Life's too short for regrets, so I cancelled my EE contract
My budget Android smartphone has been on the blink recently, and as my Sim-only contract comes to an end soon, I decided to look around for a new phone.
Still after a relatively cheap mobile, I was torn between the Nokia Lumia 635 (Windows Phone) and the Motorola Moto G 4G (Android). I tried them out in-store and liked both, but I decided change is good and decided to go for the Nokia.
Before buying it, I rang Orange – my existing provider – to see if it could match a good deal I’d found with Tesco Mobile. It couldn’t, so while on the phone I ‘upgraded’ to EE and took out a price plan that cost more, and had fewer inclusive allowances than the deal I’d found with Tesco Mobile.
Not very MoneySaving I know, but I was wary of moving away from the mobile network I’d been with since I was 18.
The phone arrived quickly, but it didn’t take long for me to realise I hated the Windows mobile operating system and began pining for my old phone. Regret piled on when I calculated I’d be spending £80 more over the 24 month contract period for this phone with EE than I would have with Tesco Mobile’s deal, and getting less to show for it.
I remembered reading about cooling off periods
Luckily I remembered reading about cooling off periods on MoneySavingExpert.com and how under new consumer rights regulations, which came into force in June, contracts and goods bought online, over the phone or on the doorstep can be cancelled and returned within 14 calendar days – up from the previous seven working days.
And indeed the letter that came with the phone mentioned the 14 day cooling off period in its small print.
Life’s too short for regrets, so I rung EE and to its credit, it was a very easy process to cancel the contract I’d just taken out. It informed me it would send me an envelope to return the phone to it, and that my contract would be downgraded back to my old Orange Sim-only one.
The envelope soon arrived and I got prematurely excited thinking the postage had been paid for. Unfortunately not, although £7.15 special delivery was a small price to pay to erase my mistaken purchase.
I’m back to my old phone now and slightly worse off financially, but I have just taken out a cheaper contract with Tesco Mobile for the Motorola Moto G 4G. The phone hasn’t arrived yet, but hopefully I won’t need to test the cooling off period again!
Have you bought something over the phone, online or on the doorstep and then cancelled the contract during the cooling off period? Did you have any problems doing it? Please let us know your opinions in the discussion below or in the forum.
