Orange Home Starter + BT

acutting

I am after a bit of advice as I seem to be stuck in the middle between Orange and British Telecom.

I moved in to a new property back in February, and set up a new line with BT and then transfered my existing Orange Home Starter Package with free broadband over to this line. So I am paying line rental to BT and get the home starter package free with my mobile contract with Orange.

In April I received a cold call from BT saying they could give me a discount on my line rental if I sign up to their Friends and Family package. Great I say, and sign up. Towards the end of April I get a letter from BT saying I've signed up to their Mobile Deal which incorporates a £2.99 charge as well as line rental - I call them and they said that was our mistake and that they would credit £36 to my bill effectively waivering the £2.99 charge. It also states on the letter that my contract started on the 12th May and I no longer have the right to cancel (even though the letter is dated 27th April).

Now, I receive a letter from Orange dated yesterday (17th May) that they've just received a request to transfer my home phone service to another provider. In doing so I will also lose my broadband service with them and to call them to stop this from happening. If I don't call, my phone line will transfer on the 26th May.

Obviously I don't want this to happen as my broadband is free with Orange, so I call them to put a bar on the transfer. I give BT a curtosy call to say what I've done and to cancel the order, and they say its not possible as they already have the calling package and have had it since the 12th May.

When I call Orange back they state that BT do have the line and that I'm going to have to lose the free broadband service with them unless I transfer my calls back. If I do transfer back, BT will then charge me the 12 month term so I'm a bit stuck!

What I don't understand is why Orange didn't write to me sooner explaining this, and where they have got the date of the 26th May from? Is there any way I can cancel my contract with BT with out paying the fees?

Thanks for your help.

Andy

Mark_In_Hampshire

Bit puzzled here:

You signed up for a BT line with BT. So you have a 12 month or an 18 month commitment to BT for line rental, lasting until either Feb 2011 or August 2011.

You had the calls with Orange.

Then BT ring you and offer a discount on calls, which could not have applied, as your calls were with Orange. That would mean taking the calls back to BT, which is why you're set to lose your Orange service.

Presumably you can only have the free Orange broadband if you take the calls from Orange too.

Having the £36 credit was a bad idea as it means the contract remains intact (what BT wanted), rather than being voided (what you wanted).

You agreed to the transfer back to BT and they would be right to say that you can't cancel. Well, you can, but with penalty if you again transfer back to Orange.

Is the gist of this that you thought that the discount would apply to the line rental as explained to you and the Friends & Family thing would be irrelevant as your calls were through Orange, and what has happened is that you've actually agreed to take the calls back to BT in order to get the Friends & Family discount?

acutting

I was aware that BT would take my calling plan but wasn't aware that there was a requirement to have my calls through Orange to be entitled to their free broadband. I signed up because the discount in line rental was attractive and perhaps because I was put on the spot because of the cold call.

BT took my calling package on the 12th May, but Orange have only just sent me a letter on the 17th May stating that it would transfer on the 26th May.

If it was transferring on the 26th then I could still cancel the order and stay as I was, basking in my free broadband!

Mark_In_Hampshire

I think the "cooling off" period is seven days. As the call was in Apil, it isn't possible for you to be able to cancel that today, May 6 would have been the last possible day.

I don't know that you do have to take your calls via Orange to have the free broadband - that's a supposition - but you must have to agree to do something in order to get it free, so it makes some sense.

You now can choose any ISP you like, be it Orange or someone else.

IDNet, AAISP and Zen all have especially good reputations, though they are far from the cheapest.