BT Connection Charges (merged threads)

Heinz

Correct. If the line had a dial tone, no charge should apply (BT company representative will be along shortly to confirm that and offer to assist you).

BT_company_representative

Hi madmos5y

Lets see whats going on, can you drop me info regarding the property in a pm and I'll take a look at this for you.

Stuart

chris6262

First time poster here too

Similar sort of story - although I have been purely using the BT website only to calculate whether a connection fee is payable. (I haven't called BT directly yet for clarification as I have not moved into the relevant property yet)

I am moving into a flat this Friday 18th and the current owner definately has a working BT phone line installed. (I called the existing number at 7pm tonight and it rang out as the owner wasn't in). I would have imagined that this falls under the criteria for no connection fee being required ie

"Most of our new customers find they don't need to pay a connection charge.If your home has had telephone service from BT in the recent past, and the wiring and socket is undamaged and the line still has dialling tone, it's likely you won't need to pay a connection charge"

I went online to BT.com and ran my new postcode through the checker, chose my new flat address and was pleased (but not surprised based on all of the above) to find that "the current owner has confirmed he no longer needs this line and it can be reconnected for you free of charge" & we will supply you with a new number" (or words to that effect).

Just now, having told my mum the good news, I reran the EXACTLY same procedure (postcode and selecting address) to show her and lo and behold its now quoting the £122.50 connection fee as non-negotiable - can anyone from BT shed any light as to why this is the case why charging policy has changed within a few hours, particularly when this seems such a textbook case of there being an existing working line which was still working a couple of hours ago!

Many thanks in advance for any assistance anyone can provide.

johnbo_3

Hi all - first poster here too! I'm an ex-Bulldog broadband customer, and am looking to change my ISP and phone provider. I have been with Bulldog (then Pipex, which is now Tiscali) for the last 4 years, and my package has never changed.

Due to bad service recently and the need to upgrade speeds, I have been trying to find my best option. However, I do not have a BT line, and BT want £122.50 for installation of a new one.

Now my question is this - why is it that I had to originally pay BT 4 years ago when I moved into my flat to install a BT socket, which allowed Bulldog to provide me with phone and internet services, and now I have to pay again? I have tried contacting Pipex and BT regarding this. Pipex think that BT will be able to take over the line and this has to be initiated by BT, but BT say that they can't recognise the line, my address or the phone number of that line, and a new one will have to be installed. I have contacted both companies several times regarding this.

I have been pulling my hair out about this for some time - after speaking to people at BT and letting them tell me that it'll be a reconnection and not a new installation so there will be no charge, and then be told later on there will be, I am now back to square one.

So should I be paying for a new connection for a new line to be installed, or should BT be able to recognise that the line is there and switch it back to them? And will I need to disconnect from Pipex/Bulldog before? When I spoke to Pipex, they said I need to request a "return to donor" from BT - obviously BT can't do this because they don't recognise the line.

If I do need to pay a connection fee, then I will find alternative services - funny that they say thousands are switching back to BT everyday, when they make it so bloody difficult!

BT_company_representative

Hi chris6262, If you could PM us your new address details and we can check our system to see if you will need to pay a connection fee! Thanks Natasha, BT Support

limota

First timer - After reading a lot of notes on here over the weekend, I rang BT about their current offer, had no problems at all and I am having my line reactivated and a socket put in at no cost and no connection fee for an 18 month contract. That made me happy and I rang my sister in law to tell her about it, and she has also got her line to be put in on Friday. thanks for all the various information that had been shared generally. Heinz, am well pleased with your support. thanks

limota

New Broadband provider - I am in the process of changing this and so far, I am finding O2 favourable. I am on a monthly contract with O2. Anything anyone wants to share with me before I jump into the deep end so to speak. Thanks

slawer

I have a BT landline in my flat, I can hear a dial tone and it has a phone number associated with the line when I called 17070. I have been in the flat for three months and I know that the previous tenants had an active BT line but took the number and rental with them.

I am being told by the post office after giving my address and phone number that I will need to pay for an engineer to come out and connect me.

I can't really afford £110 right now, especially as I will be staying at the current property for less than a year. I would say fair enough if the landline was not in place, or needed connecting to the exchange for the first time, or if the line had not been used for a lot of years.

Can anyone with a bit of expertise advise me as to whether I should get the call out anyway based on what I have said, ie. Do you have to pay the engineer if everything is fine? Given the information is the line likely to be fine?

Whatever the result of this, BT openreach have annoyed me for one of the following two reasons:
IF THE LINE IS INACTIVE: I am positive that this is just being used to make some money, and would like to know the details for why physically disconnecting lines so quickly is a necessary and cheaper practice.

IF THE LINE IS ACTIVE: and after giving the number of the phone line as welll as the property address it is still being reported as inactive, then it is unbelievable that I am being told to order out an engineer, driving up the costs of this service for others.

Heinz

Sounds like the Post Office are using the fact the line is inactive to make a little extra money.

Yes, they will have to pay Openreach to activate the line again but nowhere near £110 (£103.40 for a new installation but £2.35 for transfer from one provider to another - see HERE).

I'd imagine reactivating a line is nearer to a transfer than a new installation.

slawer

Heinz wrote: »

Sounds like the Post Office are using the fact the line is inactive to make a little extra money.

Yes, they will have to pay Openreach to activate the line again but nowhere near £110 (£103.40 for a new installation but £2.35 for transfer from one provider to another - see HERE).

I'd imagine reactivating a line is nearer to a transfer than a new installation.

Will the result be any different from any other provider, I thought they would all essentially use the open reach system which would say if a callout was needed, I thought the only thing that changes is how much this action costs, with post office being one of the cheapest.