Leaving Germany (return to UK) - need to cancel phone, internet and mobile contracts

[Kelly2]

Hi

Apologies for this all being in English!

I work for the UK government in Germany but I need to cancel my contracts (to end at the end of July) as I am due to leave Germany to return to the UK. I visited my local Vodafone shop and explained this and they said they would email me a form as they didn't have it there and then. That was a week ago and I haven't received any emails. I know when I want the contract to cancel is a little while away but I have a lot to organise in terms of cancelling contracts etc. before then including closing my bank account.

If there is a bill due after I leave and my German bank account is already closed - can I have a final bill sent to an address in the UK?

How should I go about giving notice to cancel as I don't know whether the form that was going ot come to me via email is going to come and I don't have time to keep visiting the shop.

Many thanks

Kelly

[reneromann]

At first, you'll have to distinguish between the mobile and the landline contracts as there is only a right for a premature cancellation for landline contracts. Mobile contracts cannot be prematurely cancelled because Vodafone is able to fullfill the contract as agreed even out of Germany by letting you use roaming (of course, you'll have to pay roaming fees).

So for the landline contracts:

Send a cancellation as soon as possible using the customer contract form to Vodafone (in German!) stating that you'll leave Germany -and- attach the official deregistration letter as soon as you get it. Your cancellation will then be processed and your contract will and 3 months after the day you left Germany (in accordance to German telecommunication laws). So you'll have to pay for additional 3 months after leaving Germany and that's it.

Please keep in mind to send back any rental devices in time to Vodafone (for cable products, it's an address in Nuremberg right now; for DSL products, it's the Arvato address).

For the mobile contracts:

As I already said, there is no right by law to prematurely cancel the contract - you'll have to pay until the end, but you might also use it in the UK. There will be no charges for the UK roaming for at least 3 months after you left Germany (or until the UK leaves the EU).