# movistar



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

No doubt this question has been asked before , apologies, but can anyone tell me how to stop movistar taking money from my account for a contract I ended over two months ago?

I was happy with movistar for over thirteen years but decided to change to a cheaper provider. I immediately spoke to movistar who assure me my contract was cancelled and I would receive no further charges.

I've asked my bank to decline further payments, maybe this will work?


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

That depends on the way you were paying and how far you are prepared to go!

The "Customer Service" team of Movistar could well be informed of your contract cancellation, but as long as the "billing" department is not aware of it (or ignores it) they will keep charging you. It's sadly the way things work.

If you were paying "the old way" via regular bank transfers (standing orders) then you can just instruct your bank to stop paying it and they will.

However as companies have tried to protect themselves against unilateral terminations by customers via this method, they have started to insist that payments are made by debit or credit card and these cannot be stopped as easily. (You would have to cancel the card itself).

The problem with both of these methods is that the billing department (ignoring your cancelled contract) will chase the payments, first directly to you, then via debt recovery agencies. Your details will be added to the list of "morosos" and this will affect your credit rating.

Maybe you don't care about that and so the issue can end there. But if you want to avoid this you will need to have some written confirmation of the cancellation (send a Burofax with recorded content), then follow that up with a written demand to stop collecting payments, again recorded content Burofax. Don't send the communications to the recipient they tell you on the phone. Send it to the formal contact point named in the contract otherwise it won't have any legal effect.

If (when) that doesn't work take all the paperwork to a lawyer for help.

Another important point is to return all the modems, routers and TV boxes which they may have provided you with. You will find that according to your contract you are obliged to return them at the end of your contract as they still belong to Movistar. If they find out that you haven't they will charge you for them and they are not cheap!

Good luck!


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## davexf (Jan 26, 2009)

Hola

There was a thread on this a few years ago; I cancelled mine but had to call in OMIC the ombudsman to get Movistar to accept the cancellation 

Oops it was 7 years ago but on a different forum - just checked by searching for OMIC 

Davexf


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

We had to send a formal cancellation letter to an address in Madrid, it was very hard to find but it worked. That was two years ago and I think you can do it all online now. I believe it took a few weeks for the direct debits to stop but eventually they refunded part of it for the month during which we cancelled.

They will keep charging you monthly for equipment rental (e.g. €10 for a telephone handset) until you return it to one of their outlets.


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## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

mrypg9 said:


> No doubt this question has been asked before , apologies, but can anyone tell me how to stop movistar taking money from my account for a contract I ended over two months ago?
> 
> I was happy with movistar for over thirteen years but decided to change to a cheaper provider. I immediately spoke to movistar who assure me my contract was cancelled and I would receive no further charges.
> 
> I've asked my bank to decline further payments, maybe this will work?


About eight years ago I sent Movistar a recorded delivery letter cancelling a useless Trac phone system that I inherited when I bought my house. Months went by and they made no attempt to collect their equipment. I offered to disconnect it and deliver it to a Movistar shop but they said I was not allowed to do that. Eventually I sent them a recorded delivery letter telling them that I would be charging €5 a day for storage of their equipment and this prompted a swift response. An engineer turned up at my house and collected the equipment and gave me a receipt. Several months later Movistar took €510 from my bank account and I immediately reversed this and told the bank to refuse any attempts by Movistar to take further payments. This started a long battle by Movistar to force me to pay the €510 for "non return of their equipment." To cut a long story short it took two years to get them and their debt collectors off my back. After receiving a notice of court action I hired a Spanish lawyer who told me that Movistar had a reputation for being "a nasty company" but he would put a stop to their harassment. It cost me €150 for the letter he sent to them but that was the last I ever heard of the matter. I hope you don't share my experience with Movistar!


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## Phil Squares (Jan 13, 2017)

To add to "The Skipper" post regarding with Movistar. About a year ago, after countless complaints to Movistar about slow internet, for example paying for 600Mbps fiber optic and getting 10Mbps I finally decided to go with Vodafone. I cancelled Movistar after going round and round with them. I returned all their equipment and received a receipt. However, as I expected, I was billed for service in the next billing cycle. I reversed the transaction and advised the bank to delete the standing order. 

A few months later, I received a very nasty letter from Movistar threatening me with everything but the death penalty. IK had my attorney in Madrid send a letter and never heard from Movistar again. Nasty isn't qauite the right word for them.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Thanks everyone for your advice.

I've only had a mobile contract with them since I moved house so no equipment to return.

I blocked movistar from my DD list in my BS account, hopefully that will stop further deductions.


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## Roy C (Sep 29, 2012)

We had loads of trouble trying to finalise payment on our account. In the end we went into the shop in Estepona and they sorted it out for us. The shop in the old town one street back from the seafront and up the road from the back entrance of Ferguson's Irish Bar, I don't know the name of the street.


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