BT Total Broadband - unfair and unavoidable cancellation charge for engineer

MarcoK

After switching from BT Total Broadband to O2 Broadband I have now been charged £25 for a BT engineer to come out and disconnect me at the local switch. I am out contract, got a Mac code and did everything by the book but BT said this is not a cancellation charge but a charge for the engineer. Apparently this applies to anyone leaving BT Broadband, even if I had been with BT broadband for year also cancelled by BT phone line etc.

I cannot believe that every single person in this country leaving BT Broadband would get charged £25 and hasn't got any possibility to avoid this unfair charge.

Does anybody have the same experience?

penrhyn

The charge should have been absorbed by your new ISP.

kwikbreaks

This is a BT Retail screwup from the sound of things - there is only supposed to be a charge for a cease not when a MAC was used. The BT Openreach bloke has to disconnect your line from the BT DSLAM to connect you to O2's (for which they charge O2) so there is no work for which BT Retail have to pay.

iniltous

If you migrated from BT to O2 using the MAC process then you shouldnt be charged the £25, the £25 cease charge should only be raised if you cease your broadband service without moving straight to another internet service provider.
You need to call O2 (not BT) to complain, as it would seem that you were not migrated but ceased (from BT) and provided (on O2) probably on two separate orders rather than one migration order, a cease order would trigger the £25 charge, a migration order wouldnt....did you have much downtime ?, anything more than an hour would suggest service being ceased & then provided, rather than migrated.
If this is the case then your complaint is not with BT but O2, as you have used O2 to arrange the changeover you have no need to contact BT at all, and as the migration process is automated no bill would be issued for £25.
BT would only send a bill (for £25) if the correct process wasnt used and obviously it is upto O2 to use the migration process correctly, BT must have either received an (unrequired) cease order, or a provide order (for O2) rather than a migration order.
I presume you didnt also contact BT to tell them you were leaving them as that could be interpreted as a cease request, if you did then it could be reason for the £25 charge, and then it woudnt be O2 or BT's fault but yours for not using the MAC process correctly

MarcoK

Thanks guys, I have contacted O2, let's see if they can sort this mess out