Trying to cancel BT

edwardg

I have recently had to move home because my landlord was not renewing the contract. I called up BT the day I was moving (thursday 17th) to arrange a home move - i had to wait till I had been in the new house to check there was an already active bt line there - otherwise ordering a home move could have been pointless.

I was told I would be charged £14 something pence for doing this before completing a year of their service in the 1 home (so basically they class it as terminating the 1 year contract early, and starting a new one), and that the number would be transferred on the 23rd of june. I agreed to all this.

Then it got to Sunday (20th) and I decided - I am sick of these year contracts, and we could have to move out in 6 months and then I'd be charged a remaining 6 months line rental for cancelling. Plus I think you get charged if you do more than 1 home move. And I only got the landline originally so I could get the internet, which I suppose I could do without, or just get a dongle. and use skype. So I made the decision I didnt want a bt line in my new house, and id cancel the home move and the account altogther. seems simple enough, right?

I called up bt, chose the option to speak to somebody about my recent order. I explained to them I wanted to cancel the home move and cancel bt altogether. They put me on hold for ages, came back and said the home move has been cancelled for you but you will have to call back tomorrow and speak to someone else about cancelling your account. I said ok.

So I called back the next day (21st) and asked to cancel my account. Gave my number etc. They said do you want to cancel the home move as well then? I said i had called to cancel that yesterday. they said it had not been cancelled and they would put me through to someone else (i realise now this would have been the home move department). I was not introduced and tried to explain the whole thing to somebody who just put me through to customer services again. I explained it all again to a difficult to understand foreign lady who put me on hold for a LONG time, finally came back and said she had cancelled my home move and my account and there would be no further charge. I was so releived I actually complimented her on her excellent work.. ! Which I now regret.

I decided to check my line (in the new house) today to make sure everything was actually cancelled. I dialled my mobile and called, my mobile rang, displaying my original bt number. Thus proving the home move has actually gone through and my account has not been cancelled after all. So I guess I have entered a new year-long contract..!

I called customer services to explain this, a very nice man seemed to understand very well, and he said he would put me through to customer services where they could cancel the account and waive the charge as I had not agreed to have this bt line. I get put on hold for a long time. Finally a foreign man answers the phone. I say hello, I have just been speaking to another advisor for a long time, has he introduced me at all? He replied, hello sir how can I help you (or something). I repeated myself. There was a pause. He repeated himself. There was a pause. I repeated myself again. He said sorry sir I cannot hear you very well. I gave him my number to call me back, which he did. He then called me back, I went to get better signal. everything seemed fine. I tried explaining everything slowly and calmly. Then I realised my battery was about to die so asked him if he could call me back if the line cut out. He said certainly. It then cut out after I finished giving him my account number, seconds before I managed to get the charger plugged in to the phone. SO I turned it back on within a minute - waited 15 minutes. He did not call back.

So I called up again - got through to a foreign lady from customer service. tried to explain the situation. She said my line was bad, we went through the same again - I gave her my number, she called me back, I explained everything, she seemed confused but eventually I got the message across - she said she would go and talk to someone else. I said thank you. She said you're welcome. And then she hung up.

I waited 5 mintues to see if she intended on calling me back.
She didnt so I called again, went through all my options, and was finally told lines were closed.

Can anyone suggest a way of getting this sorted? No one seems to be able to act on my request. :mad:

Mark_In_Hampshire

Yes. Do it in writing. Set out what you wanted: dates, events, and then who you spoke to - the confirmations that what you wanted was actioned. Make it clear that as far as you're concerned the order was cancelled. Then: do not use the line at your new property.

BT_company_representative

Hi Edwardg,

I can totally understand your frustration! I would like to take a look at this for you. Please could you email me your BT Account details, along with a link to this thread? My email address can be found by clicking on my profile.

Thanks

Paddy,

edwardg

Hi BT Company Representative / Paddy
I emailed you a couple of days ago with the details you asked for but have not had a response. Just checked the situation now with the phone line and it is still the same - it has not been disconnected and is still able to make outgoing calls (tested calling my mobile just to see the caller ID come up on my mobile, showing my original landline number - didnt answer the call obviously)
:huh:

BT_company_representative

Hi Edwardg,

Thank you for the email, sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I have had a look at this and have dropped you a reply. Give me a shout if you need anything else.

Cheers

Paddy,

jade.f

Bt Offical Representative, I have a VERY BIG problem with BT for you to look at; since I seem to be getting absolutely nowhere when I phone. I don't have the time nor the inclination to spend hours after hours on the telephone to BT - Some of us do have jobs, you know...

August 2009, after having a BT contract for 11 months i telephoned to cancel the contract, which I wanted ot take effect from 31st August (ie the day I was moving), Only the person who i spoke to in the moving department then took it upon themselves to cancel the internet and the phone line with immediate effect. Therefore leaving me without either service for the remainder of the month, some 3-4 weeks.

I could live with this, but then when I moved into the new property on 31st August the problems continued. The phone line and the internet had not been moved to the new house as requested, infact I had to wait until the end of September for the phone line and OCTOBER 29TH FOR THE INTERNET!

Again, it was a major inconvenience and I was not happy with the standard of service AT ALL, but I could live with it.

Now, I am moving house (again) - The joys of being a student.
I have paid for the line rental and the internet up until the end of August. The end of August being the time when I wanted the new service to begin at the new address.
I phoned cancellations yesterday, as I do not wish to take the contract with me to the new property, on,ly to be told I have to pay £150 cancellation charge because it is not the end of the contract, as BT state the contract ends in October...
Well it might, but had it been started when i asked it to, bearing in mind I gave the company 3 weeks clear notice, then I wouldnt have to pay to get out of the contract because it would be the end of the contract!!!!!!!!!!!

A representative suggested I move the service to the new property to let the contract run until October then I am free to leave without the £150 charge for cancellation.
The problem beiong there is no BT line in the new flat, therefore a charge of £127 would need to be raised - No thank you.

It was later suggested that this charge could be reduced to 29.99 - still not acceptable but it would suffice for the purposes of ensuring I dont have to pay the ridiculous cancellation charge.
Then I am told I cannot be connected until 21st July = 3 weeks without any internet!
Then, I am advised actually I have to have an 18 month contract for the line rental - I do NOT want to stay with BT, the only reason why I thought about moving the contract to the new address is to avoid the cancellation charge.

I am absolutely sick of this, the stress of moving house is nothing compared to how much hassle this has caused.
I feel like the company is trying to trap me into yet another contract, when all I clearly want to do is leave.
It would seem customer service doesn't even come into it - I'm completely fed up of the hassle caused by BT and unless something is sorted soon, you will never get my custom again.

I would like a response ASAP

edwardg

I see my thread has been hijacked

I would like to say thanks to Paddy for his efforts to reslove my situation. I am impressed with the fact bt have someone on here to serve this purpose, it is a really good idea. All this is assuming my final bill comes without any extra charges (as promised!)

BT is definately not a suitable option if you are not permanent in a home - but also not suitable if you dont have much money. It is all too expensive. The line rental, the call connection fees, the rates, etc. All far too much to commit to and pay, unless you depend on adsl broadband - but not BT's because theirs is too expensive...!

I now have a sipgate UK account (VoIP). They give you a free local landline number and I have mine set up on my mobile (Nokia E51) so people can call me at local rates and I will get the call on my mobile (usings 3's 3G internet - 150mb free for 3 months when you top up £10).
Calls to landlines are 1p/min and mobiles 10p/min.
If anyone knows of a cheaper way of doing things, i'd like to hear it!

Heinz

18185, 1899 and 18866 all charge 5p connection and 0p/minute from a BT landline.

BT_company_representative

Hi jade.f,

Welcome to MSE.

If you can email me your details I'll look into this further for you and see what we can do to get this sorted. My email address is registered against my profile, can you include your forum username and a link to this thread so I can come back to it?

edwardg I am glad to hear Paddy was able to get this sorted for you, if you notice any discrepancies or have any queries with the final bill do get back to us.

All the best,

Stephanie