Telecom
August 4, 2010 | 30,00 EUR | answered by Bernhard Müller
My son, 19 years old, has been living with his mother so far and had his internet connection there, which was of course in his mother's name. However, he was the only user. The provider was and still is Telekom. The monthly costs amount to about 40 euros. The contract is extended by 1 year if not canceled 4 weeks before expiration. Since my son did not do this, this contract will run for another year.
Now my son is in the process of moving into his own apartment. His internet provider is supposed to continue to be Telekom. According to Telekom, there is no other option than to let the two contracts run in parallel. Since my son has no means of his own, the nearly 500 euros will be at my expense.
Is there any way to avoid these unnecessary costs? I emphasize once again that the mother cannot make use of the existing internet connection, as she does not own a computer and cannot operate one.
Dear inquirer,
There are individual district courts that see an important reason for terminating the old telephone/internet contract without notice due to moving. However, the problem here is that the old connection is not in the name of the son but in the name of the mother, and it is the son, not the mother, who is moving.
It should have been the mother, not the son, who should have terminated the old contract. The fact that she did not do so because she thought the son would take care of it, and that the mother does not have her own computer, is an irrelevant mistake of motive and does not justify the extraordinary termination of the previous connection.
There is no entitlement to premature termination of the previous contract. Therefore, the information provided by Telekom was legally correct.
However, you can inform Telekom that a new contract will be concluded with a different, more affordable telephone provider if Telekom is not willing to terminate the old contract early. Because if Telekom wanted to, they could terminate the old contract before the end of the year. They are just not obligated to do so.
Best regards,
Bernhard Müller, Attorney
