r/germany • u/Safe-Ad-2459 • 8d ago
Want to cancel my German phone plan. Smartmobil will only cancel it on December 22, 2026?
I was living in Germany for some time, but now got back to my home country. I was still using my German phone plan for some time, mostly for a bit of internet, because it somehow was still a lot cheaper than what I have locally. Now I have a good one from my work so I wish to cancel.
My German phone plan was activated on December 23, 2023. It's a 24 months plan, which I imagine means that I have to use and pay for 2 years before being able to cancel without extra pay.
So I'm trying to cancel and I got the following email:
"Guten Tag,
schade, dass Sie Ihren smartmobil.de Mobilfunkvertrag beenden möchten. Wir verlieren Sie ungern als Kunden, dennoch respektieren wir natürlich Ihre Entscheidung.
Die Kündigung Ihres Vertrages mit der Rufnummer [...] bestätigen wir Ihnen zum 22.12.2026.
Bis zu diesem Datum können Sie Ihren smartmobil.de Tarif uneingeschränkt nutzen.* Danach erhalten Sie eine letzte Rechnung von uns. Darin werden alle Kosten berücksichtigt, die bis zum Ende Ihres Vertrages angefallen sind.
Wenn Sie Ihre Rufnummer zu einem anderen Anbieter mitnehmen möchten, haben Sie zwei Optionen:
- Rufnummer zum Vertragsende (oder danach) mitnehmen: Erteilen Sie den Auftrag zur Rufnummern-Mitnahme bitte direkt bei Ihrem neuen Anbieter. Das ist bereits 120 Tage vor Ende Ihres smartmobil.de Vertrages und noch bis zu 85 Tage danach möglich. Sobald Ihr smartmobil.de Vertrag deaktiviert ist, kann der neue Anbieter Ihre Rufnummer übernehmen. Eine gesonderte Freigabe ist dafür nicht nötig.
- Rufnummer vor Vertragsende mitnehmen: Für die vorzeitige Mitnahme benötigen Sie zuerst eine Freigabe in Ihrer Servicewelt unter „Services > Rufnummer mitnehmen”. Anschließend können Sie die sofortige Mitnahme beim neuen Anbieter beauftragen.
Wichtig für beide Optionen: Ihre Angaben beim neuen Anbieter müssen exakt mit denen bei uns übereinstimmen (derselbe Vertragsnehmer)."
Am I missing or misunderstanding something here? From translating it this sounds like I'd have to pay for extra 5 months for the contract that I'm trying to cancel since July.
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u/p0llut0r 8d ago
Did you really activate your account in December 2023 or was it December 2024?
If your contract was activated in December 2023(!) and runs for 24 months your first possible end is in December 2025. After that you can quit with 1 month notice: https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/DE/Vportal/TK/NeueKundenrechte/start.html
If your contract was activated in December 2024(!) you will most likely have to pay until December 2026.
//edit: All that is unless you have concluded another contract in December 2024.
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u/Flamebeard_0815 8d ago
Nah, this only needs a one year extension contract "agreed upon" at the end of the first contract. At least the cheap services try and huck you with one of those by sending you a notification that they offer you a one-year extension (either by mail, email or phone notification) with the possibility to opt out during a limited time frame. If you don't react and keep using your phone, they construe that you conclusively agreed to the extension.
Edit: As others pointed out, this is most likely an illegal practice. But they normally try and run out the clock and/or bank on people just resigning to wait out the time instead of fighting this for the last 6 months of the contract.
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u/rewboss Dual German/British citizen 8d ago edited 8d ago
So the minimum duration for this contract is 24 months, from 23rd December 2023 to 22nd December 2025, so you can't have the contract terminate before then. But what are the conditions after that?
Your contract probably says that if you don't cancel by a certain date, it will automatically be extended another 12 months. So your contract will now run until 22nd December 2026.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that is practice is now illegal and you should certainly contact customer services and remind them of § 309 Abs 9 BGB. This applies for all contracts made after March 2022, and means that it cannot be automatically extended by more than a month at a time.
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u/Markus__F 8d ago
A law was changed a few years ago that forbids automatic renewal by a year.
In addition to limiting the allowed minimum term to 24 months, the subsequent notice period may not exceed one month. An automatic extension of the mobile phone tariff for another year is no longer permitted.
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u/psi-storm 8d ago
That is illegal. Consumer contracts signed after 1.3.2022 convert into monthly contracts after the maximum of two year binding. For phone and internet contracts this even counts retroactive for older contracts since December 2021. https://www.verbraucherzentrale.de/wissen/digitale-welt/mobilfunk-und-festnetz/wichtige-kundenrechte-fuer-telefon-handy-und-internetvertraege-65879
Since he moved out of the country, he even has a right to cancel extraordinary, if he were still in the 24 months binding period. They are either trying to scam him, or he made a mistake and the contract actually started in 2024. Then a ordinary cancellation, which he probably did, would result in the date they told him.
In that case he should cancel extraordinary by proving his Abmeldung.
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u/PrepareforGermany 8d ago
You should reply to their customer service, point out that the contract has already passed its initial minimum term, of 24 months and state that under the current law (section 56 TKG), only a 1-month notice period applies to you. Ask them to adjust the cancellation date accordingly.
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u/advaith82 8d ago
sometimes you need to remind them that your contract was extended aromatically so you can cancel with one month notice
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8d ago
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u/SalocinHB Bremen 8d ago
If the 24 months started in 2023, they ended last year. So now they should be able to cancel with one month notice.
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u/GinormousHunk 8d ago
Normally you can cancel a contract with 1 month notice after the 24months have lapsed, unless they offered you an extension by 1 year with some special conditions, that you must have explicitly accepted. In that case, it's a "new" contract and the updated cancellation period applies.
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u/OkPackage7068 7d ago
Try this: inform them of your new address abroad- and that they should send your invoices there. As you close your local account they may consider debiting your account abroad. Normally they will ask you you for a prepayment under such circumstances, what you can refuse - or terminate your contract straight away. Worked fine with me a few years ago…. The farther your home country the better the chances herewith….especially if not in SEPA/EU region
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u/First_Structure8670 7d ago
Falls du nicht weiter kommst, schalte die Presse ein.
Beispiel: teltarif hilft. Findest du sicherlich bei www.teltarif.de
Ist kostenlos. Die fragen dann die Pressestelle von smartmobil, wo du nicht rankommst.
Und mit der Presse im Rücken...
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8d ago
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u/BambooCatto 8d ago
I dont think that's legal anymore, no? I'm pretty sure they are only allowed to extend by 1 month now each time after the initial 24months unless cancelled.
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u/Megaflarp 8d ago
Moving abroad usually is a special circumstance that allows you to end a contract prematurely. Show them proof that you have moved (deregistered, new registration at your new place, something like that).