Forced into a Contract Unfairly?

[dustycat11]

I've tried writing to the Trading Standards about this but don't get any reply so thought I'd try here.

 

A few years ago I subscribed for a couple of 0845 numbers that I intended to use for two website ventures I was planning. The company I bought them through was called Dolphin Telecom although their website also referred to Call08

 

I happily paid by DD for years. Each month I received an email with a link to my PDF invoice which I downloaded.

 

As I got busier, I didn't bother downloading the invoices every month but instead stored up the emails so that when it came to doing my tax return I could print off all the invoices at once.

 

Earlier this year I decided to cancel the numbers as I no longer needed them. When I called to do this I was told I was in a 12 month contract until November 2012. I told them I wasn't, that the terms I'd signed up under were a month to month basis with 30 days notice.

 

They told me they had given notice of new T&Cs in October with 14 days for people to opt out of the new T&Cs otherwise they were automatically taken into a contract. I explained that I hadn't received such a notice to which they replied that it was sent with the October 2011 invoice.

 

When I checked the email the title of the email was exactly the same as usual ' your October invoice is ready.....' There was nothing in the subject line to draw my attention to it being different from normal. The email content itself did not have anything in large type or bold - it was just an 'oh by the way' at the bottom. The link took me to a part of the website that didn't have the T&Cs anyway and when I searched for these they were several layers down a menu system.

 

I have complained that they didn't give me proper notice and I have stopped my DD however they continue to bill me. They have also told me that I can only give notice within the 30 days leading up to the end of the 12 month period - they refused to accept my notice earlier this year.

 

However I have realised that the postal address they have on file is one I haven't lived at for 4 years and also they have put the invoices in the name of one of my ventures (a domain name) rather than actually in my name.

 

So I'd like some guidance as to

 

a) are their practices fair

b) should I just ignore all the emails now as their invoices don't technically apply to me anyway.

c) what should I do, if anything?

 

Thanks

[sequenci]

Hello there, as far as I'm aware a contract that purports to bind you into an agreeement unless you decide to opt out is not legally binding. I'll dig out some more info for you once I'm home (just at work at the mo)

[dustycat11]

That sounds promising Sequenci. I look forward to hearing more

[sequenci]

No worries, I know there are a few exceptions. You can google 'silence acceptance' you'll find some good info no doubt. I'm sure there is something surrounding 'previous dealings', that said I think this should be easily challenged. Well one would hope.