paid the previous bills and sent them an email stating why I've cancelled. Then recently I've received a letter stating that they've repeatedly looked for the outstanding balance (which they haven't) and if it's not paid then the services of a debt recovery agency will be sought.

I'm loathed to pay it given both the service I received and the customer service received. A quick 'google' shows that I'm not the only one dissatisfied with them but given the latest development (in my case) I feel I should stand firm.

Thanks.

dudara

Unfortunately, they are entitled to recover the monies owed, as they did not agree to release you from the contract.

Comreg shoud have advised you to send a letter marked "Formal/Final Complaint" to the provider, in an effort to drive resolution. Were you told that?

bob skunkhouse

Balls to that then!

Nope, Comreg didn't mention any of that. They took the details of the incident I raised and said they'd follow up on it. I haven't heard anything over the past few months regarding it. I did send a follow up email this morning.

"We are regretful that you have decided to cancel your broadband service with us. Please accept this as confirmation that we have received your request for cancellation of the broadband service.

Please ensure that you have cancelled your standing order with your bank as we cannot do so at this end. Once we have received your payment of 24.99 EURO we will be in a position to close your account. This will serve as your 30 days’ notice."

The above is an extract from the last email I received from them. They're looking for a payment of €25 here but the latest missive I received was for €50. Surely I've grounds to pay them just the 25 based on their email and call it quits at that?

colm_mcm

You pay for your service in advance.

bob skunkhouse

colm_mcm wrote: »

You pay for your service in advance.

That would be fine if I was receiving a service. The point is I'm not. Why pay for something I'm not receiving, hence my original query.