Aerial Direct - Has anyone managed to get out of the contract?

[django90]

Hi 

I have seen muliple posts about Aerial Direct the 'trusted' business partners of 02 on this forum and online. Has anyone been able to sucessfully get out of their contract? I dont need to be told about the business ethics of this company, I have seen the previous posts and have been fooled for a while! 

Any advice please?

[jonsie]

Thank you @Simon_J_C , it will be interesting to know

I've just this month taken out a sim only with 100GB nd unlimited minutes and texts for £20. I was paying the same for 25GB before the December offers.

[Simon_J_C]

Sounds like a good deal, is that with o2?
Did you have to sign up for 24 months?

[jonsie]

Yes with O2 but it's 18 months when I nwould normally go for 12 months. The fact that I have no wifi and tv package made it a no brainer to ne honest. I think the deal is still on the website but finishes shortly.

[Simon_J_C]

I did wonder whether to check out BT, as I already have broadband with them, they offer 100GB but for £30 a month!

[jonsie]

Even that is a far better deal than you are currently on with the cowboys that masquerade as Aerial

[Cleoriff]

I can't get over how much Aerial are charging for sim only FGS. Highway robbery!

[Simon_J_C]

Aerial called me this morning to ask if I'd made a decision, so I told them I'd seen the MUCH better deals that o2 were offering and unless they could match them or they could decrease my fees for the remainder of my contract, I wasn't interested.

I asked how much it would cost me to buy myself out of my contract, they said approx £350.00, but backed that up with how that didn't make a lot of sense as I would be paying a lot more in the long run.
I said that at least I wouldn't be tied into a 2-3 year contract, to which they had no reply.

I guess I'll wait a few months until the overall buyout cost comes down and then switch contracts. There's bound to be a good deal around.

In the meantime, I may speak to o2 and mention that I didn't realise they weren't the same company and that I'd been mislead.

Is there a mobile phone ombudsman or perhaps I can ask Watchdog or MoneySaving Expert about it?

[MI5]

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@Simon_J_C wrote:Is there a mobile phone ombudsman or perhaps I can ask Watchdog or MoneySaving Expert about it?

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@Martin-O2 or @Marjo may be able to help you?

[shallacatop]

Hi all,

Hoping you might be able to help me - this thread has been an eye opener!

I first used Aerial Direct in April 207 when I was a student. They cold called me, but offered a better deal than what I was getting - a SIM only contract with 4GB data, unlimited calls and unlimited texts. It emerged this was an O2 Business contract, which I wasn't aware of until a few months later and to this day have never been able to use the app.

In June 2017, they then gave me the option to add a phone onto this on finance for three years. I accepted this as I wouldn't have been able to pay for it outright.

In April 2018 the did a review of my contract and saw I'd paid £6 over a couple of times as I went over my data package. They then offered me a better contract of 30GB data, unlimited calls and unlimited texts for an extra £12 a month, £7 of which they'd give back to me. Each month I have also been charged £3 for McAfee which I have never been able to remove or figure out how to implement it on my device. The contract is currently £44 a month (then the £7 refund) and the phone is £26 a month. £70 for 30GB data, unlimited calls, unlimited texts and an iPhone 6S Plus - extortion as you can see!

The handset isn't the issue, but the contract is: it turns out they added an extra 12 months to my review in April 2021, meaning I cannot cancel until then unless I pay £44 x 14 months. I've just phoned them and they said I am due a review in April 2020.

I want to get out of the contract as I am being ripped off and there are so many better deals out there. For example, I've just seen at £55 a month I can get double the data and an iPhone 11 Pro. That's £15 less than what I pay currently for a much better deal.

Any tips on how I can do this? I am prepared to pay the remainder of the handset off, but I do not want to go beyond April 2020 for this contract. I have been mislead, get charged an additional fee for McAfee and am unwittingly on a Business account.

[MI5]

@Martin-O2 ?