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Urgent help needed regarding my contract

Anonymous
Not applicable

Hey guys, 

 

First off, I just want to say I have been with o2 since i got my first phone, and have never had any problems with them.

 

However, I have been informed today by my employer that my job is under threat due to "hard financial times". this is after having my working hours slashed repeatedly, to the point now that my monthly wage barely covers my rent, let alone anything else. I have now reached the point where, as much as I love my phone, and feel like i would die without it, I have to get rid of it, along with any other non-essentials (Sky, Playstation, any form of social life). I can't justify paying nearly £40 a month for something, when that money could feed me for a week. I am, however, still contracted until October next year.

 

I have already enquired about how much i would have to pay to terminate my contract, and have been quoted more than £400. Even trading in my handset, I'm still left with almost half that figure left to pay, something I simply can't afford. But I can't afford to continue the monthly payments either. I have considered selling my phone and using a cheaper alternative, but that still doesn't help my monthly payment situation.

 

Does anybody know if there is a way I can simply hand the phone back, then negotiate a sum to end my contract? As I said at the start, I have always been an o2 customer, back to when they were BTCellnet, and would rather continue with them. If the situation was different, I would have no issues seeing out the remainder of my contract, and staying with them for the foreseeable future. But I have reached the point where I am desperate. My credit rating is bad enough as it is, but before long I am going to have Defaults against me.

 

Any advice anyone can give will be much appreciated.

 

Mike

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perksie
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ridingthelightn wrote: Does anybody know if there is a way I can simply hand the phone back, then negotiate a sum to end my contract?


Sadly not the phone was your property from the day you took out the contract and you'll get the best price selling it privately.

 

I wish I could suggest an answer but you seem to know what the score is and I am not going to patronise you.

 

We are seeing a lot of this in the last few months, just make sure you contact them as soon as you think you can no longer make the payments, but I doubt they can do much to help.

 

Good luck Mike.

To support Disasters Emergency Committee: http://www.dec.org.uk/appeals text Nepal to 70000 to send £5

Sky Unlimited Broadband - Windows 10 - Nexus 4 Android 5.1.1

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perksie
Level 69: Guiding Light
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Registered:

ridingthelightn wrote: Does anybody know if there is a way I can simply hand the phone back, then negotiate a sum to end my contract?


Sadly not the phone was your property from the day you took out the contract and you'll get the best price selling it privately.

 

I wish I could suggest an answer but you seem to know what the score is and I am not going to patronise you.

 

We are seeing a lot of this in the last few months, just make sure you contact them as soon as you think you can no longer make the payments, but I doubt they can do much to help.

 

Good luck Mike.

To support Disasters Emergency Committee: http://www.dec.org.uk/appeals text Nepal to 70000 to send £5

Sky Unlimited Broadband - Windows 10 - Nexus 4 Android 5.1.1
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Anonymous
Not applicable

Hi Mike,

 

 

What an awful situation to be in and I hope either your hours increase or if the worse scenario does occur you find re employment fast.

 

As Perksie says your best course of action is to ring 02 Customer Services now on 202 before your in danger of defaulting on the bills. They may be able to assist.

 

If you took out the contract after March 2012 they will not be able to lower your tariff I'm afraid.

 

If things get really bad then their is help at hand.

 

Here is a link about such help but I hope things don't get to this stage for you.

 

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/debt_e/debt_help_with_debt_e/debt_relief_orders.htm

 

The best advice I can give is to talk to people around you so it does not bottle up inside you.

Get things out in the open. People will rally around for you.

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Thanks for the advice folks, much appreciated.

 

I've had another thought. If i was to trade in my phone, and then pay that money directly to o2, as if i was over paying on a bill, that would put me in credit with them and give me a good few months where i would not need to pay anything, as it's already paid.

 

In theory, would this work? I know I could just as easily use that money for something else, but saving myself £40 a month for 6-7 months will be of bigger benefit to me than all of that money being used to pay a credit card, but only saving £15 or so a month as a result.

 

Thanks again to those who replied. I really appreciate you taking your time to help me slight_smile

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perksie
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There's no reason you can't overpay your account and payments by direct debit wil stop until it runs out.

 

Selling it privately or on Ebay usually gets you the best price, I don't think the recycle scheme offered by O2 will.

To support Disasters Emergency Committee: http://www.dec.org.uk/appeals text Nepal to 70000 to send £5

Sky Unlimited Broadband - Windows 10 - Nexus 4 Android 5.1.1
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Anonymous
Not applicable
Cancelling any insurance and bolts on's if applicable will save some costs.

Put any now unwanted accessories on e bay or gum tree
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