Warning - BT Cessation Charge extortion
KayTo
Posts: 1 Newbie
i was made redundant a few months ago and it's unfortunately now at the stage where money is extremely tight so I had to make the decision to cancel my broadband. This was actually out of the 12 month contract and rolling month to month at a higher rate as I can not commit to any length of contact while unemployed. I called to cancel and was asked the reason, which I gave, the advisor offered a reduced contract but I advised as above, I was not in a position to commit to any contract at the moment, he was very sympathetic and noted the months notice and that service would cease on Christmas Day.
I received a confirmation of cancellation email which stated that I am to be charged a further £31 for the privilege of leaving as a 'cessation charge'. The BT website said only that this charge was 'compensatory' but the link supposedly to 'more details' did not work, so I called.......15 minutes later when the call was answered, (foreign call centre?) the advisor was defensive and said if the link to more details didn't work I should just google it and Plusnet did the charges too. I used the analogy of a bus driver demanding the same fare on exit as entry for stopping the bus to let me off, but he said it was more like 'hiring a whole bus', and had I been switching provider, I would not have incurred the charge. At no point in my original call to cancel was I made aware of this charge. It may be legal, but I feel, given the circumstances, this charge is totally unfair and when I DO gain employment, hopefully in the very near future, BT will NOT EVER, be on my list of preferred providers.
I received a confirmation of cancellation email which stated that I am to be charged a further £31 for the privilege of leaving as a 'cessation charge'. The BT website said only that this charge was 'compensatory' but the link supposedly to 'more details' did not work, so I called.......15 minutes later when the call was answered, (foreign call centre?) the advisor was defensive and said if the link to more details didn't work I should just google it and Plusnet did the charges too. I used the analogy of a bus driver demanding the same fare on exit as entry for stopping the bus to let me off, but he said it was more like 'hiring a whole bus', and had I been switching provider, I would not have incurred the charge. At no point in my original call to cancel was I made aware of this charge. It may be legal, but I feel, given the circumstances, this charge is totally unfair and when I DO gain employment, hopefully in the very near future, BT will NOT EVER, be on my list of preferred providers.
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Comments
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If you cancel your broadband there is a cease fee for the work and engineers time to disconnect at the exchange this is charged to all ISP's and the majority pass it on to the customer, this has been applicable for many years now.0
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The charge is the one made by Open Reach to all broadband providers when a broadband line is ceased (as opposed to transferring to another provider).
It's not extortion at all."There are not enough superlatives in the English language to describe a 'Princess Coronation' locomotive in full cry. We shall never see their like again". O S Nock0 -
as others have said, the charge is for disconnecting your line from broadband and is allowed (by OFCOM) as Openreach have physical work to do, and records etc need updating, so there is a cost incurred it would be the same with any provider that used wholesale line rental not just BT consumer,
Good luck with the job hunting0 -
Aye. Openreach do physical work, not a lot but they do do some and someone has to pay for it. Unfortunately in this case it's your good self. Hope the job front improves soon. :cool:0
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Do you have to pay this if you are moving home too?0
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Sorry to hear of your job change, I hope it leads to a fantastic opportunity with loads more money and better prospects.
I remember when they brought this in, I was appalled because it can often be done electronically and even if not, the engineers are there anyway, it is just another way to screw you out of your hard earned cash so that a multibillion pound company can make an obscene amount of profit and then go and buy EE.
The fact is that companies that use this "Ryan Air" school of management where they want to charge you for breathing just end up being HATED.
It is not acceptable to say "they all do it" because it is part of the provision, we get charged an installation fee when we come in and now are being charged for the very same work. So you pay the cessation fee, a new person moves in and they pay the install fee for the same work.
On manual exchanges this involves at worst 30 seconds to remove an RJ45 or equivalent, in virtual circuits it is even less.
You are right to complain about thisThanks, don't you just hate people with sigs !0 -
It can indeed be done electronically if it is broadband we are talking about, as one is supplied with a login/password, which can be changed and disabled.
It is also anticompetitive behavior if the customer wishes to switch to mobile voice/data only, perfectly possible with 4G or good 3G, as the charge is applied in this case, but not if the customer switches to another landline provider.0 -
If you transfer a broadband connection to a different line then normally the aquiring ISP (or the one retaining your business but normally starting a fresh minimum term) will pickup the charge.betterdaysahead wrote: »Do you have to pay this if you are moving home too?
If you were moving but did not start a new BT based service (eg going to cable or mobile broadband) then the losing ISP would pass on the cease charge to you.
I agree with DavidP24 that it's for the most part just a cash grab. If the line was not going to be reused I doubt anything would be done at all and if it were re-provisioned then OR would most likely be reconnecting it to some broadband or other anyway and picking up a fee for that. Just being left connected without any broadband provider would do no harm and if the equipment connection was needed by another customer the port would just be transferred.0 -
kwikbreaks wrote: »If you transfer a broadband connection to a different line then normally the aquiring ISP (or the one retaining your business but normally starting a fresh minimum term) will pickup the charge.
If you were moving but did not start a new BT based service (eg going to cable or mobile broadband) then the losing ISP would pass on the cease charge to you.
I agree with DavidP24 that it's for the most part just a cash grab. If the line was not going to be reused I doubt anything would be done at all and if it were re-provisioned then OR would most likely be reconnecting it to some broadband or other anyway and picking up a fee for that. Just being left connected without any broadband provider would do no harm and if the equipment connection was needed by another customer the port would just be transferred.
Except it would still be powered, and a record kept.
It's a bit like saying, there's no point returning a DVD to blockbuster until another customer wants to borrow it.0 -
No that is not a good comparison, because a DVD is required to be returned.
It is almost 99% certain that BT will make an install charge for the line.
There is no additional work to be done, just a cash grabThanks, don't you just hate people with sigs !0
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