Leaving BT Light User - please help!

thesimian

As you all probably know BT is closing the light user scheme and as such we are trying to migrate our line rental and call package to Sky - only £10 a month compared to £11.50 BT want!

I tried calling Sky yesterday and was told that they cant proceed whilst the light user scheme is setup on the line and to contact our provider.

I called BT and was directed through to their Indian call centre and found it very hard to understand what they were saying, plus I think they had trouble understanding me - nothing odd there lots of people do!

They told me that i need to ring another number and to gonto some £10+£3 package, not sure what he was on about to be honest. All I need to do i think is get the light user scheme removed from the line so that Sky can transfer my line rental and call package to them.

Can anyone detail to me what I need to do to achieve this, do i simply need to cancel my line with BT altogether?? Will Sky be able to connect me if the line has been cancelled by BT?? Has anyone else done this and if so what did they do?

Apologies if this seems a stupid question, I am really confused by all the options that i have had to do through to decide on Sky and now it gets more complex when trying to switch!

Quentin

No, whatever you do, don't cancel - they will disconnect you!

Ask to go on the unlimited weekend plan. Don't accept any other suggestion (or you will end up having a 12 month contract with them).

Once that plan is in place you can then sign up with sky.

thesimian

Thanks for the reply!
So by switching to the unlimited weekend weekend plan we would be able to then transfer to Sky Talk (plus line rental) without incurring any cancellation charges?

I know that they have a 12 month rolling contract on the unlimited weekend/evening calls package that they have already offered us, do you know if this is the case with the unlimited weekend one?

What I am hoping to achieve to move my entire phone line rental and calling package to Sky Talk, leaving no bill with BT.

Sorry if I am sounding thick in all this, having spent the past week umming and ahhring over which provider/package to go with my mind is a little frazzled now!
Thanks

Quentin

thesimian wrote: »

So by switching to the unlimited weekend weekend plan we would be able to then transfer to Sky Talk (plus line rental) without incurring any cancellation charges?

I know that they have a 12 month rolling contract on the unlimited weekend/evening calls package that they have already offered us, do you know if this is the case with the unlimited weekend one?

Ask to go on the unlimited weekend plan. Don't accept any other suggestion (or you will end up having a 12 month contract with them).

ellielovesem

I had a similar problem with the Indian call centre when I tried to move my plan from light user to unlimited weekends (I've now signed up with Sky). He told me to ring another number (no-one answered) so I just rang the normal customer service number and got through to someone in the UK. My advice is just try again until you speak to someone with sense!!!

thesimian

ellielovesem wrote: »

I had a similar problem with the Indian call centre when I tried to move my plan from light user to unlimited weekends (I've now signed up with Sky). He told me to ring another number (no-one answered)

That is exactly what happened to me last night! Do you recall what time of day you rang again at, I am wondering if the Indian call centre covers certain time periods.

Thanks both of you for your help, you might have just saved my sanity!:j

ellielovesem

Strangely enough I rang back straight away and that was when I got through to the UK person so there doesn't seem to be any kind of logic behind it!! I was calling around 6pm. As these calls are 0800 numbers and are free on BT I would suggest phoning and maybe hagning up if you get someone you don't want to speak to and try again later? Sounds a bit petty but you want to make sure you're getting the service you want!! I'm sure the call centres in India work long hours but you could bear in mind that the later you phone from here the later it will be there and the place might be closed.

As Quentin says, sign up for the weekends plan which will be £11.25 line rental and no contract. Sky will then transfer you over but I guess you will owe BT a bit of money in this transition period but after that you won't have any more dealings with them.

If I could just hijack this thread with a question of my own, once I've been fully transferred to Sky and have settled up my bill with BT does that then mean I am no longer a BT customer and should close my account or does this happen automatically? I'm also presuming I'll need to cancel the current direct debit to stop them sneakily taking any money!!

Quentin

Yes, once your final bill is paid you can cancel your dd. You don't need to contact BT any more.