# Getting out of my mobile phone contract in the UK



## RagsToRich

When I leave for Spain, in August, I will have 9 months left on my £25/month mobile phone contract.

I've tried to negotiate with my service provider, o2, who've told me the best they can offer me for a cancellation... is paying the full remaining fee in "monthly installments."

This may not go down too well - but I'm honestly considering risking a CCJ and just cancelling my direct debit. I have friends in who work in credit control and debt collection for various companies and they all basically think that most likely o2 will offer to settle for a lesser fee, I'll pay it, and that'll be the end of that.

If the worst comes to the worst I'll have a CCJ and my credit rating will be messed up for 3-4 years in the UK. Hmmm not ideal.

Other options...

1) Just pay it ... that means I'm burning £200. Which is really not good. But I do get to keep the phone at least. Of course I also get to keep it if I default as well. 

2) Sell it to a relative for the remaining contract. Two problems with this. a) I'm not sure any of my relatives would want a 9 month contract and also b) I would have to give them the phone (of course). 

Has anyone had any experience with this and what can be done?

Thanks!

Moral of the story so far - don't get yourself into massively long phone contracts


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## jojo

RagsToRich said:


> When I leave for Spain, in August, I will have 9 months left on my £25/month mobile phone contract.
> 
> I've tried to negotiate with my service provider, o2, who've told me the best they can offer me for a cancellation... is paying the full remaining fee in "monthly installments."
> 
> This may not go down too well - but I'm honestly considering risking a CCJ and just cancelling my direct debit. I have friends in who work in credit control and debt collection for various companies and they all basically think that most likely o2 will offer to settle for a lesser fee, I'll pay it, and that'll be the end of that.
> 
> If the worst comes to the worst I'll have a CCJ and my credit rating will be messed up for 3-4 years in the UK. Hmmm not ideal.
> 
> Other options...
> 
> 1) Just pay it ... that means I'm burning £200. Which is really not good. But I do get to keep the phone at least. Of course I also get to keep it if I default as well.
> 
> 2) Sell it to a relative for the remaining contract. Two problems with this. a) I'm not sure any of my relatives would want a 9 month contract and also b) I would have to give them the phone (of course).
> 
> Has anyone had any experience with this and what can be done?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Moral of the story so far - don't get yourself into massively long phone contracts



..... Or you could keep it going and get a spanish "O2 bolt on"?? Thats what my OH has and its very cost effective. Admittedly he spends alot of time in the UK working but he uses it here very cheaply as well. In fact he's just renewed it all cos its such a good deal according to him

Jo xxx


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## RagsToRich

jojo said:


> ..... Or you could keep it going and get a spanish "O2 bolt on"?? Thats what my OH has and its very cost effective. Admittedly he spends alot of time in the UK working but he uses it here very cheaply as well. In fact he's just renewed it all cos its such a good deal according to him
> 
> Jo xxx


:clap2:

This is a very interesting suggestion. I'll see what options are available.

Rich


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## jojo

RagsToRich said:


> :clap2:
> 
> This is a very interesting suggestion. I'll see what options are available.
> 
> Rich


It maybe worth remembering that O2 is owned by the Spanish telephone company "Telefonica! - who we all know and love 

Jo xxx


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## SteveHall

You would NOT have to give them the phone. The contract is on the SIM card and not the SIM. 

That said, I would be amazed if 02 would not make some arrangement but don't know how many iPhones etc you have upgraded to. I'd offer in writing to pay 12 GBP per month and then a hideous CPM rate for emergency calls. 

They can only say "no" 

Vodafone/Orange would normally accept that type of deal in Spain 

Telenor would in Norway.


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## Stravinsky

SteveHall said:


> You would NOT have to give them the phone. The contract is on the SIM card and not the SIM.
> 
> That said, I would be amazed if 02 would not make some arrangement but don't know how many iPhones etc you have upgraded to. I'd offer in writing to pay 12 GBP per month and then a hideous CPM rate for emergency calls.
> 
> They can only say "no"
> 
> Vodafone/Orange would normally accept that type of deal in Spain
> 
> Telenor would in Norway.


I tried to get Vodaphone UK to swap to Vodaphone Spain ... gthey were not interested. They wouldnt even let me use the same phone as it was vodaphone UK locked!!!


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## RachNurse

How about reducing your phone contract to the minimum offered by your provider, I know it all depends on who you're with but I'm sure after so many months you're able to migrate to a cheaper package, which might make things a little lighter on your pocket??

Unfortunately I've just signed up for another 2yrs with T mobile...... ahh the things we do for our iPhones lol


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## lynn

I had a similar situation with Vodafone. With four months to go to the end of the contract, the best they could offer was to reduce the tariff to the lowest they had for the remaining term, and then when the contract was finished and I gave notice, it was swapped for a pay-as-you-go phone. 
Luckily, the palm treo handset I have works perfectly well with an Orange pay as you go sim I bought here in Spain. I think its ridiculous that they weren't able to swap me onto a Vodafone Spanish contract. It means they lost my custom.


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## SteveHall

Lynn - I agree 100% but to all intents and purposes Vodafone UK is a completely separate company from Vodafone España! (A bit like Barclays Bank in the two countries) 

Now, we all know how dumb this looks to customers but there are people in Voadfone Towers being paid millions to tell the directors just what we think.


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## mosesriver

Was in the exact same situation as you 2 years ago, I done the mature adult thing and just left the country after changing my address and porting my number from 02 to a vodafone pay as you go. I feel that I have paid enough over the years for my O2 phones to warrant my actions. They sent me one email looking for 440gbp and that was the last I heard from them.
I sleep soundly at night.


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## montywilliams

mosesriver said:


> Was in the exact same situation as you 2 years ago, I done the mature adult thing and just left the country after changing my address and porting my number from 02 to a vodafone pay as you go. I feel that I have paid enough over the years for my O2 phones to warrant my actions. They sent me one email looking for 440gbp and that was the last I heard from them.
> I sleep soundly at night.


I just like the your way for handling this problem. person should move away from this region.


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## Dunpleecin

If it's a decent phone why not sell it to a recycling company? You might get a decent price for it and if you also call the provider and go to the cheapest option available then you might end up not losing much if anything. Obviously if you then get a contract phone in spain you'll get a phone with it although it depends on what phone you have and what you'd need to pay.

I've had my contract locked phones unlocked and I will then get just a sim card in Spain. I'm not really bothered about the minor financial hit, as the bigger picture is more important.

Actually talking about CCJ's, you might find that if you want credit in Spain, they do refer to UK credit agencies. They did with me...


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