Moving house - but not quite yet (BT problem)

tony.simons

Hi all.

Im moving house at the moment and having some trouble with BT (option 2). I moved into a new property in June 2009, transferring an existing contract from a previous property, (14mths, so over the 12mth term), but this started a new 12mths contract.

I moved out of this property on 21st Dec and phoned BT looking to freeze payment and extend the contract while i am looking for a new property. I am likely to be in a new home within the next 3-4 weeks or so but just didnt make sense over the xmas break while visiting family etc.

So herein lies the problem. I cannot give BT a new address to move to as I currently dont have a 'new' address. They will not offer me this payment holiday in my current contract and insist that i either pay £72 to cancel the line, or role it over till i find a new property.

There is a new tenant moving into my old property on the 7th Jan, and if the live is still active, means they could use it and start racking up calls. I spoke to BT about this and they again gave me two options. 1. Call a number to bar services on that line. You have to do this from the line in question and seeing as i moved out, cant do this. 2. BT do this for me but it costs £25. In the few weeks till i can move home, they might not make this amount of calls.

So i have a couple of options.

1. Pay BT £72 to cancel the line, then start a new one when i get a new property.
2. Run over the existing agreement, risking that the new tenants may use the line.
3. Pay BT £25 to bar outgoing calls, then roll on the contract still paying £12ish a month.
4. See if i can transfer the existing contract into the new tenants name (with their agreement of course) - i haven't investigated this option at the moment so would be keen on your thoughts as to how likely this is (at the BT end).


Other than that i am looking for any help or advise as to ways to get round the charges. Also has anyone else tried for these payment breaks, military personnel maybe?

Thanks in advance

Tony

tony.simons

I should prob state that at the moment i am living with family, just before thats questioned, and because i have had no issues 'really' with BT thus far and will likely be taking there service at my new property in a couple of weeks. Just doesnt seem right that i should pay so they can get my business again at another property.

Thanks

T

ged1980

As you are in a contract prob best pay the £25 and as you are moving into new property in 2 weeks seems cheapest option.


Also if the line in your new property is not live bt will charge you to connect it thought some nice talking to them may let you get away with it

Mark_In_Hampshire

Go with option 1.

Option 2 is a bad idea. What if the tenants run up thousands of pounds of charges - BT will rightly expect you to pay them.

Option 3 is also a bad idea. Your new tenants might want a phone line. You'll then have to explain to them that although there's a perfectly good line at the property, they must not touch it, and get their own... which will cost them £129. They won't be best impressed with you.

Option 4 might work but it might not - BT probably will do this, but it seems over complex.

I can well understand why BT will not give you a payment holiday. After all what you're asking is: "If I make a promise that I'll come back eventually, will you let me off" - however BT have no guarantee that you will come back to them.

The cleanest option is to cancel altogether and stump up the charges; you might end up having to pay another £129 to have a new line put into the new property you move to anyway.

If you do move often - worth noting that The Post Office do not have a minimum term for line rental.

Ypaymore

I agree with Mark on the Option 1 Route

If you move frequently http://www.thephone.coop/residential/residential-line-rental offer a 3 month contract,and they only charge moving customers £59 for a new connection if one is required.

tony.simons

Thanks for the quick responses guys. Apologies, i have looked at a bill this morning and it is option 1 i am on, not 2.

When i say a payment holiday, its purely that i would look to push back the remaining 6 months, by a few weeks and nothing more. Still contracted for them and heaven forbid i dont find a place in the next 6 months, would still be required to pay the cancellation charge as is at the moment. If i moved into a new place as of 1st Feb, this would then start the remainder of the 6 months. I would even be happy to give them a forwarding address where i am at the moment, so they dont think i am going to run away with the money!


Could transferring the contract to the new tenant actually work at the BT end?


On the post office option above, or any other provider lets say, are the new line charges similar to that of BT's, £120?

Thanks again

T

Ypaymore

If the property you move to does not have a working line Post Office (Re)Connection is £110
http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/content1;jsessionid=0ENN4C05AD3SYFB2IGVEOSQUHRA0WQ2K?catId=19300217&mediaId=87900748

Phone Coop £89 or £59 for existing moving customers.

BT_company_representative

Hello tony.simons,

I can confirm if you have moved out of your current property and you have not got a new address to transfer your line to you have two options. Cancel the telephone line or leave the account active.

By leaving your account active the new tenant could make calls on your line which you would have to pay or the new tenant could place an order for a new line in their name. This would mean an order would be placed to take over your telephone line and your line would be cancelled.

I really am so sorry there is no way to temporarily hold your account until you have got a new address. If you need any further help you can find our contact details on our profile.

Thanks

Fionnuala

DVardysShadow

BT_company_representative wrote: »

Hello tony.simons,

I can confirm if you have moved out of your current property and you have not got a new address to transfer your line to you have two options. Cancel the telephone line or leave the account active.

By leaving your account active the new tenant could make calls on your line which you would have to pay or the new tenant could place an order for a new line in their name. This would mean an order would be placed to take over your telephone line and your line would be cancelled.

I really am so sorry there is no way to temporarily hold your account until you have got a new address. If you need any further help you can find our contact details on our profile.

Thanks

Fionnuala

The needless grief you people cause with your 12 month contracts.

The sane option in these cases is for the customer to pay off monthly at a cancellation rate [£6/month?] until the cancellation fee is paid in full or until the contract can be transferred to new premises.

Now, please feed that into your bosses.