BT Connection Charges (merged threads)

stevehanover

My son is trying to get a BT line installed in a new build flat the problem we have is that his initial lease is for 6 months if he leaves after that will he have to pay the balance to BT

gt94sss2

stevehanover wrote:

My son is trying to get a BT line installed in a new build flat the problem we have is that his initial lease is for 6 months if he leaves after that will he have to pay the balance to BT

Its possible to cancel a 12 month residential line contract (i.e. a new line) to BT at any time within the first 9 months and pay a 'cancellation charge' of £18, instead of the remaining line rental.

If your son leaves after 6 months, thats what he should do.

Regards
Sunil

screamingblues

normanmark wrote:

isnt it, everything costs to provide & if he's got enough money to fork out for a new home then £129 for a new phone line shouldnt really be much of a squeeze for him

Geez mate - those grapes are sour enough to make vinegar!! So this guy has moved house a few times - who says they have been more expensive each time ? And even if they are he probably achieved it by SAVING MONEY on charges like BT's by not accepting them so quickly. After all isn't this a money saving forum ? You have hi-jacked it as a way of lording it over others!

Surely the ethos of money saving is to try as hard as possible to minimise expense at every possible juncture? Consumer pressure can effect all sorts of discounts and deals whereby both the consumer and the supplier can survive.

I looked on here hoping to find knowlege not ego's !

:cool:

ibleedred

I have just moved house, and for the first time moved into a new build that I have just purchased, and to be honest I am a little upset that I have to pay £129 to continue my account with BT.

I have been a customer for only 6 months, pay by DD, and signed for a year with them at my last address.

BT have offered me the chance to spread the payments over 10 months, which seems more reasonable than some seem to have been offered on here, but in my opinion, it is still a lot of money.

And, to the people who think that because I can afford a new house, then I should be fine with this, your in dream land, I have spent the last 6 months with bank managers, financial advisors and mortgage lenders to get on the property ladder, to now have to find another £12 a month, albeit on for 10 months, is alot of money.

Do I have a choice, well yes I do, it's a matter of paying for my account for the next 6 months with no phone at all, or, paying £129 and continuing to be a customer with a phone line.

Plus, my Internet is with Tiscali, what's my hope of that continuing?



By the way, great site!!!!

Heinz

Even though I'm well beyond that 'first step on the ladder' stage now, I understand what you're saying (I well remember £800+/month mortgage payments in the 1980's taking well over three quarters of our joint salaries and stretching us very nearly to the limit).

Anyway, in the hope of easing the pain a little, please click on the 'HERE' link in my signature below to see a few suggestions on how you might be able to save a fair bit on your call costs.

Good luck in your new home.

cluey

I have just moved into a new house and I agree that £125 is outrageous and cannot be justified. It is a total abuse of BT's monopoly. I moved into a new house 3 years ago and it was £75, why the 66% increase? BT have a monopoly and charge whatever they want.

In an NTL area, the install charge is free, and they dig up the road and lay a cable from the street to your house. BT simply flick a switch at the Exchange.

I can't believe that people actually defend BT! How can people defend the in-defensible? They make huge profits on the back of these sorts of charges so clearly, BT are making a killing somewhere. Yes, they have to put the cables going into the new development, I have read on this forum a figure of £100k to do this, I have never heard so much rubbish, the cost is nowhere near that. And as for shoddy service if you go to another phone company, BT probbaly have the worst service of the lot.

It is time for a consumer campaign to get BT broken up for the benefit of everyone in this country, BT have too much power and it needs sorting.

DonnyDave

cluey wrote:

In an NTL area, the install charge is free, and they dig up the road and lay a cable from the street to your house. BT simply flick a switch at the Exchange.

What about the BT wiring? Or does it work on fresh air? :rolleyes:

cluey wrote:

I can't believe that people actually defend BT! How can people defend the in-defensible? They make huge profits on the back of these sorts of charges so clearly, BT are making a killing somewhere.

Not everyone lives in an urban area like yourself. Some installations, especially those in rural areas will obviously require more work, well in excess of £125.

And why should BT not make any profit? Please justify. Remember it is a private business since Thatcher privatised it.

smith.4472

Other than Cable, depending on where you are located there may be other companies able to provide service to you. They can use a process where they have their own equipment 'hosted' at the Local BT exchange and Openreach (the semi-automonous BT group who look after the external cabling) provide the 'last mile' of wiring from the exchange to your premises (know as Local Loop Unbundling or LLU). Examples of operators who provide this are talk Talk, Bull Dog, Sky [NOTE: These are NOT recommendations for them, only examples to give an idea who is in the market]. In this case, if you use one of these LLU operators, you do not pay BT for any part of the service, it is all sorted by your chosen supplier.
Go to http://www.samknows.com/broadband/search.php and input your Village or Town name (can also serach using a number by using the index on the left to select the other options) and it will tell you if your exchange has been LLU'd, and if so which operators are available from there.
They are likely to charge some connection fee, although it is a commercial decision on their part what to charge (they will still pay openreach the standard fee, but thats not really your concern) which could be less than what BT charge.
It is worth noting, LLU is only likely to appear in places where there is a high population density where the take up will jsutify the investment by these other operators. hence small villages are much less likely to benefit from this than a large town or city.

If your exchange has not been LLU'd, it may still be possible to have service from another provider, although some will only offer the calls part, leaving BT to provide and charge for the line, with the appropriate connection charges, etc.

Hope this helps a bit.

Heinz

Thanks smith.4472 - I clicked the link and found:

Local loop unbundling presence
Be: Not available
Bulldog: Not available
CPW / TalkTalk: Not available
Easynet / Sky: Not available
Edge Telecom: Not available
HomeChoice: Not available
Lumison: Not available
Node4: Not available
Orange: Not available
Pipex: Not available
Tiscali: Not available
WB Internet: Not available
Zen Internet: Not available

Wow, spoilt for choice in my village of 2,412 residential premises and 159 non-residential premises then.

movingforward2010

its only a one off charge so its not to bad, tbh if it wasnt for the internet i wouldnt have a landline as i never use it for calls - loads of free mins with O2:j