MSE News: BT cuts 'free' evening calls by one hour

Colin_London

No - it's definitely a 12 months renewal from an annual renewal date.

At the last renewal BT made a 'mistake' and didn't send out a reminder. Got a letter in June stating:

You are 'on a renewable 12 month contract'
'We recently renewed your contract....'
'Your new contract started the day after the old one ended'.

Those form of words make it clear that you get a new contract every 12 months. Which means to get out without penalty you can only cancel ON the renewal date, and you can only arrange this up to 21 days after they send you the renewal reminder letter.

Don't know where you got the idea it turned into a day-by-day contract after 12 months from :eek:

Justino_2

darquestar wrote: »

Go to mediacentre o2 co uk and then click full story and there is all the inforrmation (sorry but I cannot post links yet lol)

Thanks, have seen that. I use the text facility on BT to notify me of missed calls at home, so keen to maintain that, but can't see if it will be available on O2.

Ypaymore

MrGumby wrote: »

Yes, it renews, but not on an annual basis, unless I'm mistaken. It just rolls on, a day at a time forever (or until they enforce new contract terms, which no doubt they will, one day). In other words, after the first year, you're not tied in, just have to give 14 days' notice to cancel.

It rolls on for another year if you dont give notice. If you give notice your on a day to day basis but your charged £2.99 a month.

Searcher2

MrGumby wrote: »

My understanding is that your yearly contract doesn't "renew", it just rolls on, once it's been running a year. So, after the first year, you can cancel whenever you like (subject to 14 days' notice) without penalty.

Anyone know if that's correct?

No - not correct. My 12 month contract ran out without me knowing (I am not sure if BT informed me or not - how can I prove it?) and I started to get charged the full whack. It took me a couple of months to realise and then when I rang to find out why the monthly rate had increased the bloke told me it was because when I took out the 12 month contract I was given a credit to my account and in 3 months it would revert to the cheaper (£11ish) rate. The BT system doesn't let you check your bills 12 months back so I trusted him. 3 months went by and the rate didn't change so I rang again. I was told I wasn't on the deal any more and that is why I was being charged the full amount. I argues that they had given me incorrect information previously and I got a partial refund.

So - no it doesn't automatically renew - and I am not convinced they tell you about it in a clear way.

EDIT : I wrote the above without seeing the most recent responses. So it looks like BT took me off the 12 month contract without giving me any notice and hence I paid £2.99 a month more....whereas they should have renewed it at the promotional rate giving me notice. I am convincing myself that even if O2 costs me more at least I know where I stand with them!

Searcher2

Done it!

From the BT website : Contact BT, Phone Services, Calling Plans and Packages, Check order or cancel/change service, Email us and filled in the form choosing the preferred response type to be email.

Content was :

I received your email titled "Important information about your BT service." on 1/2/2010 where you tell me that you are redefining the word 'evening' in your contract. This adversely affects me financially so under points 45 to 48 of your T&Cs I hereby give notice that I wish to terminate my current 12 month contract and to revert to a normal monthly contract as of 1st April 2010 when you define 'evenings' to be 7pm to 7am rather than 6pm to 6am.

This will allow me to find an alternate supplier who defines evenings in a way that is more benefitial to me.

I look forward to you confirming this change of my contract from 1st April 2010.

gsc

Emailed BT with a similar content to Searcher2, but stating to end the contract immediately. Basing this on the terms and conditions that state:
"If we have made a change which is to your material disadvantage, you will not have to pay a charge if you decide to end your agreement 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 the agreement within 10 days."
One of the key words there is 'early' - there is no mention of waiting until the new contract terms begin, so I opted to end the contract straight away.

Followed that up with a phone call and was transferred round the houses, eventually to a very helpful lady in customer options who cancelled the rolling contract there and then and placed me on the weekend only plan. Interestingly, after placing me on hold for 5 mins or so, she did come back and say "we haven't heard of this clause before", so act now before BT remove it!

Now off to find a new provider....

Searcher2

gsc - the reason I asked for my contract to end as of 1st April 2010 is that it will let O2 get into gear with their landliine offering which starts on 1st March - and hopefully have Quidco linked into it as well by then. Maybe they will terminate my contract on the spot but we'll see.

MrGumby

Ypaymore wrote: »

It rolls on for another year if you dont give notice. If you give notice your on a day to day basis but your charged £2.99 a month.

Yes, you're right. I just had a long call with them.

You have to cancel the annual contract within its last month, or they start a new 1-year contract. If they forget to write and advise you of the start of a new contract - tough. It's up to you to make sure you know the date (find out by dialling 150). If you want to get out of the contract, it costs you something like £7.50/month for the remaining term.

And, if they choose to vary the terms you signed up for, e.g. the changes announced for 1 April, that's tough too. It would be interesting to see how they reacted if a customer tried to vary the terms!

Having said all that, if you've been with BT for a while (i.e. are a loyal customer), phone and have a polite moan about the 1 April changes. Ask for a discount on Anytime and you may be pleasantly surprised, as I was. When all's said and done, I actually quite like BT and am likely to stick with them for both phone and BB.

Searcher2

MrGumby wrote: »

And, if they choose to vary the terms you signed up for, e.g. the changes announced for 1 April, that's tough too. It would be interesting to see how they reacted if a customer tried to vary the terms!

Eh? It quite clearly says in their T&Cs you can get out of the contract if they change them so you are worse off!!!
It looks like the person you spoke to was misinforming you or didn't know the T&Cs.

MSE member "gsc" (post #128) has done it.

MrGumby wrote: »

You have to cancel the annual contract within its last month, or they start a new 1-year contract. If they forget to write and advise you of the start of a new contract - tough.

I didn't cancel the contract after 12 months and they did not renew the contract - instead putting me on the more expensive weekend tariff. Seems they do what they like!

gsc

For those looking for where the terms and conditions mention this contract getout, look here:
http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerProducts/dynamicmodules/pagecontentfooter/pageContentFooterPopup.jsp?pagecontentfooter_popupid=13408
in section 45 to 48.

The only time you would have pay to get out of the contract under the above clause, is if you have a broadband and phone package, and those exit charges are listed in the tariff guide from the above link. So given the comment about keeping broadband, I think the CSR MrGumby spoke to was right.

Searcher2 - I wasn't questioning your choice to end the contract on April 1st, just highlighting that it is possible to end it earlier if you choose. :-)

Oh and BT did try to offer some deals such as free line rental for 3 months if I signed up to the anytime package , but there were no reduced rate mobile calls in that so I turned it down