Hi all,

I wonder if anyone can give me some advice or pointers on the following.

A friend of mine is in the process of trying to end her 3G mobile phone contract as money is a bit
tight and she cannot afford the monthly payments.

She wrote to 3 and told them that she wished to cancel and they have written back to her and told
her that she is in an 18 month contract which does not end until September, and that if she wants to
cancel now she will have to give them £313. This was originally stated as the remaining line rental,
although they are now calling this a 'cancellation fee.'

On top of this she has been late paying her bill for this month due to money being tight.

3 are now saying that her account is being transferred to a debt collection agency (even though she
assured them that her bill would be paid when she gets paid in 2 weeks time) and 3 are saying that
the debt collection agency will add further costs possibly bringing the total she owes up to £700 -
£900.

My questions are:

Locking someone into a contract for 18 months and charging them £300+ to get out of it is immoral,
punitive and unfair. Surely this must come under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations
1999 or some such. Does any know of any cases or precedents where this has been challenged in court?

Since she is a 3 customer and has not entered into any contract with whichever debt collection
agency they choose to use, how do they have the right to add their own fees on top of the original
debt, and are these enforceable in court?

Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated and sorry for the length of this post.


Regards,


Chris

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