- Original Poster
- #1
Hi fellow forum members,
I wanted to ask you advice on the following situation.
We moved premises last year to a new premises that our waste collection provider (a large multi national waste management company) didn't serve. Our contract was beyond the initial 1 year term and into the second renewal period of 1 year.
9th December 2023 - I emailed customer services to ask whether the contract could be terminated without penalty and was advised that we would be held to the 90 days notice period as advised in the T&Cs. I took this advice as being correct and served the notice on the 9th December 2023 receiving a confirmation on the 11th December that it was received and would be forwarded to the relevant colleague. I also specified that I would like our bin to be removed/ locked or at the very least have the minimum number of collections taking place and minimum contract charges imposed for the duration of the notice. I didn't check at time (my mistake) the actual wording of the contract states:
The Agreement shall commence on the Effective Date and shall be subject to early
termination under common law, statute or the Agreement remain in full force and effect for
the Initial period, and shall be renewed automatically and remain in full force and effect for
further successive one year periods (the “Renewal Period”), unless and until either party
gives notice of termination by written notice to the other at least 90 days prior to the
expiration of the Initial Period or the Renewal Period as the case may be.
Early February 2024 - I cancelled the direct debit as they had continued to take the full amount and ignored my communication regarding either locking/removing the bin or just making the minimum number of lifts.
6th March 2024 - Received a statement with overdues for Jan and Feb with overall balance £183.60. I did contact the customer services team again in March to confirm that we'd served notice in December 2023 and that I'd be happy to settle the outstanding balance for the notice period. However, the reply just said they didn't have the power to terminate the account.
1st April 2024 - Received a 'Suspension Notification' Please note that services to yourselves have now been suspended until full payment of all overdue invoices has been received. The account was up to £230.50.
May, June and July - Received Statements with charges imposed bringing the total £456.21. I didn't reply as it seemed futile as all of my earlier emails hadn't been acted on.
22nd July 2024 - Received County court claim form with the above charges and various other late payment charges and court costs coming up to around £700.
Just wondering whether I have any leg to stand on given the confusing communications from the company regarding notice period, supposed suspension of the account and further charges for services that I requested not to take place? This situation has only arisen out of misinformation provided from the service provider. I stated a number of times I was happy to settle for the advised notice period (that turned out not to be as described in the contract)
I have emailed the credit control suggesting I'd be willing to come to an agreement based on a 3 month notice period. However, the response they've come back with still amounts to over £500.
Should I respond via the County court claim form online process? Is the above likely to hold weight against the wording ofthe contract?
I wanted to ask you advice on the following situation.
We moved premises last year to a new premises that our waste collection provider (a large multi national waste management company) didn't serve. Our contract was beyond the initial 1 year term and into the second renewal period of 1 year.
9th December 2023 - I emailed customer services to ask whether the contract could be terminated without penalty and was advised that we would be held to the 90 days notice period as advised in the T&Cs. I took this advice as being correct and served the notice on the 9th December 2023 receiving a confirmation on the 11th December that it was received and would be forwarded to the relevant colleague. I also specified that I would like our bin to be removed/ locked or at the very least have the minimum number of collections taking place and minimum contract charges imposed for the duration of the notice. I didn't check at time (my mistake) the actual wording of the contract states:
The Agreement shall commence on the Effective Date and shall be subject to early
termination under common law, statute or the Agreement remain in full force and effect for
the Initial period, and shall be renewed automatically and remain in full force and effect for
further successive one year periods (the “Renewal Period”), unless and until either party
gives notice of termination by written notice to the other at least 90 days prior to the
expiration of the Initial Period or the Renewal Period as the case may be.
Early February 2024 - I cancelled the direct debit as they had continued to take the full amount and ignored my communication regarding either locking/removing the bin or just making the minimum number of lifts.
6th March 2024 - Received a statement with overdues for Jan and Feb with overall balance £183.60. I did contact the customer services team again in March to confirm that we'd served notice in December 2023 and that I'd be happy to settle the outstanding balance for the notice period. However, the reply just said they didn't have the power to terminate the account.
1st April 2024 - Received a 'Suspension Notification' Please note that services to yourselves have now been suspended until full payment of all overdue invoices has been received. The account was up to £230.50.
May, June and July - Received Statements with charges imposed bringing the total £456.21. I didn't reply as it seemed futile as all of my earlier emails hadn't been acted on.
22nd July 2024 - Received County court claim form with the above charges and various other late payment charges and court costs coming up to around £700.
Just wondering whether I have any leg to stand on given the confusing communications from the company regarding notice period, supposed suspension of the account and further charges for services that I requested not to take place? This situation has only arisen out of misinformation provided from the service provider. I stated a number of times I was happy to settle for the advised notice period (that turned out not to be as described in the contract)
I have emailed the credit control suggesting I'd be willing to come to an agreement based on a 3 month notice period. However, the response they've come back with still amounts to over £500.
Should I respond via the County court claim form online process? Is the above likely to hold weight against the wording ofthe contract?
