Cancelling an ISP contract

[tonshun]

Has anyone had any luck at cancelling an isp contract?

When broadband arrived in my area i instantly upgraded my subscription with Alice.

All was well for 5 days. After that it refused to work. (Too many people online nearer the exchange caused the signal to become too weak for my house.)

My neighbours said we were on the limit of the signal and only two providers worked in our area - not Alice!

(my alicebox worked at a friend's house in another town, so no probs with the box)

So after 6 weeks of fruitless calls to the helpline i returned the box, cancelled my contract and joined an ISP that works in my area. After two months it is still working - perfectly!  However, two months after returning my Alicebox they (finally) write to me to say we've received your box but you cannot cancel until 12 months are up, as per your contract.

Needless to say i wrote to them again saying i did not sign up to a year contract for a service that doesn't work in my area even though they assured me initially it would!  Needless to say i've already cancelled my DD at the bank! Does anyone know if i stand a chance of 'winning' this? Each letter i send explaining the problem results in a standard letter back saying it's an uncancellable (!) 12 month contract !!

[Clair]

Tricky one, as you have entered into a contract by accepting and using the Alice box. The contract binds you for 12 months and technically they are entitled to the money, unless you can prove the service was unsatisfactory.

Have you kept a record of your calls to their helpline over the 6 weeks in question?

Do they still offer the service where you are?

Is there a way to prove the service was never going to be satisfactory?

The recommended procedure when the service is not up to the expected standard is to write to the supplier (registered post with proof of receipt) to demand that a good connection be re-established within x days or the contract is cancelled  (sample letter here). It's called une mise en demeure. This forces them to act or lose the contract. Then if this is not done, you can walk away without you having to pay any penalty.

I'd advise you to look at one of the consumers website (this is a good starting point) and see if they offer any suggestion.

Sorry if this is not as positive as you probably expected.

[tonshun]

Many thanks for your reply.

Yes, i kept a record of my phone calls. But i see no way of proving that the service will never work.

Certainly their service doesn't work in my hamlet (only 2 ISPs do) but they do work 1/2 a mile away. Very strange and this has cost me many hours trying to resolve it.

The link looks very useful and i'll have a good read of it.

[Zak Dingle]

Hi Tonshun,

        I had the same problem with Tiscali/Alice, I had been on dial-up for 3 years with Tiscali and changed to ADSL, when the ADSL connection failed to work I tried contacting Alice by phone, their own contact on the web site and letter, for over three months I paid them each month for absolutely nothing, I even asked them if I could revert to my dialup. I had to use my Free.fr dial up as a backup connection which was costing me a fortune in phone bills. Alice said that I could not cancel until the 12 month contract was up in March 2007. In desperation I contacted my bank and explained in full the whole story and they advised me that as I was paying via my Carte Bleue I should Fax them (the bank) a letter telling them that I had lost the card, they would then stop all activity on that card and issue me with another and when the next montly charge was demanded by Alice it would be refused, so far it has worked and Alice has asked me for a new card number, which I am ignoring.  I am however now waiting to see if Alice want to take matters further and sue for a breach of contract. I have all of my communications saved (to and from) and as a lot of my phone calls were with the help of my neighbour she is quite willing to back up my number of calls made to the helpline with her own testimony. They (Alice) assured me all the while that they had a 'specialist team working on the problem' my main frustration was that each time I called we had to start from the beginning with the problem witch involved the helpline person going through the whole setup procedure. Sorry to go on but it is nice to get it off my chest...again! Good luck in your quest. I wish that I had the advice given to me that the previous poster has given re: the recorded letter, sounds a much safer option than mine.

best regards

Zak

[tonshun]

Hi Zak

What you have said is exactly what has happened to me! I spent over 100euros on dial up calls in the first month Alice was not working. And gave up with them totally after 6 weeks - so it's not as if i was impatient. Like you, every call to the helpline involved going through the whole set up process each time. I even had a (french) neighbour ring for me and they were equally unimpressed.  I paid via DD (RIB) and have now cancelled this at my bank. I am in your situation as the recorded letter option recommended is too late for me - i simply returned the box with a letter explaining why! Now i wish i had posted my problem earlier -before returning the box!  And my new provider (Free) has worked 24/7 without any problems for the last 6 weeks showing there is not a problem with my computer or set up! Please keep me updated with how you get on as you are are one step ahead of me - i'm awaiting their letter saying their DD was refused!

By the way, according to their terms, we can supposedly claim a refund from them when the service doesnt work for 3 days - they haven't responded to my letter on this!!!   

Bon courage!