Cancelling phone contract before leaving JP
I'm going to talk about how to manage your SoftBank WiFi. This will include procedures for ending your contract, making the last payment, and returning your router.This involved some of the most complicated and annoying paperwork I had to do before I moved out of Japan!If you're moving or returning back to your home country, I hope this will be useful to you.I had experience doing this because my Australian partner had a contract with SoftBank for his personal mobile and WiFi, and I helped him manage and cancel them.He paid the bill by direct debit, but had to cancel his bank account before he left Japan. What should he do? Read this article to find out!!目次【The contractor has to call them】【Poor customer service】【Things you have to return】【Removing the internet cable】【The payment】【No one could answer my question correctly】【The contractor has to call them】I called up the local SoftBank shop on behalf of my partner to figure out how he was going to pay the last bill. They explained what we needed to do, and what we needed to return.【Poor customer service】When I first called them, they said "the contractor has to call us, or their next of kin can talk on his behalf. If you're not one of them, we can't give you any advice or answers you ask us."Because being just a partner doesn't count as being a family member in Japan, I called them a second time when my partner was available.First I said "I'm representing my partner, since he is not fluent in Japanese, he is right next to me."She said "Let me ask some question to your partner to know if the contractor himself is talking"She asked his Name, Date of Birth and phone number.She only asked him for that information!Anyway, their answer was like this.【Things you have to return】・The router. The one that has the NTT logo. They sent me a box the address of the NTT written on it. I could send it back on cash on delivery. You can do it from some convenience stores, or Japan Post branches.・BB unit (Terrestrial digital tuner, modem cable etc which have the SoftBank logo on them). I had to get a box and prepay for sending them.My partner lost a cable or something, but they said it's ok because they are consumable items.This is the address to send the BB unit to:〒272-0001千葉県市川市二俣678-55ESR 市川ディストリビューションセンター 3階 北棟N8ソフトバンク返品センター宛電話番号：0800-1111-820https://nn-com.co.jp/article/sb-cancellation-method/ 【Removing the internet cable】They asked about removing the fiber optic cables inside the apartment. They said if the internet cable was there from the start, you don't have to get someone to get rid of it for restoration. That has to be done in Mid or End of a month before moving, in the presence of the contractor or someone who lived with. We didn't have to do this though.【The payment】We could pay by bank transfer from overseas. That included The last bill. Wifi, cancelation fee. It cost about 27,000 yen.This is the bank information for payment Bank Mitsui Sumitomo Bank Branch Honten eigyoubu Type Savings account Account number 4740201 Name SoftBank Corp. Things you need to be aware of:・請求先番号 Bill number You need to write 請求先番号 which is 12 digits long, you can include it in the description of the transfer you make from your local bank. You can know this number on your page at the softbank website or on paper bill.・指定口座登録住所 Designated resistered Address 東京都千代田区丸の内1-1-2 1-1-2, Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-0005, Japan・スウィフト コード SMBC JP JT This is the code you write when you transfer money from overseas to Japan.https://www.softbank.jp/support/faq/view/18223 【No one could answer my question correctly】Did you know that you need to book a date for just asking a question? It took some time.Anyway, the staff said, "You can not transfer money from overseas"It made me wonder if they really wanted us to pay the final bill or not!As a matter of fact, I contacted SoftBank customer service 11 times on phone call, and I finally got the right answer from an online chat.There were some impolite and not helpful staff. Many people didn't know that the customer can pay the bill from overseas!If you have any inquiries about payment or other things, I strongly recommend you ask on the online chat, so that you can have a record of what they say.As a side note, my partner could pay the bill through his online bank account from Australia so easily.Good luck!!!
