BT Connection Charges (merged threads)

jimdal

I've had a little read through this phenomenally helpful forum, and I was enquiring to see if anyone has had any luck wavering the ludicrous connection fee to a line which has a "soft tone". I dialled the 17770 number and had my landline number read back to me etc. I tried to go with the post office home phone deal but they have mucked me around for 4 weeks and have told me to ring back tomorrow to find out if I have to pay £110 fee to connect. Both BT and the Post Office had problems finding my address although the advisor @ BT said there was a flat at my property with the flat number unknown ?? lol tbh i'll cut to the point as I could ramble on all day. From what I have read it seems to be a problem at the exchange and not my end, how can I waiver the fee of an engineer coming out? can I advise/demand that the error is corrected at the exchange before sending an engineer out for what would most probably be an assessment of a perfectly working line. It just feels like I will be liable for someone else's mistake ?

one more thing the guy at BT read back to me a different address that he thought the number was registered to? and that the line was active!! has the number been "slammed" ?? but it is impossible to ring the number , it just says disconnected !!

thanks in advance for any advice

James

ACDeag

jimdal wrote: »

I've had a little read through this phenomenally helpful forum, and I was enquiring to see if anyone has had any luck wavering the ludicrous connection fee to a line which has a "soft tone". I dialled the 17770 number and had my landline number read back to me etc. I tried to go with the post office home phone deal but they have mucked me around for 4 weeks and have told me to ring back tomorrow to find out if I have to pay £110 fee to connect. Both BT and the Post Office had problems finding my address although the advisor @ BT said there was a flat at my property with the flat number unknown ?? lol tbh i'll cut to the point as I could ramble on all day. From what I have read it seems to be a problem at the exchange and not my end, how can I waiver the fee of an engineer coming out? can I advise/demand that the error is corrected at the exchange before sending an engineer out for what would most probably be an assessment of a perfectly working line. It just feels like I will be liable for someone else's mistake ?

one more thing the guy at BT read back to me a different address that he thought the number was registered to? and that the line was active!! has the number been "slammed" ?? but it is impossible to ring the number , it just says disconnected !!

thanks in advance for any advice

James

Take the offer for a new line to be installed for £29.99 and ignore the existing wiring. You will have two boxes and only one will work but so be it.

FannyHill

I contacted PO home phone last week to get a phone installed. The girl gave me a date for connection a week later. I told her "but I've said to you I need an engineer because there is a line into the house but there has been no phone there for years and there is no master socket inside just the bare wires"."You need to book an engineer to call".
Anyway she put the order through but I don't think she quite understood.

I rang again the next day and got someone else and gave them the reference no of the order and told him as well I'd need an engineer even though the girl the day before said I'd be connected exactly a week after the order was taken.
Later that evening the provisions dept rang and said they could book and engineer thru Openreach but it would be three weeks.

So £110 charge and a three week wait to fit a master socket and connect it to the phoneline inside the house.

I told him the girl had said a week and I'd be prepared to wait up to 10 days but no longer.

He said three weeks was the soonest so I told him to cancel the order.

I realise this isn't really the fault of PO home phone it's Openreach,they are the holdup, but nevertheless they have lost my business.

mchu6am4

Hi, I signed up to a new BT line in January 2010, however, as you may be aware that BT are increasing their line rental and a few other changes to the call charges from October, does this mean I can cancel my BT contract without penalty?

Thanks, Ash

mchu6am4

mchu6am4 wrote: »

Hi, I signed up to a new BT line in January 2010, however, as you may be aware that BT are increasing their line rental and a few other changes to the call charges from October, does this mean I can cancel my BT contract without penalty?

Thanks, Ash

Anyone please.....?

Heinz

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/35400235#Comment_35400235

JustPassingBy

mchu6am4 wrote: »

Anyone please.....?

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

Paragraph 45 onwards.

Mr_Oink

JustPassingBy wrote: »

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

Paragraph 45 onwards.

48 seems to nail it if you swin through the caveats....

If we make a change to the price or the terms and conditions of a service which is to your material disadvantage, you will not have to pay a charge if you decide to end that service early, unless the Tariff Guide says otherwise. However, once we have told you about such a change, you must let us know that you want to end that service within 10 days. This agreement will continue to apply to any other services that are not affected by any changes that we make.

But given that:

From 1st October 2010, we will be making some changes to a few of our home phone calling prices:

• line rental will increase by 50p
• UK Daytime call rates will increase by 0.5ppm
• the call set-up fee will increase by 1p
• call return features (1471#3 & 1571#0) will increase by 4.2p per use

Pretty much dictates that all customers will be at a 'material disadvantage', then I cannot see any sane legal reason to hold a customer to term/cancellation charges if they cancel within the prescribed 10 days. But IANAL.

deklan99

But surely the 10 days window of opportunity to cancel starts from when BT "have told you about such a change"? In which case the cutoff point has since passed since the changes were spoken about on here 18th July - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=34847787&postcount=1

Mr_Oink

deklan99 wrote: »

But surely the 10 days window of opportunity to cancel starts from when BT "have told you about such a change"? In which case the cutoff point has since passed since the changes were spoken about on here 18th July - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=34847787&postcount=1

Like I say. IANAL.

In my mind the question would be this; When was noticed officially served of the price increase? Assuming the OP did not get the letter 'We have some bad news' from BT, when could it be considered to have been common knowledge and the 10 day clock start ticking?

This would be a question for a Judge/Recorder - not really for a money saving forum ;-) If it were me I would pay the charge {to avoid any outside chance of the sullying of the credit reference agency records} and then take BT to Court via the small claims procedure to recover it + costs. My personal experience of this is they fold every time if the case is compelling enough. Naturally if you tried to take the pee, I'm not so sure how it would pan out.