From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

Have been trying for 2 days now. And with a 30 minute total wait (I can't imagine why there is a flood of people cancelling) I have had enough.

What's the situation where a companies own practices creates a delay in cancelling a contract ?

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From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

On Mon, 14 Sep 2026 14:13:10 -0000 (UTC), Jethro
<jethro_UK@hotmailbin.com> wrote:

Have been trying for 2 days now. And with a 30 minute total wait (I can't >imagine why there is a flood of people cancelling) I have had enough.

What's the situation where a companies own practices creates a delay in >cancelling a contract ?

When that nice Mr Burnham comes back from his bereavement leave you
could ask him. He promised to make exiting contracts as easy as
setting them up in the first place.

Nick

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From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

On 14/09/2026 15:13, Jethro wrote:

Have been trying for 2 days now. And with a 30 minute total wait (I can't imagine why there is a flood of people cancelling) I have had enough.

What's the situation where a companies own practices creates a delay in cancelling a contract ?

I commend to you the following article from July of this year:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c982vm2jzl1o

Headline (for those that do not like clicking blind links): "Virgin
Media fined after hanging up on customers trying to cancel contracts"

First three paragraphs thereof:

"Virgin Media has been fined -u28m for repeatedly preventing customers
from cancelling contracts, Ofcom said.

"The communications regulator said it uncovered tactics including agents deliberately hanging up calls, and customers being put on hold "for no reason".

"It said millions of calls from customers were "likely mishandled" over
a three-year period which prevented or delayed them from switching to a
better broadband, landline or pay-TV deal."

I recommend raising a formal complaint with VM about your difficulty in terminating the contract.

Then complain to Ofcom using their on-line portal.

You should be able to push for compensation at least equal to any fees incurred by being unable to cancel.

Regards

S.P.

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From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

On 14/09/2026 20:21, Nick Odell wrote:

On Mon, 14 Sep 2026 14:13:10 -0000 (UTC), Jethro
<jethro_UK@hotmailbin.com> wrote:

Have been trying for 2 days now. And with a 30 minute total wait (I can't
imagine why there is a flood of people cancelling) I have had enough.

What's the situation where a companies own practices creates a delay in
cancelling a contract ?

When that nice Mr Burnham comes back from his bereavement leave you
could ask him. He promised to make exiting contracts as easy as
setting them up in the first place.

The new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 [^1] was originally due to come into effect in Autumn 2026 but was delayed until
Spring 2027.

The latest timeline given is that it will be take effect on 1st January
2027.

Regards

S.P.

[^1] https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2024/13/contents

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From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

On 14/09/2026 21:32, Simon Parker wrote:

On 14/09/2026 15:13, Jethro wrote:

Have been trying for 2 days now. And with a 30 minute total wait (I can't
imagine why there is a flood of people cancelling) I have had enough.

What's the situation where a companies own practices creates a delay in
cancelling a contract ?

I commend to you the following article from July of this year:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c982vm2jzl1o

Headline (for those that do not like clicking blind links): "Virgin
Media fined after hanging up on customers trying to cancel contracts"

First three paragraphs thereof:

"Virgin Media has been fined -u28m for repeatedly preventing customers
from cancelling contracts, Ofcom said.

"The communications regulator said it uncovered tactics including agents deliberately hanging up calls, and customers being put on hold "for no reason".

"It said millions of calls from customers were "likely mishandled" over
a three-year period which prevented or delayed them from switching to a better broadband, landline or pay-TV deal."

I recommend raising a formal complaint with VM about your difficulty in terminating the contract.

Then complain to Ofcom using their on-line portal.

You should be able to push for compensation at least equal to any fees incurred by being unable to cancel.

Regards

S.P.

They need to take a look at EDF Energy while they're at it...very
similar tactics.
--
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. www.avast.com

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From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

Nick Odell wrote:

When that nice Mr Burnham comes back from his bereavement leave you
could ask him. He promised to make exiting contracts as easy as
setting them up in the first place.

Did he mean for new or existing contracts though?

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From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

On 14/09/2026 15:13, Jethro wrote:

Have been trying for 2 days now. And with a 30 minute total wait (I can't imagine why there is a flood of people cancelling) I have had enough.

That is what handsfree phones are for.

They are notorious for it and when you get through they will offer you
insane discounts to try and make you stay. The script is absolutely
impossible for them to break out of and includes one final question.

Word to the effect of "is there anything I could have done today to make
you change your mind?".

The other major operators are the same.

What's the situation where a companies own practices creates a delay in cancelling a contract ?

Annoying but if you persevere you can do it.

Expect to spend a long time on the phone talking to them.
See how low you can push them on pricing for the hell of it.
--
Martin Brown


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From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

Martin Brown wrote:

Jethro wrote:

Have been trying for 2 days now. And with a 30 minute total wait (I

can't

imagine why there is a flood of people cancelling) I have had enough.

That is what handsfree phones are for.

It's also what Android's "hold for me" feature is for ... they put you
on hold, you put them on hold, it transcribes the call and grabs your attention when a human actually answers ... I presume iphones have similar?


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From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

On 9/14/26 15:13, Jethro wrote:

Have been trying for 2 days now. And with a 30 minute total wait (I can't imagine why there is a flood of people cancelling) I have had enough.

What's the situation where a companies own practices creates a delay in cancelling a contract ?

The first time I tried to cancel VM, I made the mistake of explaining
why I wanted to cancel. I was then immediately transferred, without
consent, to support. Terminating the cancel call and placing me on a
different telephone queue.

Now I just repeat "I want to cancel", and throw in an "is it done yet"
or a "not pertinent" if they keep asking me questions. I'm sure their
script has more skill at the game than me, so I think it is best to keep
it simple.

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From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

On 2026-09-15, Martin Brown <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:

On 14/09/2026 15:13, Jethro wrote:

Have been trying for 2 days now. And with a 30 minute total wait (I
can't imagine why there is a flood of people cancelling) I have had
enough.

That is what handsfree phones are for.

They are notorious for it and when you get through they will offer you insane discounts to try and make you stay.

I cancelled a Virgin broadband subscription earlier this year, and
although they will, as you say, offer discount incentives to stay,
they absolutely. will. not. budge. on one thing: the minimum contract
period. They simply will not renew for less than 18 months, which is
completely insane. They're just turning away money. I have no idea why.

(I don't recall the cancellation being particularly difficult, except
inasmuch as I didn't want to actually cancel, I just wanted to go back
to the price it was before they went "oh the cost has suddenly tripled,
didn't we mention?")

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

On Tue, 15 Sep 2026 09:26:25 +0100, Andy Burns wrote:

Martin Brown wrote:

Jethro wrote:

Have been trying for 2 days now. And with a 30 minute total wait (I

can't

imagine why there is a flood of people cancelling) I have had enough.

That is what handsfree phones are for.

It's also what Android's "hold for me" feature is for ... they put you
on hold, you put them on hold, it transcribes the call and grabs your attention when a human actually"Today I learned answers ... I presume

iphones have

similar?

"Today I learned ...."

with thanks :)

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From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

On 2026-09-14, Jethro wrote:

Have been trying for 2 days now. And with a 30 minute total wait (I can't imagine why there is a flood of people cancelling) I have had enough.

What's the situation where a companies own practices creates a delay in cancelling a contract ?

My solution (after scheduling installation of an alternative internet connection) was to cancel the Direct Debit and notify them in writing
that because of their unfair failure to make it easy to contact them I
would stop being liable for the service as of <date>. When they sent
another bill saying I hadn't give them the contractual notice, I wrote informing them that if they didn't back-pedal I would refer the matter
to the relevant ombudsman (CISAS, I think), and they cancelled the
last bill.

IIRC from Martin Lewis, companies have to pay an automatic fee for
every complaint accepted by an ombudsman (I think this applies to the communications ones as well as financial services), so they have an
incentive to negotiate once you tell them that's the next thing you're
going to do.

They still do not comply with the law requiring them to publish a
valid email address for customer service. (I have very strong opinions
about how that should be punished, close to "corporate death penalty",
since compliance is trivial for any organization bigger than a corner
store.)

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From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

Jethro <jethro_UK@hotmailbin.com> wrote:

Have been trying for 2 days now. And with a 30 minute total wait (I can't imagine why there is a flood of people cancelling) I have had enough.

What's the situation where a companies own practices creates a delay in cancelling a contract ?

I had a different problem trying to cancel with another company. I Emailed
the CEO.

Not only was the matter dealt with promptly, they credited my bank account
with a refund I didnrCOt expect.

Generally, I find contacting the CEO of an organisation gets a response.


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