automatic contract renewals

[believe]

Hi,

I signed a contract 5 years ago with a company for them to provide me some service, which expires in january. I am looking to switch to another provider, but I was told that in order to cancel an account, you must have a written letter sent to them 90 days before your contract expires, or your contract will be automatically renewed again.

So i was told that to leave this new contract, I would have to pay a pretty stiff penalty (something like 1k+).

Is there anything I can do about this? it seems pretty ridiculous that my contract can be automatically renewed without any type of prior warning from said company, and since this contract was signed up so long ago, i mistakenly was not aware of all the terms and conditions.

[Cos]

Pretty much screwed unless it is going through a CC or you are willing to fight it in court. A lot of the 'contracts' are not legal but no one is going to take each one to court so most companies can get away with it.

This is why I have started to remove all my automatic withdrawls. Only things I trust now are my banking bills. Everything else I have to see and approve before I pay. It started with WHC screwing me like that (registered letter to head office only with 90 days notice). Then Shaw started to bill me whatever they felt they needed that month....

[Sugarphreak]

...

[5.9 R/T]

Does you not giving them 90 days notice prevent them from gaining more business/replacing you as a customer?

[believe]

damn thanks guys, so it sounds like i'm hooped.

I'm not sure legally what this all means, but according to them, the process of automatically renewing your contract is a "standard" in their industry. similarly, i have also been told that they can increase the cost of the service any time they want (during the contract), and if you don't fight it, the fees are automatically added. However, in that case, apparently they will give you prior notice, so you do have the chance to argue before the new charges are applied.

sugarphreak, that's the part that irks me the most. I was not asked to renew, nor have i signed any document saying i want to renew, yet here we are.

5.9 R/T, not quite sure what you mean. not giving them 90 days notice would mean im locked in for another 5 years, guaranteeing my business for their company, whether i like it or not.

might just have to pay the penalty and find another provider out of spite

[Sugarphreak]

...

[Type_S1]

What kind of service?

[Weapon_R]

Unfortunately you contracted to this agreement and are bound to it unless there is a way out of it. Without seeing the contract it's going to be difficult to say.

Paying the penalty and moving on is the most economical way to get out of the contract.

[5.9 R/T]

Originally posted by believe
damn thanks guys, so it sounds like i'm hooped.

I'm not sure legally what this all means, but according to them, the process of automatically renewing your contract is a "standard" in their industry. similarly, i have also been told that they can increase the cost of the service any time they want (during the contract), and if you don't fight it, the fees are automatically added. However, in that case, apparently they will give you prior notice, so you do have the chance to argue before the new charges are applied.

sugarphreak, that's the part that irks me the most. I was not asked to renew, nor have i signed any document saying i want to renew, yet here we are.

5.9 R/T, not quite sure what you mean. not giving them 90 days notice would mean im locked in for another 5 years, guaranteeing my business for their company, whether i like it or not.

might just have to pay the penalty and find another provider out of spite

Basically what I mean is that if it is some kind of service where they can only handle so many customers at a specific time and it takes time to replace a customer who leaves?
Just looking at it from the businesses perspective, would they potentially incur any additional losses from you canceling short notice other then just losing the income from you?
Just playing devils advocate here, but I'm not saying they deserve the whole sum of the contract but may be entitled to some sort of early cancellation fee, like one months charges or something.
If this isn't the case and its like a phone company or cable company then they don't deserve anything and I would think they would have to justify to the courts (if it went that far) why this policy is in place.
Hope that makes sense.