Moving home - what to do with BT / o2?

bettyB_2

Hi all,

I hope you can help. I am a bit confused about what to do about BT.

I have been in my current (rented) flat for over a year and I am planning on moving out of the area. I would really like to avoid the hassle of getting a BT man out to my new place at however hundreds of pounds - but I guess this depends on the availability of a BT line in my new flat (also rented).

If I can ascertain whether there is a BT line at the new place, can I transfer my account to the new house? The thing is, I want to move to 02 home phone as we already get their broadband and their home phone deal is better than BT's. Am I better off moving to O2 before I move then transfering the account to the new flat?

I really want to avoid getting hit with cancellation fees or starting a new BT account in the new flat as I would like to cancel it for 02 and i've alreayd had my current account for the required year.

Ideally I'd love to just cancel it now and start afresh when we move in, but I work from home and no landline = no broadband = no work! So it needs to be a fairly streamlined/instant process and I dont want to have to wait a week to be connected to a phone line. (pretty sure I can just tranfer the o2 boradband anyway)

I am really confused about the best way to go about this so if anyone has any advice it would be gratefuly recieved!!

Thanks
B.

bettyB_2

damn just realised I am on an 18 month contract - going to have to tranfer BT really could do without that hassle.

Heinz

Yes, if there's an active or 'stopped' line at the new flat, it is likely BT would reconnect you free of charge. I did this recently for a relative and the line was ceased at the old place on the same day as the line was reactivated at the new one. In fact the new number was active on the line at the new place at least a week in advance (I checked by dialling 17070) but only went live for incoming/outgoing calls on the day of the move.

However, you would automatically be tied into a 12 month line rental contract then so, if you moved to O2 immediately, you'd be liable to charges for breaching that contract. The good news is those charges will be greatly reduced from October (£2/month of the remaining contract IIRC).

You'd think that, as they now provide lines, you could just get O2 to connect you at the new flat. Wrong. They could ........ but they won't.

The good news there is, with a BT line, you can choose whichever ADSL broadband provider you want.

bettyB_2

See that's the bit i'm not happy about - I have 6 moths left in my BT contract, so I dont want to have to sign up to another 12, I just want to complete my 6 remaining months in the new flat. I also dont think I want to have to pay £127 to reconnect a line when the reason I signed up for the 18 month contract was to avoid this cost. It seems BT punish you for moving - but unless they want to pay the extra £300 pm my current flat is costing me compared to the new one, I dont have a choice!!!

bettyB_2

So technically I would be better off paying 6 x 7.50 (7.50 charge for any remamning contracted months) - £45 - and changing to o2 now rather than get stuck into another 12 month BT contract in the new flat. 02 have said that if we can make sure there's a BT line available (might well cost £127 still then) they can tranfer my phone and broadband in one go and also give me a half price wireless dongle to make up for any time it takes before the net's up and running. Seems like a better deal IMO. Esp as switching to O2 home phone will save me £5 a month in the longrun.

Heinz

I think breaching the T&Cs of the 'free' installation deal means you have to pay back the discount you received AND monthly charges.

bettyB_2

It doesn't say that in the terms of the agreement. Just 7.50 per month remaining.

however, it does say:

6. Customers moving home and retaining an account with BT can take the remaining minimum term of their chosen calling plan with them.

Assume this means that you'd stil have to sign up for a BT contract after the remaining months.

might just cancel the lot. seems pointless trying to tranfer when it's going to cost the same. O2 can do a better job. It is disgraceful that BT has such a monopoly on home phone lines tho.

Heinz

bettyB wrote: »

It is disgraceful that BT has such a monopoly on home phone lines tho.

They don't. Any of the many providers now in the market can, like BT Retail has to do, employ Openreach to do whatever work is necessary.

Some (O2 is a prime example) prefer to save themselves money (usually at the potential customer's expense) by insisting on a live BT line being present because it's far cheaper for them to take over a working BT line than getting Openreach to reconnect/reactivate one.

bettyB_2

ah ok - so they're all meanies then not just BT. I dispair!

macman

BT Retail's charge of £130.00 for provisioning a new line is actually very good value for the work that is often involved.