Hello there everyone,

I am in a bit of a situation and I wondered if any one could help me.

I am currently under contract with Salt and since the network is not very good I wanted to change to Swisscom. My contract with Salt ends on 23rd February 2017.

I spoke to Salt and was told that I need to cancel the contract 2 months before the end. 

I found the phone I want (iPhone 6S plus as I don't want the 7) but since it is an older model I needed to go to the apple store to get the contract. 

When I was in Zurich on the 23rd November I went into the Apple Store and took the contract out. The girl said to me "do you want it to happen as soon as possible?" to which I replied "yes at the end of my contract". Now in my world as soon as possible means at the end of the contract since we are continually told in switzerland that we cannot break contracts before the end.

I then received an email last week from Swisscom saying that the number move (I want to keep my number) would happen on the 1st December. This surprised me but I didn't think anymore of it. 

I spoke with a friend who has been having issues with Salt and decided to call Swisscom and Salt to make sure that everything was ok. 

I called Swisscom first and they told me that from their end everything was fine but that I needed to check with Salt but it was not a problem to stop the number transfer and start the contract in February should Salt want to charge me. Nevertheless stopping the transfer has to come from Salt's end.

I call Salt and they say Swisscom needs to stop the contract and the transfer, that they cannot do anything and that I have to pay 400 CHF for cancelling early (incidentally I'd only have to pay 290 CHF if I stayed so 400 CHF is steep). I told them that when I signed up for this contract I was under the impression that it would happen in February, that i didn't ask for it to happen now and that it was desperately unfair. I was told that I should have thought of that before I decided to sign an ASAP contract. I told her that I didn't know and she made it perfectly clear that it is my fault. 

I called Swisscom back, telling them that Salt said it was their fault and she called Salt. I was told it was too late to stop it and that they were sorry I had to pay. She advised that I contact the Apple Store in Zurich to ask them to take care of it.

I am currently dealing with the Apple Store but the guy who was dealing with my case yesterday seems to not be there today and I am now dealing with someone else. All the while the number transfer is going to happen tomorrow. 

I am starting to think that there is no way I can stop this from happening but I object to this 400 CHF arbitrary charge which I was at no point told about. 

Is there any ombudsman type service in Switzerland that I can turn to in an attempt to get my 400 CHF back? Incidentally fining me such a sum the first week of December is beyond cruel, it's barbaric.

Thanks for any advice!

Helen