Complaint
An exit fee for leaving: transfer of the contact person and release of documents made conditional on payment
In the reported cases a customer wanting to move to another provider is asked for an additional fee for transferring the contact-person entry, releasing the accounting file or “closing the account”; until it is paid, the transfer application is not signed and the documents are not sent. This fee was not written in the contract or the quote. With the year end approaching, the wait pushes the customer either to pay or to stay another year. (Opinion: the documents belong to the company and the contact-person entry can be changed in the register by the customer themselves; putting a price on leaving keeps the customer through dependence, not through service.)
This card describes a complaint type rather than one incident; details may vary from report to report.
How to recognise this situation
- When you write that you want to move to another provider, a new fee comes up.
- Handing over documents or transferring the contact person is made conditional on payment.
- This fee was not in the contract or the quote.
Questions to ask the provider
- If the service ends, in what format and within how many days do you hand over my documents?
- Is there a fee for transferring the contact-person entry; if so, where is it written?
- Is anything else payable when the relationship ends?
What to do about this type of complaint
Before paying in advance, ask for scope, term, refund and termination terms in one written document; invoices and e-mails are not a contract. Know that you can change the contact person and legal address in the register yourself when needed; get the exit plan in writing at the start.
Related guide sections:
- Company formation › Before you pay: check the provider’s public record
- Choosing an accountant › 4–7: Contract, scope, refund and price rule
- File your own report › Changing the contact person and legal address in the register
- Where to complain › First: keep records, send a formal notice, separate accounts
Similar complaints
- Global Estonia gives no refund terms: full prepayment, no written refund conditions
- Unclear scope: work assumed to be included is charged separately later
- Global Estonia gives no contract: nothing in writing, no breakdown, no clear counterparty
- The same return is refused this time with documents accepted before