Thema "Moving abroad from Germany" in Kabel: Tarife & Rechnung

Moving abroad from Germany

greenzie — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 23:54:07 GMT

Dear Sir/Madam

I have terminated my cable contract several days ago on 29 March 2021 because I am moving to Switzerland on 30 April 2021. Since I gave a full 3-month notice period, the contract should end on 30 June 2021 and not 31 July 2021.

I know that Vodafone is trying to charge 3 months from the moving date and not from the notice date but this is unlawful! According to TKG, it has a notice period of 3 months from the end of the month which is obviously counting from the end of the month that the notice is given like everything else..

Telekommunikationsgesetz § 46 Abs. 8 Satz 3 (https://dejure.org/gesetze/TKG/46.html😞
"Wird die Leistung am neuen Wohnsitz nicht angeboten, ist der Verbraucher zur Kündigung des Vertrages unter Einhaltung einer Kündigungsfrist von drei Monaten zum Ende eines Kalendermonats berechtigt."

Please end my contract on 30 June 2021 or otherwise I will involve a lawyer on this issue.

Re: Moving abroad from Germany

Thomas — Tue, 06 Apr 2021 08:43:48 GMT

Hi greenzie,

the period always starts from the day of the move. The background to this is that the non-provability only occurs on the day of the move. The wording of the Telecommunications Act leaves this open, which is why it is applied in this way. A lawyer can certainly tell you more about this, but unfortunately this is not the right forum. From our side, there will be no change to the already confirmed cancellation.

Regards

Thomas

Re: Moving abroad from Germany

reneromann — Tue, 06 Apr 2021 10:13:09 GMT

And to be more precise - there have been already lawsuits filed for this matter. And the ruling from all the courts was that the 3 months period starts by the day of the notice - but not earlier than the day of the move.

You may also see the ruling filed at the Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf from 21st December 2017 at reference I - 20 U 77/17 and the ruling filed at Oberlandesgericht München from 18th January 2018 at reference 29 U 757/17. I doubt that other courts will come to different rulings.

Re: Moving abroad from Germany

greenzie — Tue, 06 Apr 2021 10:07:06 GMT

Hi Thomas

That is a very very sneaky way of Vodafone and it's really a shame for you as a huge company. I have lived in many different countries and I have never had a notice period starting from the moving date. Notice periods always start on the day that the notice is given. If you say the reason is non-provability then I can easily say that my moving date is changed into 31 March 2021.

I would like to file an official complaint about this. The more people complain about this the better and hopefully Vodafone will change its shameful way. Please tell me how to file an official complaint and I will never use any Vodafone service again in my life and I will advice other people to avoid Vodafone as well!

Re: Moving abroad from Germany

greenzie — Tue, 06 Apr 2021 10:11:02 GMT

Hi @reneromann, thank you for your reply. I am glad there have been a lawsuit on this already. So the question is now: how do we make Vodafone accept the court ruling and apply the 3 months period from the day of the notice? As you can see from Thomas' answer below. He still said that it is from the moving date.

I appreciate your help here!

Re: Moving abroad from Germany

reneromann — Tue, 06 Apr 2021 10:24:22 GMT

@greenzie

The court ruling was -in both cases- that the period starts the earliest by the day of your move.

So it's you that has to accept that you'll have to pay for 3 months from the day of your move and not -as you insist- only for two...

Main problem is that you don't have a right to prematurely cancel until the movement date - therefor any notice period can start the earliest by that movement date. And that's also what the court rulings were in both cases.

By the way: Be happy that there has been this change to the telecommunications law - before this paragraph was added, you had to pay until the end of the contract as a move was no reason for a premature cancellation at all.

Re: Moving abroad from Germany

Thomas — Tue, 06 Apr 2021 11:16:02 GMT

Hi greenzie,

from our side, everything has been said on the subject. We cannot and will not discuss the legal background here. This is simply not the right platform for that.

Regards

Thomas

Re: Moving abroad from Germany

greenzie — Tue, 06 Apr 2021 11:51:15 GMT

@reneromann , thanks for the clarification. Sorry I misunderstood your previous message. I have lived in multiple countries before and everywhere there is always a way to break a contract when moving abroad. Honestly, that's just normal and so I am not going to be 'thankful' for something normal. Germany is so way behind in flexibility, it's painful to think a developed country is this inflexible.

Moreover, before I had this cable contract with Vodafone, I called them and asked the question if I can break the contract if I go abroad and they said yes with 3 month notice period. The start of notice period in 99% of the cases depends on the notice date and they didn't inform me otherwise back then. This is why I think it's really shameful of Vodafone to be this sneaky!

Anyway, I am done with Vodafone and will never use their service again anywhere. Thanks again for your help.

Betreff: Moving abroad from Germany

Salman — Thu, 01 Jul 2021 14:19:08 GMT

I have a similar situation I moved out of Germany on 28th February 2021. I gave notice 27th February, and I send them the document from the deregistration office from Germany after two month which have the date of moving out clear 28th of February.

But they didn't accepted it they said they need my address abroad and that is the only way they can prove it.

I didn't check that reply because I receive lots of junk emails from vodaphone and now after I sent my address they want to consider moving date from now. is that leagal?

Betreff: Moving abroad from Germany

reneromann — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 00:32:23 GMT

@Salman

The question is:

Do you have proof that your movement notice was received by Vodafone?

And do you have proof that your deregistration letter was received by Vodafone?

And did you provide your new address?

And was it a landline contract -or- was it a mobile contract?

Betreff: Moving abroad from Germany

Salman — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 07:18:49 GMT

@reneromann

Yes, all conversations were by email.

My problem is that I sent them the deregistration it has the new address on top, so I didn't know they also needed the address explicitly written. Their answer was that an address is the only way they could prove I am outside of Germany. So, after I sent my address, they considered the cancelation of my cable contract from the 29th of June.

PS. the deregistration letter from the city has my partner's name on the header with the new address and my name is among the people who deregister.

Re: Moving abroad from Germany

jessx — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 14:19:43 GMT

Hello,

I am facing the exact same problem now and would like to add a +1 to the fact that this is pretty outrageous. If all of Germany was like this maybe it wouldn't feel like such a scam, but all other companies seem to respect the moving conditions.

Vodafone needs to allow cancellation from notice period (as has been told to me by Vodafone store employees also) and stop scamming customers. I will also be telling others to avoid using Vodafone in Germany.

Re: Moving abroad from Germany

reneromann — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 14:44:47 GMT

@jessx schrieb:

Vodafone needs to allow cancellation from notice period (as has been told to me by Vodafone store employees also) and stop scamming customers.

There have been two different court rulings on this fact - and both came to the same conclusion that the notice period starts the earliest by the day of the move and not before. And Vodafone acts in accordance with both, the telecommunications law -AND- those two rulings.

@jessx schrieb:

I am facing the exact same problem now and would like to add a +1 to the fact that this is pretty outrageous. If all of Germany was like this maybe it wouldn't feel like such a scam, but all other companies seem to respect the moving conditions.

These other companies also respect the same rulings and the telecommunications law - and all do exactly the same: Starting the 3 months period the earliest by the day of your move.

In case you don't like this: Don't opt for long-running contracts but for ones with short cancellation times so that you are not bound to the contract that long. But if you opt for long-running contracts to get benefits in price, then don't blame the companies that they also adhere to the law and that you have to pay for that longer notice periods. It's up to you to decide...

By the way: German high court ruled in 2011, that a move does not constitute a right for a premature cancellation at all - given that the telecommunications law would not have been altered in 2014 to allow these 3 months (from the movement date as in accordance with the two afforementioned court rulings) as it is right now - you would have to pay for the contract until its regular end. Main principle behind that ruling in 2011 by the German high court was that contracts have to be served as signed ("pacta sunt servanda") - which means in case of a landline contract that the ISP has to serve you on the contractual agreed address and you have to pay for it for the whole time. Anyhow, a move is solely on your side and as this should not have negative effects for your contractual partner in case they are not able to serve you on the new address, you would have had to pay for the service even if your contractual partner would not be able to serve it on your new address (but would still be able to serve your old address - even if this would be worthless for you due to your move).

Re: Moving abroad from Germany

greenzie — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 17:10:00 GMT

@reneromann, I am not sure what connection do yu have with Vodafone but if you don't get paid, you should ask for money from them. I expect this explanation from Vodafone not from some strangers in the forum.

Vodafone staff is really unprofessional! Before starting a new 2-year contract, I specifically called them to ask if I should make a 2-year contract since there is a possibility for me to leave Germany before 2 years. I asked explicitly about cancelling contract due to moving abroad and they assured me that it is possible to stop the contract with 3 months notice. 3 months notice means 3 months from the notice date, not 3 months from moving date. They should've mentioned it clearly!

I have lived in many countries in Europe and I have never had the case where we cannot break the contract when moving abroad. So it is really shameful that in Germany they forced people to pay until the end of the contract until 10 years ago while not providing the service. This is not something special! It is very normal in other countries and it is always the real notice period from the notice date not this super sneaky way that Vodafone and other sneaky telecom companies in Germany do! I was able to terminate my other contracts in Germany (energy, insurance, etc) without having to pay extra like Vodafone forced me to even though the original contracts were longer and I got cheaper price too.