BT rolling contract problem - Didn't cancel contract.

marlon-dingle

Hi,
I had a years contract with BT on their Unlimited Evening and Weekend Plan which was due to reach its first year anniversary on 18th Jan 2010.
I had noticed on this website better offers so thought I would change supplier.
BT sent me a letter saying that unless I rang a number in the letter the contract would automatically renew.
I rang the number and told them I wanted to cancel and move my business elsewhere.
Moved supplier and thought nothing else about it.
Today I get a letter saying I owe BT £68.23 cancellation charges due to not terminating my contract.
Rang them up and told them I had but they insisted they had no record of my call so I still have to pay.
I know I did cancel before 18th Jan so I refused to pay.
We are now in dispute.
Has this happened to anyone else?
Thanks!!

karatedragon

Yes Me.

I downgraded my tariff having been with BT years.

Then I wanted about 6 months later to cancel my line all together. I was told I was in a 12 month contract but NO mention was made of this when I downgraded. Nor did I get anything in writing stating I had taken out a 12 month term. I would have rejected it if it was.

Have written but as yet no reply.

Owain_Moneysaver

If you tell BT they are in breach of your Evening and Weekend contract because they have changed the evening time to 7pm form 6pm they will 'release' you.

brewerdave

Doesn't really apply to OP. They cancelled before any announcement of changes to times and no longer have a BT line

Premier_2

marlon-dingle wrote: »

Hi,
I had a years contract with BT on their Unlimited Evening and Weekend Plan which was due to reach its first year anniversary on 18th Jan 2010.
I had noticed on this website better offers so thought I would change supplier.
BT sent me a letter saying that unless I rang a number in the letter the contract would automatically renew.
I rang the number and told them I wanted to cancel and move my business elsewhere.
Moved supplier and thought nothing else about it.
Today I get a letter saying I owe BT £68.23 cancellation charges due to not terminating my contract.
Rang them up and told them I had but they insisted they had no record of my call so I still have to pay.
I know I did cancel before 18th Jan so I refused to pay.
We are now in dispute.
Has this happened to anyone else?
Thanks!!

Such calls are usually recorded. Ask for a copy of that call. It may cost a tenner but if it proves you are correct, I feel sure BT will not only remove the cancellation costs but also refund the £10.

Otherwise, did you get any confirmation? I would normally request such confirmation in writing and if not agreed, would write by recorded letter immediately after the call to confirm such notice/instruction.

Actually BT are usually quite good at confirming such changes automatically (but they process them as a 'new order' which can sometimes be confusing) usually by letter or perhaps by email.

Ultimately, it will be up to you to prove you gave such notice as BT cannot be expected to prove they didn't reveive any notice.

Premier_2

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

If you tell BT they are in breach of your Evening and Weekend contract because they have changed the evening time to 7pm form 6pm they will 'release' you.

Unfortunately that's not correct.

There is a time limit imposed to reject such changes in the terms ... and that time limit passed a long time ago.

DVardysShadow

Premier wrote: »

Unfortunately that's not correct.

There is a time limit imposed to reject such changes in the terms ... and that time limit passed a long time ago.

The time limit is soft "within a reasonable time". There is no legal requirement beyond this and even if BT do set a limit, it does not necessarily have a very strong standing.

Premier_2

DVardysShadow wrote: »

The time limit is soft "within a reasonable time". There is no legal requirement beyond this and even if BT do set a limit, it does not necessarily have a very strong standing.

48. 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.

http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerProducts/dynamicmodules/pagecontentfooter/pageContentFooterPopup.jsp?pagecontentfooter_popupid=13408