Broadband lock-ins

L_D_N

Following the recommendations on Martins site to use Madasafish for Broadband I happily signed up with them at the beginning of the year. My phone line is now being changed to NTL from BT (out of my control) and they can't support me anymore. They want to charge me £94!!!!! to cancel. Does anyone else think this is too much? Also found they never reply to queries in emails, always respond by asking you to phone them. Bit miffed today as you can tell. Has anyone else had this problem and managed to sort it or was I just a bit dumb in signing the contract to start with? (Actually, don't answer that, I think I know the answer).

espresso

You should get an answer from Samara (MAAF customer care) in the Internet Access Forum.

gavinp

Out of interest, how can a line be changed from BT to NTL and be out of your control ?

Thanks

Gavin

irnbru_2

gavinp wrote:

Out of interest, how can a line be changed from BT to NTL and be out of your control ?

Perhaps the OP is not the owner of the line.

irnbru_2

L_D_N wrote:

They want to charge me £94!!!!! to cancel. Does anyone else think this is too much?

Sounds like you signed up for a yearly contract.

Madasafish_Customer_Care

Hi LDN,

If you PM me your Madasafish username, I'll be happy to look into this for you.

I would like to take a minute to explain cancellation fees and why ISPs charge them...

When someone signs up for broadband the ISP needs to pay BT to get ADSL (broadband) installed on their line. Some providers do this free of charge, and implement a 12 month contract, other providers will ask you to cover the cost of installation but then put you on a monthly contract (this is almost like paying your cancellation charge up front).

Of course, there is an anomaly with Virgin Broadband who claim they're a monthly contract, but if you quit within the first 12 months, they'll charge you.

Some providers will charge you for the remainder of your contract if you cancel prior to completing the 12 month contract. AOL implement this kind of cancellation policy. To illustrate, if you were on AOL Gold and you quit six months into contract, they would ask that you pay £149.94 = £24.99 * 6(months). Looking at NTL, they seem to operate on the same policy.

I personally think that our cancellation policy is more fair - we simply ask that you cover the costs that we incurred on your behalf to get the service installed.

If you're a new installation, this is £55 + the cost of any free hardware taken

If you've migrated in, this is £25 + the cost of any free hardware taken.

I realise that it's frustrating that my team keep asking you to call in for the cancellation. Prior to cancelling an account, we are required to run a security check to ensure that it is the main account holder who is cancelling.

If you PM me, I’ll arrange for one of my agents to call you and walk you through the process of cancelling.

Kind regards,
Samara
Madasafish Customer Care

L_D_N

Cheers for this. Someone from customer services did go through the why's and where's etc. I just feel this is a large amount to demand in one go. I'll call and cancel once I have my alternative set up as the person I spoke to wasn't sure if I would still have the service during the cancellation period or not. Thanks for the responses from everyone - and yes, the reason is because I don't own the line myself. User ID is lnewark1, feel free to contact me to chat more, Samara.

GerardL

Your ISP has had to pay a lot of money to set your line up for Broadband on the agreement that you'd stay with them for 12 months.

I appreciate that it isn't your fault you can't complete that contract but the ISP shouldn't have to carry the costs through no fault of their own.

Not many people realise the underlying costs and contracts because there are so many companies that offer contracts that appear to be amazing but have lots of bad limitations in the terms.

deanos

I agree its not MAAF's fault