BT Conned me into contract - pressuring me to stay!!!!

beverley1296

I rang BT this afternoon for my MAC number, had a long chat with some lad and he talked me into a new deal, I told him I was still looking into moving but liked the deal on offer, he explained I had so many days to cancel both broadband and phone packages (been with them over 20 years) never had any deals, last quarter bill £140 for broadband free calls?????
Anyway talked to SKY and decided gonna go to them, anyway rang back and was told I can cancel Broadband but locked into 12 month contract with phone?? Some person called TERRYANN said as soon as I ended the call I was in contract, I told her I was never told I was locked in any contract, woman at BT totally unhelpful sat waiting for manager to call me as I had phone on loudspeaker and no one heard anything to say I was locked into anything? How can they do this, they say I will be charged £8 a month for cancelling???? 5 hours later NO MANAGER CALLED!!! Still moving to SKY and will contact offcom and should they pressure me for payment shall take out county court summons against them, I have witnesses, I also asked her to listen to the recorded conversation I had with the first imbiscile at BT!!! BT Pressuring people to stay it is a scandal!!!

macman

'he talked me into a new deal'

So did he or didn't he?OFCOM would not be interested until you have raised a dispute with BT and reached deadlock-you haven't even started that process yet

beverley1296

I am in the middle of writing my letter to BT Complaints as I write. Seeing how no manager came back to me even though Terryann promised??
He talked me into a new deal, and as I said earlier I told him I liked what he offered but was still shopping around, that is why he told me I had the right to cancel before 13th September, as that is when it would come into force.

Mark_In_Hampshire

Yes, this depends on whether in fact you took a new deal or not.

It seems your agreeing (supposition) to a new pricing structure with BT caused a new 12 month contract to start, so now you're locked into that for 12 months.

What this comes down to is whether you 1. Agreed to the new terms and 2. Were told that this would start a new 12 month contract, or 1. Did not agree to the new terms, said thanks for the offer, but I will think about it

beverley1296

Surely they are breaking laws I will have to contact trading standards, as it must be illegal not to have a cooling off period and putting people in contract without their knowledge. had the salesman said you will be in contract from the moment this call ends, no way would I have accepted that!!
Why didn't they just give me my MAC number which was what I asked for not to be put onto a salesman!! Conning People!! I'm still going to sky and they can sing for there cancellation fees.

Mark_In_Hampshire

beverley1296 wrote: »

I am in the middle of writing my letter to BT Complaints as I write. Seeing how no manager came back to me even though Terryann promised??
He talked me into a new deal, and as I said earlier I told him I liked what he offered but was still shopping around, that is why he told me I had the right to cancel before 13th September, as that is when it would come into force.

OK then. You've answered what I just posted

Almost. If you were still shopping around, then no new deal or contract would come into effect in September, because no new deal or contract was agreed.

It appears you did agree, but were given a cooling off period (which seems odd in this circumstance)

Trying to get sense out of BT can be impossible.

Personally, what I would do in your situation:

1. Write a letter or email *now* to BT indicating you do not agree, as told on the phone, that you are in any minimum contract term, and/or if you were placed on one, you were informed you have until 13/09 to cancel the change. You are cancelling that change, re-iterate what you wrote above.

DO NOT DO THIS BY PHONE.

2. Migrate away.

3. Wait for the final bill from BT, pay the bit I owe, back that up with a further letter or email following on from the one above in (1) saying you've heard nothing back (I am assuming you will not get a response) and that you now dispute the bill. You will not be paying anything else.

4. When the debt collection agencies start chasing the money you owe BT, send each a standard letter to dispute the debt. Each will then stop immediately.

5. Get on with your new connection.

macman

beverley1296 wrote: »

Surely they are breaking laws I will have to contact trading standards, as it must be illegal not to have a cooling off period and putting people in contract without their knowledge. had the salesman said you will be in contract from the moment this call ends, no way would I have accepted that!!
Why didn't they just give me my MAC number which was what I asked for not to be put onto a salesman!! Conning People!! I'm still going to sky and they can sing for there cancellation fees.

You need to make your mind up as to whether you agreed a new contract or not. If you didn't agree to a new contract then no cooling off period is necessary. As your existing contract was still in place (it had not expired, but just ended it's minimum term) then I don't think a cooling off period applies.
Whenever you ask for a MAC you are put through to 'disconnections' (which is actually retentions). It's their sole job to talk you out of leaving-which is what they appear to have done.
If you'd persisted with your request for a MAC you would still have had a month to decide whether to use it or not-obtaining a MAC does not terminate your contract.

beverley1296

Well I did ask before the call ended that I was not in a contract, he told me I was not but would be on the 13th September so if I did not wish to proceed I had to contact them before that date. At no time did he tell me that a contract would begin as the call ended. Hope this clarifys things. I will write into them and send it recorded delivery to them.

tm123

I recently decided to go from BT phone & Sky+ to Virgin Tv/BB/Phone package. I was on a 12 month contract for the unlimited anytime plan with BT, ending 21st August.

I contacted Virgin in early August to sign up, they said they would take care of notifying BT as I was porting my phone number. Installation was due to take place on 21st August. Unfortunately I realised a week later that I had not given notice to Sky! So I phoned up to give notice and then asked Virgin to delay till 18th September. I realised I might be cut off by BT by then, but Virgin said that they would let BT know about the change of date. I expected to pay the extra basic line rental charge till that date (pro-rated) then leave them as planned.

I half expected to be cut off early, but when I wasn't I called up BT to check when this would happen. They then told me that there would be an £86 charge for cancellation of my new 12 month contract! I told them that I had cancelled my 12 month contract but they told me that since I had changed the date, they had automatically renewed my 12 month unlimited plan too and now I would be liable for charges. Needless to say, I was furious! They told me that if Virgin had called to change the date then I should take it up with them as to why a new 12 month contract was started.

I naively appealed to their common sense, since a customer who has given notice to leave and then changes the leaving date by a few weeks is clearly not interested in starting a new 12 month contract for an extra package other than the basic line rental. Clearly this default package purchase suits them. As far as I am concerned I am being blackmailed into staying with them, which I am now more reluctant than ever to do.

Can they really do this? Do I just have to accept this unfortunate series of events and stay with them, or do I have any recourse to dispute this charge? Please help! What should I do?

Mark_In_Hampshire

tm123 wrote: »

I recently decided to go from BT phone & Sky+ to Virgin Tv/BB/Phone package. I was on a 12 month contract for the unlimited anytime plan with BT, ending 21st August.

I contacted Virgin in early August to sign up, they said they would take care of notifying BT as I was porting my phone number. Installation was due to take place on 21st August. Unfortunately I realised a week later that I had not given notice to Sky! So I phoned up to give notice and then asked Virgin to delay till 18th September. I realised I might be cut off by BT by then, but Virgin said that they would let BT know about the change of date. I expected to pay the extra basic line rental charge till that date (pro-rated) then leave them as planned.

I half expected to be cut off early, but when I wasn't I called up BT to check when this would happen. They then told me that there would be an £86 charge for cancellation of my new 12 month contract! I told them that I had cancelled my 12 month contract but they told me that since I had changed the date, they had automatically renewed my 12 month unlimited plan too and now I would be liable for charges. Needless to say, I was furious! They told me that if Virgin had called to change the date then I should take it up with them as to why a new 12 month contract was started.

I naively appealed to their common sense, since a customer who has given notice to leave and then changes the leaving date by a few weeks is clearly not interested in starting a new 12 month contract for an extra package other than the basic line rental. Clearly this default package purchase suits them. As far as I am concerned I am being blackmailed into staying with them, which I am now more reluctant than ever to do.

Can they really do this? Do I just have to accept this unfortunate series of events and stay with them, or do I have any recourse to dispute this charge? Please help! What should I do?

There are two contracts (to keep this simple, there may be others):

- The "normal" one has a minimum duration of 12 months, then becomes month-to-month. This is what many/most people expect, leaving them free to migrate;

- The "Free Evening and Weekend Calls" (I think) one has a minimum duration of 12 months, then automatically renews for another 12 months (like car insurance, the default is "opt in"). Should you not want to commit for another 12 months, you need to contact BT (not sit waiting for them to "ask" you) prior to the anniversary to inform them that you want to do one of the following:

-- Change to the month-to-month contract
-- Not renew and cease the service

BT promise to send you a letter to remind you when it's time to make that decision. However letters get lost in the post, plus, there's plenty of evidence on here that letters don't always get sent in a timely manner, or perhaps at all.

That makes no difference to the contract you agreed.

If you miss your once a year opportunity then you can:

- Pay early termination charges
- Stay for another year

What this depends on (and it's true for anyone finding this to be the situation they are in) is this:

What contract did you have?

If you did opt for the bonus of the free evening and weekend calls, then you've been receiving the benefit of that in exchange for your "opt-in" commitment and you need to cancel smartly and on time.

A year on from an initial conversation about starting an account, people may not recall precisely what was agreed and it's easy to misinterpret the terms (unless listening really closely) as meaning you're only committed for 12 months, or forget about the thing entirely on the basis that you'll get a letter to remind you. That's a bad idea!

So, in that event, you are committed. You took the benefit, and the auto-renewal is the penalty if you miss your once a year chance to migrate away.

On the other hand, if you know that this was not discussed, and/or you are absolutely certain that you did not opt for the auto-renewal lock-in, then you have grounds to refuse to pay the termination charges.

tm123

Hi, thanks for the response. The thing is, I *did* cancel it before the renewal date, but since Virgin then called them up (on my behalf) and moved the line transfer date by 4 weeks, BT took the opportunity to start another unlimited anytime minutes package up for another 12 months rather than just allow my basic line rental to be extended by 4 weeks. This was a rather unfair assumption considering they were fully aware that I was terminating my contract all along. I.e. they knew I had cancelled my contract within the time, and that I was leaving them. But they still added an unnecessary extra package (for unlimited minutes) with a 12 month tie-in - I was not given the choice. There was no transparency, they just took a decision that suited them as it now ties me in or I pay a whopping £86 if I still choose to leave. They could have just extended my monthly line rental - clearly they have not done this in the customer's best interests!!