Moving abroad from Germany

[greenzie]

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.

[Salman]

@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.

[jessx]

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.

[reneromann]

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@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.

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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.

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@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.

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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).

[greenzie]

@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.