In message <1171896167_4857@sp6iad.superfeed.net>, Chris Morrison
<hidden@nospam.priv> writes

>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.

Not really, she agreed the terms and didn't have to choose to sign up to
a 18 month contract. The fee that they are asking for sounds like the
remainder of the term so she is not being let off of anything they are
just asking for the payment she agreed to so there is no point in
cancelling.

>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?

I doubt she would get anywhere on unfair terms, she might possibly get
somewhere on compassionate grounds but they have probably seen plenty of
people who take long deals and then decide to cut and run early because
they have seen something else.
>
>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?
>
The Debt Collection Agencies will always want to add fees, not the types
one would want to be involved with and best avoided if at all possible.

>Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated and sorry for the
>length of this post.
>
The obvious one is don't enter into contracts that you are not willing
or unable to fulfil. I would suggest that she appeals to their better
nature and hopes that they take compassion but whilst it might seem
harsh I doubt she will get anywhere with threats as they will view it as
her being in breach of contract.
--
Paul Harris