Changes to BT BB Cease Charges

dollydiva

My jaw dropped to read that BT will apply a cease charge when you cancel your broadband whether you are in minimim contract OR NOT when you choose to stop bb altogether or do not use the regular mac code process.

And the charge is increasing to £25 in June. Now I am with 2 providers right now - bt and virgin and I was going to cease BT in October when my contract ends; now it makes no difference whether I end the contract NOW or wait until October. Actually, I'd SAVE money by cancelling now as the current cancellation is just over £18

Now it also sez that they may charge me £44 for my hub; but i've had my hub 4 years now and the only reason I'm back in a minimum contract period was because I moved home and they put me back on one (which seems damn unfair imo) - so I wondered if they really DO levy the charge on old hubs like mine?

Anyways, it seems to me that if you're thinking of ending the broadband to reduce your monthy outgoings and your not in contract period, you'd best do it now before this new change comes into effect.

dd

saveandprosper

I have read that BT have offered reduced monthly charges of £15 for option 3 to existing BT broadband users, do you know how to get this offer?

dollydiva

Don't know where you read that one saveandprosper - I can only see offers for new customers on the website - perhaps you are confusing this with the new reduced phone package charges?

dd

Ash888

they reduce your bill by £5 if you renew, my contract recently ended and they reduced it from 24.99 to 19.99.
if you signed up when bt were offering BB option 3 for £19.99 then you would bt able to get it for £15

Nomad25

My jaw dropped to read that BT will apply a cease charge when you cancel your broadband whether you are in minimim contract OR NOT when you choose to stop bb altogether or do not use the regular mac code process.

Mine too. I get the feeling they are feeling the pressure from people moving over to new providers. So they are going to shaft anyone left. How can they get away with this?

mrJ_5

you don't pay this if migrating to a new provider, only if you cease your broadband connection - ie. remove it completely from your phone line

DitzyLips

I was just coming to post about this as i had the email too.Guess they have to make the savings for the reductions somewhere.
http://www2.bt.com/static/i/ecomm_files/html/cease.html
is the url to the short version with the full version link at the bottom.Hope this helps :-)

Caryne

I have moved house so totally cancelled all the BT broadband and phone at my old address. I had a BT phone line at my new address but took out broadband with another supplier. I have just had a bill charging me £15.75 plus VAT 'Cease Charge' and, to add insult to injury, an 80p 'Cancellation Charge'. I have just rang them and they said this charge was because I didn't migrate using a MAC code but I was moving home and going to a different supplier so it wasn't necessary to use a MAC code.
I realise there has been much discussion of this here in the past but I am wondering if there is a legal position of someone charging for effectively doing nothing.
I an thinking of taking this complaint further, is there any point?

b3nton

I had no idea about this. Disgusting

Molescroft

I am pretty angry about this too. We tend to move with my husbands work every couple of years or so. We are currently with BT and out of the contract period. We move early July and I either escape the charge and "move house" with BT and so enter a new contract period (I could carry on like this and never leave!) or I bite the bullet, pay the charge and look for a new provider. BT can be assured though that if I do pay the cease charge, I will not be coming back no matter how good their offers are. There were no cease charges when I entered the contract and I am really angry that they can just change the rules when they feel like it.

WhoKilledBambi?

"If a customer decides to cancel a broadband service ......... they may receive a ‘cease’ charge. This even applies if they have completed their contract. The company is passing on a charge which it has to pay, to BT Openreach. Ofcom’s final guidance is that a cease charge is probably fair, provided:

• the charge is made clear to customers before they sign on the line; and
• it’s based only on the actual costs that come with ceasing a service"

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/addcharges/pes_statement/

"Ending the service
When you end your broadband service and do not request and use a migration authorisation code (MAC) or another recognised transfer process to move to another service provider, you will have to pay a cease charge of £18.11 (£25 from 12th June 2009). "

http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerProducts/dynamicmodules/pagecontentfooter/pageContentFooterPopup.jsp?pagecontentfooter_popupid=13408#TBST