What looks like a simple way to cancel your phone or broadband contract could cost you almost £300 a year.
While searching the phrase ‘cancel contract’ on Google, at the top of the page the first result I came acrosss was for a website called Cancelcontract.uk.
While this is an ad, let’s be honest, it’s all too easy for any user to end up clicking on this link rather than the actual, non-paid-for results directly below it.
Cancelcontract.uk is a business that promises to make it easier for you to get out of agreements with all sorts of communications providers, whether it’s broadband, mobile or even both.
It highlights the fact that it has recently helped clients terminate deals with the likes of Vodafone, EE, BT, Three and Sky, for example.
You fill in your details, and you get access to a ‘database of over 2,500 sample letters and contracts’.
The idea is that you supply your name, address and account number for the relevant firm, those details are plugged into a template letter and sent to the relevant firm, and quick as a flash you are free.
Ah, that wasn’t a good choice of words actually, because Cancelcontract.uk is a subscription service.
One more subscription to add to the list
If you sign up for Cancelcontract.uk and make use of a template for your attempt at getting out of a contract, then you will need to cough up.
You are charged £1.49 for membership for the first 48 hours, after which the fee jumps sharply to £24.90 a month, which is an ongoing subscription.
So that's £298.90 a year for having access to so many sample letters.
With that database at your finger tips ‒ as well as a ‘storage area’ online so that you can access your letters at any time ‒ you’ll be an unquestionable cancelling champion, dropping contracts left and right.
Where are the regulators?
I contacted the firm in question to let them know I would be writing this article and whether they'd like to respond, but heard nothing back.
Next, I asked the Financial Conduct Authority, the main money regulator, for its take on Cancelcontract.uk. Unfortunately, it wasn’t able to comment as the firm is unregulated.
In the past loveMONEY has flagged up sites that charge in order to get an EHIC, which is available through the authorities absolutely free, to handle a tax refund on your behalf or even to process your passport applications.
All they have to do is spend a few quid with Google to ensure they appear right at the top of the results page.
It’s not the FCA’s fault that firms like this fall outside of its remit. But surely they should fall under the oversight of some form of regulator?
A rip-off, but not a scam
While the FCA is not able to comment on firms like this, there are no such restrictions on me sharing my thoughts, which are that the whole ‘service’ is a rip off.
For nearly £300 a year I’d want a darn sight more than a few email templates, even if I can download them at any time or make use of a 24/7 customer service line.
It’s clear that plenty of people sign up for Cancelcontract.uk without actually realising what they’ve got themselves in for.
There are a host of reviews of the site on Trustpilot, which all tell a similar story ‒ of people who had no idea they were signing up to a subscription service, with no confirmation emails or real communication, only to find months later through their bank statements that they were instead sharply out of pocket.
An awful lot of reviewers argue that this is a scam, but I don't think that's right.
The website does make clear that an ongoing subscription is charged and this is flagged up not only on the home page but also as you go through the process of registering and entering your account details.
That doesn’t make it a right of course.
There is a cruel irony that in trying to get out of a contract with a communications firm that you perhaps can no longer afford, you end up lumbered with a different subscription that may be even more costly, and offers far less benefit.
Don’t just take it
According to complaints resolution service Resolver ‒ which importantly is absolutely free to use ‒ firms like this present a “major problem”.
Martyn James, head of media at Resolver, says that there are an awful lot of businesses operating in a similar way, whether charging for services that are normally free or getting people to commit to costly subscriptions.
However victims often opt against complaining, writing off the cash lost as they blame themselves for making a mistake.
James at Resolver warns: “Have no doubt about it: this is big business.
"Lots of these firms appear then disappear quickly too. You can make a claim through your bank or card provider for these disputed transactions if you feel you have been misled or manipulated.”
As stated earlier, CancelContract.uk had not responded to the offer of commenting on this story at the time of publishing.