Transferring Broadband and BT Re-connection Charge

Lee85_2

Hi all,

I'm currently renting a property and due to move to a new rented property at the start of January. My current Broadband provider is The Post Office and as I'v only been at my current lease for 6 months I still have 6 months remaining on my Broadband contract.

The Post Office can usually transfer the broadband service for no charge, however I've recently discovered that as the current tenant in my new property has transferred to TalkTalk, I will have to pay a £109 re-connection charge for them to convert this back to BT (this is usually £125 through BT themselves) and hence be able to transfer my broadband across.

This seems very unfair that I have to pay £109 because the current tenant preferred TalkTalk and I was wondering if there is anyway around this? The only other option is to cancel my Post Office Broadband however this will cost me a further £185!!

macman

I think that is what is called a 'return to donor' charge, it's not usually that high. The £125 charge is what BT charge for a new connection or reconnection.

TalkTalk

Hi Lee85,

The TalkTalk customers in the property you are moving to will need to cancel the service before they move out. This leaves a stopped line in that property. Any service at that property would need to be cancelled by the current occupiers so this is certainly not unique to TalkTalk. Once the line is stopped then the service will need to be re-activated and a number of companies charge a fee for this service. The fee is for re-starting the line once it has been cancelled by the previous tennants and not because the line is with TalkTalk. If the line was being returned to BT in an active state then there would be no fee applicable.

Cheers
Emma x

JustPassingBy

Lee85 wrote: »

This seems very unfair that I have to pay £109 because the current tenant preferred TalkTalk and I was wondering if there is anyway around this?

The suggested Return to Donor route (for which there is no charge) is a possible one to explore but note carefully the final sentence in the TalkTalk Company Representative's post. It implies the line at the property you are moving to must not be ceased by the present tenants. They are in a position to request a RTD before they move so you may want to approach them about this.

Lee85_2

Thanks for the help everyone. I will try the RTD but I'm guessing I might have trouble getting the current tenant to do this.

JustPassingBy

Lee85 wrote: »

Thanks for the help everyone. I will try the RTD but I'm guessing I might have trouble getting the current tenant to do this.

Your second route is to go for (as a second line, if necessary) the much talked about (on this forum) BT free line installation.