Liverpool FC Forum

[PhiLFC]

Back in january I got into an 18 month contract with 3 for one of those broadband data card things that you plug into your laptop.  I worked away from home all the time and it was handy to have.

Unfortunately in February I had a lot of nosebleeds in a 2 day period and was diagnosed with high BP.  I have done 3 weeks work in 6 months.

Today I contacted 3 to see if I could get out of the rest of the contract, to no avail.  Asian call centre, useless and although the idiot on the phone kept on saying "I understand" I asked him how he "understood" my predicament, how I'm now on incapacity benefit of £63 a week and how £15 a month is now a significant amount of money in my life.  Apparently I can "buy" the rest of the contract out to a sum of approx £250 (this was the sum he gave) which obviously is a no can do.  In the end I just ended up getting wound up and putting the phone down.

I don't have a problem with item I've got, 3 haven't given me rubbish service... I was just contacting them to ask for some help with regards my financial predicament which will obviously get worse as time progresses.

I'm at a low ebb at the moment and can't believe the way my life has changed for the worse in such a short space of time - anyway there you have it.  Helpful advice would be wonderful.... Phil

[Sabre]

Hi first of all, walk on mate, you'll get through this bad patch.

Second, I can't help you much since laws and rights are different here. BTW, abusive contracts from internet and phone companies are the same.

Isn't there a consume association in your country? kind of a social service that give advice for those cases? Not all the clauses that you're imposed by companies are actually legal (that depends on legislation of course) but perhaps there's a association around that can give you info.

I had for instance troubles with a company here, who wanted to charge me 2 months after I switched the service to another company. They argued that they had processed the transfer in that time, and thus I had to pay. They tried to intimidate me by sending me to court.

But I learned in this association they had no right to do that and that kind of intimidations are so that you pay them. Nothing happened for those two rejected bills. Find info mate, in google there must be something about abusive clauses in contracts.

Sorry I can't help more, just wished to say good wishes for you. Luck in life is like the boat and the wind, now you have it against you, but wait a bit, and it will start blowing behind.

[Woollyback]

phil, sabre is on the right track - try phoning the citizens advice bureau. they are very good with this kind of stuff. don't forget that no company is gonna be overly eager to take you to court for the sake of 200 odd quid, it's cost them more than that in solicitors costs. maybe make them an offer in writing, explaining your circumstances and how you are happy to repay the debt at something like £2 a month as your budget won't stretch to any more than that. if it ever did go to small claims court, the court would throw the case out as you'd been fair & reasonable and made an offer to pay to the best of your ability.

sorry to hear about your health problems mate, i'd imagine you need to be in tip top condition in your line of work. hope all works out for you soon

[dawson99]

Was gonna put what Wooly put, offer them £1 or £2 a month... and go from there Citizens Advice will be good as well... and get well soon dude!

just remember the high blood pressure and don't get stressed, the citizens advice will help mate

[Number 9]

Give them fu'ck all mate!I've been in a similar situation before only with NTL.

As said above by Wooly write a letter explaining your circumstances,keep it polite and make sure its all true.make sure its dated and SIGNED especially or its not legally binding.Take a photo copy as some sort of proof you tried to explain further down the line!
They will keep phoning you and sending threatening letters,ignore the letters,dont loose the rag on the phone.

Dont pay them a penny more if you cant afford to.
If in the unlikely circumstances they take you to court there is not a judge in the country that will take their side because your health was the reason you could not work.Its not your fault and the judge will take that into account!At worse he will make you pay back a few quid a week!

The only thing is though after a while they may put the debt over to a collection agency!That could be a problem if you have good credit it may effect you in the future getting loans etc.
If your credit is already bad or you are blacklisted you have nothing to loose!

If you dont want to be awkward though and can afford a few quid a week,contact them and ask to set up a payment plan.Nearly all companies will say yes as they know they will get their money all be it over a longer period of time!

I know how ya feel lad.Most of us have had financial difficulties at times,its no fun.It seems though that when your lucks down they all want a piece of you or to kick you when your down!
They will only kick you if you let them though!

Good luck with the blood pressure...Best use Flora on yer toast!

[PhiLFC]

cheers for the advice people.  I'm gonna go down to the Citizens Advice Bureau (I forgot about them) to see what advice they can give - there must have been thousands of people with the same problem.

I will write a letter first though, it seems to be the correct thing to do.  I don't owe any debt to them and have kept up with my monthly payments.  My missus has said "don't worry about it" as she is happy to pay it off but that's not the point is it?  The contract is with me and not her... what would happen if I was on my own?  I just want a bit of common sense to prevail, surely the phone company has procedures or contingency plans for this type of event.  Don't worry I'm not losing any sleep over it, it's not worth it.

Blood pressure - once you've been diagnosed with it you're on medication for the rest of your life.  My days as a commercial diver are now over, I'm fit and healthy (as you have to be for my line of work) but something is going on that is beyond my control.  Initially my BP was very unstable and very very high - now for the first time it seems to be steady.  Believe it or not I now feel a bit ill when my BP is at "normal" levels (125/75).  To put it simple the top figure is your heart "at work" and the bottom figure is your heart "taking a rest" in between beats.  Now consider this, my BP previously was in excess of 185/125... so my heart "at rest" was as high as most people's heart "at work".  Not a situation anybody wants to be in.

Anyway I'm on the sick, still, for another 8 weeks so I'll just make the most of the summer and do things round the house.

[66-1112520797]

Hope your okay with your BP

[JBG]

Hi Phil. I presume that you like in the UK. English law is similar to Irish law (where I live) in many respects and unfortunately I doubt there is anyway you can break your contract on the basis of illness/reduced income: often these contracts are fairly watertight in these respects as otherwise every Tom, Dick and Harry could get out of paying their bills by claiming they're sick. Unfortunately this appears to be the case in most countries that a few scroungers ruin it for those who are genuinely ill.

Also, I would be careful in taking Wolly's advice that "no company will take you to court over £200". Telecommunications companies will take you to court even over small amounts as a matter of business policy and they will be prepared to shell out the legal costs to do so so as to send out a warning to those who might be tempted to call their bluff: for example, in Ireland, the largest amount of judgements registered against houses are judgments in favour of the likes of BT for sums less than €1000. Also, in smaller cases where a defendant ignores the legal proceedings the broadband company could get a simple quick judgement against you without you being in court: in Ireland and many other countries there is a facility whereby a company can get a quick judgement in the court's office by filing the necessary papers without anybody turning up in court although this only occurs where the defendant buries his head in the sand and ignores the proceedings.

My advice would be to go to a citizens advice centre and then try and negotiate with the company for a settlement of your case.

[kazza 1]

Hi Phil. I like you had my whole life turned upside down in a very short period of time and I am also on the sick, living on £63 a week incapicty benefit and have not worked a day from the 14th December.
One of the reasons I am ill (though its a small part of it) was bills and how I was gonna pay them. (I ended up going bankrupt as I was in so much debt) One of these debts was Vodafone. They where taking me to court over a small amount of money, so be careful when you say your only going to pay what you can afford. They dont usually except it and it will still be put down as not paid then the next thing is you'll be getting letters from debt companies looking you to pay in full.
As was said by Woolly, your best bet would be CAB, as they could ring on your behalf, explain your situtuation and maybe arrange some sort of payment terms. If not they can tell you what road to go down. They are an underestimated charity. They helped me out a lot.

The last thing you need is 3 breathing down your neck, its not good for the blood pressure. Hope you get better soon.

[Sabre]

Barry informs

The only thing is though after a while they may put the debt over to a collection agency!That could be a problem if you have good credit it may effect you in the future getting loans etc.
If your credit is already bad or you are blacklisted you have nothing to loose!

I was threatened with that too! But those black lists were declared anticonstutional and illegal.

And it makes sense!, it's a judge who has to decide who's right, and you cannot fulfil a punnishment as if you were declared guilty just because a fúcking company decides it. They tried to do the black list thingy, but it's illegal now. Just make sure that is still working in your country, and if it is, protest!

[PhiLFC]

Thanks again people... it appears as though it's not worth it doesn't it, all the hassle and bother.  I easily get angry on the phone due to pure frustration with the monkeys on the other end of the line... not good for my BP.  So I will see what the Citizens Advice people have got to say but for now I'll put up with a decision I made when I signed on the dotted line.  And learn from my mistake(s).

[Leonmc0708]

Where did you sign the contract ?

IS it a business or consumer one ?

How lon into the contract are you ?

What is the "tariff" that you are on ?

[PhiLFC]

Where did you sign the contract ?

IS it a business or consumer one ?

How lon into the contract are you ?

What is the "tariff" that you are on ?

In the 3 shop (high street branch)

Consumer (personal)

18 months (done about 5 or 6 now)

£15 per month

[andy_g]

phil, mate. hope you get better - or start feeling better - soon. as far as the money is concerned, i reckon for £3.75 a week its worth keeping the internet on. use it to find ways to combat the high blood pressure and ways which you can earn money sat in front of your laptop.

[PhiLFC]

phil, mate. hope you get better - or start feeling better - soon. as far as the money is concerned, i reckon for £3.75 a week its worth keeping the internet on. use it to find ways to combat the high blood pressure and ways which you can earn money sat in front of your laptop.

Cheers Andy.  I feel fine mate, just a bit frustrated with events and things.  Am not allowed to work at the moment because of the instability of my BP.... can't even get life insurance to cover my mortgage until its completely stabilised (now THAT is worrying!)

Get this... my GP has said I've got to exercise more.  Ok fair enough, don't we all?  So I goes down to my local gym but because   of my high BP they need a letter from my GP to say that he has advised me to take exercise as part of my treatment.  OK I understand that, insurance and all, it makes sense.  Go to my GP's to explain and they want £30 for the fucking letter      Am sticking to cycling/jogging with a heart monitor on for now (about £10 from Aldi - a cracking piece of kit thats heart monitor, speedo, milo, exercise timer etc)

Every cloud's got a silver lining though.  I've got an interview with my local dole office and they're gonna sort me out something called exercise on prescription.  Which means what it says really... they'll get me membership of local gym, swimming pool gym etc on prescription because their priority is getting me fit so I can get back to work and off benefits...