I recently applied to Orange for broadband unfortunately my circumstances changed and I have had to cancel however a little more explanation is required. I applied on the 19th of January. without notifying me Orange connected me on the 26th of January on the 27th of January I rang them to state that I wanted to cancel the contract under the 7 working days distant selling law being still unaware that I had been connected and had not got a modem. The Outang stated you can not cancel as you have been connected I reiterated that I had not been informed of same. No matter stated the Outang you can cancel but it will cost you £204 pounds because you signed up on the internet to oranges agreement. I pointed out that I had cancelled under the 7 working day rule. Oh no Sir this does not apply because Orange has its own agreements. I pointed out that this was the law of the land but the Outang I was talking to had little or no grasp of contractorial law. I then stated that I had emailed them of my intention to cancell and written to their head office in Rotherham which I found on one of their letters. (The call centre Outang stated their was no need to write to them cancelling as they would handle it which of course I dismissed as the seven working day rule clearly states that you must cancel in writing.) the following day a modem arrived. Okay there may have been a crossing of lines. I rang Orange again to tell them that I had cancelled etc. and spoke to someone else who became quite angry and tried to say that I could not cancell. For the final time I explained that I had cancelled within my legal rights under the seven day rule but he would not have any of it and stated you will be charged £204.90 cancellation fee. At this point I mentally told him to get stuffed and said okay what are you going to do about this amount for cancellation fees which I do not owe you. The Outang retorted we will take legal action. I said okay. The next day I got an email stating"We are sorry to hear you wish to cancel your Orange mobile phone contract.(which of course I have never had my cancellation was broadband) and warned me that I would have to pay a cancellation fee for my mobile contract. I await further communication from Orange. My apologies to the species of ape known as Orang-outang as I am sure their communicative skills are greater than the species Orange employs.
Site AdminJoined: 07 Apr 2006Posts: 784Location: United Kingdom
The UK's Distance Selling Regulations
This guide is based on UK law. It was last updated in October 2008.
Introduction
The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 (the "Regulations") came into force in the UK on 31st October 2000.
The Regulations aim to protect consumers contracting at a distance from the supplier, where the consumer does not have the benefit of meeting face to face with the supplier and inspecting the goods or services offered for sale.
Essentially the Regulations provide consumers with a right to:
■receive clear information about the supplier, the goods or services and the sale before deciding to buy;
■confirmation of this information in writing;
■a cooling off period of 7 working days in which to withdraw from the contract; and
■protection from payment card fraud.
A good concise outline of the regulations can be found here
Note the following points:
No contracting-out:
Any term in a distance selling contract which is inconsistent with the protection of the consumer as set out above shall be automatically void and as such, the supplier will not be able to rely on the term.
Enforcement
The Regulations are enforced by the Office of Fair Trading, local authority trading standards departments in England, Scotland and Wales and the Department of Trade, Enterprise and Investment in Northern Ireland. These bodies have the power to consider complaints and seek court orders for compliance with the Regulations.
When do the Regulations apply?
The Regulations apply to distance contracts. These are contracts:
for the sale of goods or the provision of services
concluded between a supplier and a consumer (note that business to business distance selling is not caught by the Regulations)
under an organised distance sales or service provision scheme run by the supplier (which will cover, for example, sales made through a call centre or from a website; but one-off contracts concluded by email are not intended to be caught by the Regulations)
where the supplier communicates with the consumer without ever coming face to face with the consumer in concluding the contract (i.e. by 'distance communication').
Distance communication would include:
web pages
unaddressed or addressed printed matter (this could include leaflets dropped through letter boxes);
letters;
press advertising with order forms;
catalogues;
telephone with or without human intervention;
email;
fax; and
television (teleshopping).
A good concise outline of the regulations can be found here
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