Broadband Contract over the phone

ACitizenErased

Hi all,
My father received a phone call from 3 broadband back in August offering us an upgraded router with a 14 day cooling off period. We accepted but it didn't work as intended and sent it back within a week along with all the regular phone calls to say we don't want it etc.
I'm upgrading the internet soon and was just checking the details on the account and it appears 3 have extended our contract from the day the router was sent for an additional 18 months. My father insists he wasn't told the contract would be extended, it was simply testing an upgraded router.
Can someone advise what my options are here? Do 3 keep a record of phone calls to check whether a contract was agreed?

Bikerman2019

If he re-signed up, I understand they are supposed to send out a new contract. Did he get one? I re-signed / upgraded with virgin last week. I got SEVEN contracts in the post

ACitizenErased

Bikerman2019 wrote: »

If he re-signed up, I understand they are supposed to send out a new contract. Did he get one? I re-signed / upgraded with virgin last week. I got SEVEN contracts in the post

Have nothing in paper no. The CCPC says on their website for over the phone contracts it must be either in writing or recorded confirmation.

Bikerman2019

ACitizenErased wrote: »

Have nothing in paper no. The CCPC says on their website for over the phone contracts it must be either in writing or recorded confirmation.

I upgraded over the phone. Maybe somebody more knowledgeable will be able to answer this.

Ten Pin

They're supposed to provide a contract via email or post ("durable format").

https://www.comreg.ie/publication/sky-pays-e117000-penalty-for-failing-to-provide-customer-contracts-on-durable-medium-and-cooling-off-rights

Intuitively it should apply to upgrades that start a new term as the end dates will have changed.

AFAIK this is the relevant SI...
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2013/si/484/made/en/print

...search for the relevant terms: "contract", "cancellation", cooling off" etc

Xterminator

i have renewed utilities contracts over the phone too. I always assumed the call was recorded.

OP your father can call the provider and request evidence the contract was renewed, eg do they have the phone call, and or were documents emailed or posted to him etc.

if they cannot provide any evidence of contract renewal, then you should be able to leave without a termination fee.

corks finest

Bikerman2019 wrote: »

If he re-signed up, I understand they are supposed to send out a new contract. Did he get one? I re-signed / upgraded with virgin last week. I got SEVEN contracts in the post

Give us 1

ACitizenErased

Ten Pin wrote: »

They're supposed to provide a contract via email or post ("durable format").

https://www.comreg.ie/publication/sky-pays-e117000-penalty-for-failing-to-provide-customer-contracts-on-durable-medium-and-cooling-off-rights

Intuitively it should apply to upgrades that start a new term as the end dates will have changed.

AFAIK this is the relevant SI...
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2013/si/484/made/en/print

...search for the relevant terms: "contract", "cancellation", cooling off" etc

Thanks very much for that. We received neither email nor post regarding it.

Xterminator wrote: »

i have renewed utilities contracts over the phone too. I always assumed the call was recorded.

OP your father can call the provider and request evidence the contract was renewed, eg do they have the phone call, and or were documents emailed or posted to him etc.

if they cannot provide any evidence of contract renewal, then you should be able to leave without a termination fee.

Yeah I'll have to ring them. Not sure if a regular customer service representative will be able to provide a recording though?

Ten Pin

Yeah I'll have to ring them. Not sure if a regular customer service representative will be able to provide a recording though?

There are a couple of options if CS don't resolve it...

1. Lodge a formal complaint, this is a separate process from CS chats/calls.

2. Submit SAR to get all data they have about the account. The point of doing this is that it will show whether or not a new contract term was agreed.....they can't make up a phone call conversation and if the contract was sent then they should have a copy on file and a time stamp of when it was issued. It's a bit if a rabbit hole but might be necessary if ISPs mislead customers with any auld guff to boost sales.

ACitizenErased

Ten Pin wrote: »

There are a couple of options if CS don't resolve it...

1. Lodge a formal complaint, this is a separate process from CS chats/calls.

2. Submit SAR to get all data they have about the account. The point of doing this is that it will show whether or not a new contract term was agreed.....they can't make up a phone call conversation and if the contract was sent then they should have a copy on file and a time stamp of when it was issued. It's a bit if a rabbit hole but might be necessary if ISPs mislead customers with any auld guff to boost sales.

What seems to be happening now is they're insisting the router was not received by them and hence the 14 day period didn't apply. I have the tracking number which proves it was delivered but doesn't include the address, it just says Dublin.
1) How do I go about proving it was delivered? An Post likely won't give me the details and the label is long gone.
2) Comreg states that "Where a customer receives a rollover contract or an upgrade to their existing contract, this contract must also be provided to the customer in a durable form and contain all the information necessary regarding their rights."
Does this entail the original phone call?

ACitizenErased

Update to above, I found the An Post slip and can prove it was sent.

okidoki987

ACitizenErased wrote: »

Update to above, I found the An Post slip and can prove it was sent.

Will be interesting to hear what 3 say now but I'd guess something along the lines of "oh, it was delivered to the front desk and nobody there sent it up to us so we never got it in time".

ACitizenErased

okidoki987 wrote: »

Will be interesting to hear what 3 say now but I'd guess something along the lines of "oh, it was delivered to the front desk and nobody there sent it up to us so we never got it in time".

I won't be letting this go, there's no way I'm paying a penny when we cancel next month. I'll go to Comreg and beyond, I've no time for these companies.

Ten Pin

Is the tracking record still online?
https://www.anpost.com/Post-Parcels/Track/Search

There should be an option to get the delivery "signature" sent via email.

The SI says...

“durable medium” means any medium, including paper and e-mail, that—

(a) enables its recipients to store information addressed personally to them in a way accessible for future reference for a period of time adequate for the purposes of the information, and

(b) allows the unchanged reproduction of the stored information;

...a call recording might meet the criteria but would need to include the entire conversation from start to finish and state clearly that the customer is entering a contract etc etc.

Either way, Three must surely have a template contract that takes 10 seconds to edit and send by email. There is no logical reason for them not to do so....unless they are being deliberately vague so that they can blag their way out of it with less diligent consumers.

dam099

Ten Pin wrote: »

...a call recording might meet the criteria but would need to include the entire conversation from start to finish and state clearly that the customer is entering a contract etc etc.

But don't they have to "provide" it to the customer. In which case unless they sent a file of the call recording (unlikely other than in response to a SAR) they haven't met their obligation anyway.

ACitizenErased

Good news lads. Three have suddenly located the router in the back of the warehouse. Contract being cancelled.