Cancelling contract due to leaving Germany

[Celal1]

First of all - it is annoyingly hard to get any english support through call-center, it is simply missing a initial option to choose English. I had to scream English 20 times until it asked me "if you want to talk to someone in English please say "operator""....

Anyway, here is my situation:
- I have an ongoing contract with Vodafone Germany

- I will leave the country end of March, 31.03.2022

- I want my contract with vodafone to end at the end of April, 30.04.2022 (I want to make sure I transfer all my 2FA to my new number, in my new country before my "old" vodafone number is closed)

I already have a statement from my employer that I will leave the country & start my duty in another country(Turkey - if that matters). By call center I were asked to send "abmeldung" etc. to a post address. Before starting an actual post chain, which will take ages - I would like to:

- First have an online e-mail chain with a representative to see if the papers I have from my company is enough or should they provide more

- Regarding "abmeldung" I won't be able to get it until there is a week to my leave date according to the city hall. This will leave me with a very short window where I can cancel all my contracts with Electric/landline/water etc. But luckly all companies(except vodafone yet) already send me proper written confirmations that my contracts are scheduled to end on 31.03.2022(or 30.04.2022 depending on my choice). I would like to have the same from vodafone. 

In short I want to have a e-mail thread before starting an actual "post" thread, which is waste of time & paper. If vodafone needs some documents in paper form, sure I will send them but after e-mail thread is resolved & I know exactly what vodafone needs. 

Please let me know an e-mail address where I can address my concerns/requsts.

Thanks

Celal

[reneromann]

You can already pre-note the cancellation - but you'll need to hand in a copy of the deregistration letter as official proof. A statement from your company is not enough.

That other contracts are ending just to the end of your rental period, like water supply and electricity has to do with the fact that these contracts are not bound to your person but to the address. They also cannot be moved to another address as these things are handled by regional companies - so that a water supplier in Berlin won't be able to supply you in Hamburg...

[Celal1]

"You can already pre-note the cancellation - but you'll need to hand in a copy of the deregistration letter as official proof. A statement from your company is not enough."

That is understood - I just would like to be able to have an official e-mail chain where:

I can get an confirmation in written form that as long as I send "deregistration" until x.y.z my cancellation can be done at a.b.c - as said that deregistration can only be taken as close as 1 week to my leave.

Does vodafone have an official e-mail address where I can write my concerns & get formal answers?

Regards

Celal

[reneromann]

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@Celal1  schrieb:

Does vodafone have an official e-mail address where I can write my concerns & get formal answers?

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No...

Despite of that, support and contractual details have to be handled in German language...

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@Celal1  schrieb:

That is understood - I just would like to be able to have an official e-mail chain where:

I can get an confirmation in written form that as long as I send "deregistration" until x.y.z my cancellation can be done at a.b.c - as said that deregistration can only be taken as close as 1 week to my leave.

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The deregistration can be handed in later on - but your cancellation will become active the earliest at the date that all paperwork has been handed in. So it's no problem to send the notice now and hand in the deregistration letter later on - once it's received, the cancellation will be handled by calculating the ending point depending on your initial notice and the date given on your deregistration letter. It's at least 3 months from the initial notice date but not earlier than the date stated on the deregistration letter.

[Celal1]

Sorry for the late reply & I would like to confirm some stuff as there is no written source where I can find all the stuff I need to provide to vodafone (except the abmeldung you mentioned already)

Okay so to make sure that I am doing it right:

1 - I will send a physical post-mail to address [1] soon (e.g. before xmas). Stating that I will be leaving the country latest at 31.03.2022. And I want my contract with vodafone to be terminated at 30.04.2022 incurring me no other costs after 30.04.2022. I will state that "abmeldung" will be sent seperately around end of March which is when city hall told me that they will be giving me the abmeldung, approx. 1 week before I leave. Of course all of these will be written in German.

2 - With my first mail to vodafone do I need to put some "proof" documents? Or just a plain letter with my statement is enough for the initial notice? According to your wording "It's at least 3 months from the initial notice date but not earlier than the date stated on the deregistration letter." I understand that before 3 months just a notice from my side is enough & then when I have the abmeldung I send it also. So no proof documentation is necessary except abmeldung. Is this correct?

Regards

Celal

[1]Vodafone GmbH, D2-Park 5, 40875 Ratingen

[reneromann]

I missed out that you were talking about a Mobile contract and thought you were talking about a landline...

The whole process with the 3 months notice period and the deregistration letter is only valid for landline connections; mobile connections cannot be prematurely ended - you can use them abroad as contractually agreed upon (which also includes roaming fees).

So for a mobile contract, you can send your cancellation letter and it'll become effective at the end of your contractual term given that you hand in the cancellation in time (be aware of any notice periods that your contract may have).

Anyhow, there's no right for a premature cancellation of a mobile contract in case you leave Germany - you are bound to the contract until its regular end.

[Celal1]

"Anyhow, there's no right for a premature cancellation of a mobile contract in case you leave Germany - you are bound to the contract until its regular end."

--> That I will need to discuss, last year when I was renewing my contract I explicitly asked for that, that I will leave Germany before the contract end & will have to end prematuraly. I were definetely informed that I am allowed to do that as long as I prove that I am leaving Germany. I had a call with call center & that is what they explained & then I decided to extend my contract.

I would be really glad if I can have a formal call or a mail chain regarding this topic as it is getting hairy strangely...

What is the formal way of contacting english speaking customer support? As mentioned earlier it took me half an hour to somewhat get a operator on line after calling "0800 172 1212"

[Norman]

Hi Celal1,

let's have a look at this. You can send us a private message with your phone number, the customer password and the link to your thread here.

Best regards

Norman

[MichaelTihon]

Lucky guy - got a community manager involved.

I had connection issues for 2 months in a row and must have go to the empty office (everyone work from home) because I don't have stable connection.

Perhaps something happened on the line or whatever as connection was better before.
Anyway, I had to engage legal team to terminate funny 4 months of outstanding contract (out of 24 months initial contract).
This is insane...
And the answer is the same: "the contract is between you and Vodafone". Where you move or which other issues you have - is not Vodafone problem.
They forced me to move with this contract last year. Which is ok (if they wouldn't charge me two addresses and waste 40+ hours of my life to rectify double charging)...
Anyway - Vodafone is a legal entity. Has nothing to do with internet or mobile phone provider. They invest in legal team way more than in service (which includes internet connection interruptions and customer service).

I moved to Germany in 2020 and joined Vodafone Cable connection from the beginning. They don't care who you are and how long you been with them and the only reason you want to terminate is real connection issues...(my MS teams calls are interrupting 3 - 8 times per hour and my job is in mostly in MS Teams all day long)...  They are focused on the contract.
Thankfully Federal Network Agency's lawyers helped me to terminate outstanding 4 months out second 24 month contract. I have 5 days left before the contract end to connect somewhere else. I would prefer to pay double, but to not have ANY contract. And I will stay with that company till I move out of Germany... Just because I want to pay for internet. Not for mystery "contract' where I must on monthly basis and internet provider does not care if internet delivered to my home or not..

By the way - there is nobody to write a complaint... Hence posting my frustration in here