Cancelling Post Office HomePhone

Blue_Lou

This is turning into a real nightmare.

Quite simply, I would like to cancel PO HomePhone and move to Primus.

This a lot harder/more expensive than it seems.

I have been told from the PO, that if I cancel my contract with them it will cost three months line rental charge for BT to reconnect me.

I am thinking that the guy at PO has deliberately misled me, I think I may be able to cancel PO for no cost at all. I think I may need to contact BT and switch back to them, this would take a few weeks and then move onto Primus from there.

Can anybody give me some advice as the cheapest way to do this?

Heinz

I think you received false advice. The Post Office's own T&Cs cover it:

9. Termination
9.1 If You change Your mind after You requested the Service on the application form or by phone, You can tell Us that You want to cancel and You won’t incur costs for the Service, provided You let Us know that You wish to cancel at any time before the end of 7 working days after the date you receive your connection date from Us or until 2 days before your transfer to the Post Office™ HomePhone Service occurs, whichever is the earlier, by phoning, emailing or writing to Us at Post Office TM HomePhone, PO Box 250, Brighton BN1 3ZL.
9.2 Even after the cancellation period referred to in Clause 9.1 above comes to an end, You can also leave the Service at any time by returning to Your original telephone service provider or by entering into a contract with another telephone service operator. You will only have to pay Us for the calls that You have made and for the use of line by You and any other outstanding charges. If You decide to end this Contract, You must still continue to comply with this Contract (in particular, payment of charges) until We stop providing the Service to You and until You have paid all charges due as a result of Your use of the Service. On termination Your charges will be calculated as a daily rate as follows: We will take the monthly rate for all charges and divide it by the number of days in the month, then multiply that daily figure by the number of days of Service You have used.
9.3 If You are leaving the Service You should inform Us and You will be responsible for transferring to another service provider. If You fail to arrange this before Our Service to You ends, You may be left without any telephone services.
9.4 We may end this Contract at any time by writing to You and giving You 30 days’ notice.
9.5 We may also end this entire Contract for all Services on 5 days’ notice to You if You cancel either the line rental or the “carrier pre-selection” part of the Service.
9.6 We may also end this Contract immediately if:
(a) You fail to pay a bill after We have sent You a reminder; (b) You breach an important term of this Contract; (c) You breach any other term of this Contract and do not rectify the breach within 7 days of Us asking You to; (d) You fail any credit or fraud prevention check or We reasonably suspect fraud or money laundering by You or someone using Your account(s); (e) You give Us information about Yourself which We reasonably believe to be false or misleading; (f) You are the subject of bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings, or You do not make a payment under a judgment of a Court on time, or You make an arrangement with Your creditors or a receiver or administrator is appointed over any of Your assets, or You go into liquidation; or (g) We are no longer able to provide the Service to You despite making all reasonable efforts to do so.
9.7 The ending of this Contract, for whatever reason, shall not affect Your or Our rights or liabilities.
9.8 If We suspend the Service or bar Your calls because You are in breach of Contract, but We later agree to resume the Service, You may have to pay a reconnection charge and any other reasonable costs (like administrative costs or costs from the network service operator) We may incur.

BT will be able to tell you if there will be a 'coming back' charge (I don't think so). Call them and ask - 0800 800 150.

firespire

I think the guy at PO is telling lies.
If you want to join Primus why not call them and ask them to switch you over, I'm sure they have experience of people changing to them and can give you advice. I don't think you need to deal with BT or switch to them for a period

As Heinz quoted

You can also leave the Service at any time by returning to Your original telephone service provider or by entering into a contract with another telephone service operator.

Heinz

firespire wrote:

I think the guy at PO is telling lies.
If you want to join Primus why not call them and ask them to switch you over, I'm sure they have experience of people changing to them and can give you advice. I don't think you need to deal with BT or switch to them for a period

As your line rental is with Post Office at the moment, it'll be necessary to go back to BT line rental before you can sign up for a CPS service like Primus (you can only have a CPS provider when you have BT line rental).

pricefighter

Call BT on 0808 100 5152 they will welcome you back with open arms.As the wiring etc exists they will not raise a charge. Make sure they put you on Opt 1 and dont sign up for any of their offers.You will have to agree to stay with them for a min term of 3 months.As soon as your back and line is working with them then sign up for Primus.

Blue_Lou

Thats exactly what I have done pricefighter