Cancelling BT within contract period

Simon_c_2

Hi,

I just thought I would post my experience of cancelling my BT contract with the rest of the people on here, and how to avoid the cancellation charges.

When my ex moved out, she took the old number with her to the new property, so I had to have a new line "installed". BT would normally change around £100 for that, unless I took out a 1 year contract with them for line rental.

So, even though I hate the way BT do business, it made most sense for me to go with BT for 1 year, and to take them up on the 1 year "free" evening and weekends calls, and the "privacy" option giving free caller ID.

All is well, (or as well as it can be with BT ) until I get a letter advising me of the increase in line rental charges. !

I phoned up BT, (a call centre in the UK if I remember correctly) and explained I wished to decline their kind offer of a line rental increase, which seamed to confused the poor person on the other end of the line :rotfl:. After explaining (several times) that as I was within a 1 year contract, and therefore BT only had the choice of either a) terminating my contract, of b) keeping my line rental the same the person at the other end of the line still swore blind that BT could change the conditions of the contract on their say so, even within a fixed contract.

So, I gave up there, and contacted their complaints department. The guy there very quickly understood the legal position, and apologised that the original call handler had got it wrong. He then said he'd put a note on my account that I would not be charged a cancellation fee if I left as I had responded to the letter within the 14 days the T&Cs allow for the declining of a change of terms.

Great, so off I move my phone services about 6 months earlier than I planned.

Imagine my surprise when I get a letter saying they are sorry to see me go, and they will charge me the cancellation fee. I got on the phone immediately, (was an Indian call centre this time) and the person there confirms that there is a note on my account that I would not have to pay the charge, and that it would not be on my final bill.

Fast forward another couple of weeks, after the transfer was done, and surprise surprise, the final bill arrives, and this has a canellation charge for £50 or so on it. Back to the call centre who confirm that it should not have been charged, and put the "request" in for my account to be credited. I told the person there I'd give it till the next day to be done, then I'd cancel the direct debit. Sure enough, the next day the bill was still standing at £50odd quid, so I cancelled the direct debit and then called BT to let them know.

Next, it gets really surreal. The call handler said that the refund request was still awaiting approval, but that they would not re-issue a correct bill once that was made. I pushed, saying that the bill was incorrect, therefore invalid therefore I would wait until I received a correct bill for the balance. Again, the call handler said there was no way at all that they would issue a new bill. After waiting over 5 mins to talk to her manager, I gave up and contacted complaints again.

After a long online chat, (where I seemed to have to go over the entire argument about cancellation charges again) the guy on complaints eventually found the record of the agreement not to charge the cancellation fee, and the request for the refund, but he still was adamant that they could not (or would not) issue a correct bill. I then asked for a call back from someone in the UK who understood the basics of UK contract law, and he then offered to wipe out the remaining 1.50 or so of call charges on the final bill.

So, although I have succeeded in some extent to actually leave BT, and not have them take more money out of my account than they should have, I still feel I've failed as I have not actually managed to get a final bill that does not show the cancellation charges.

So, the motto to anyone else, don't beleive a word of what the call centre staff say, and make everything a complaint.

mobile48

I did manage to get a second final bill issued despite the fact I was also told it was not possible.:)

Did you get any compensation from BT for applying invalid charges? Only reason I ask is I all I can find on BT is them applying charges if your break the agreement but nothing the other way round.

ehale29

Hi how do I go about canceling my bt package signed up for broadband,tv and calls,kept getting error codes so sent box back which I had paid £60,they had taken 1 months payment out and now taken £50 out even though i have not had service,emailed and rang loads of time and spoke to people in India,who I can,t understand really angry what should I do,want to cancel but they told me£205

jode123

ehale29 wrote: »

Hi how do I go about canceling my bt package signed up for broadband,tv and calls,kept getting error codes so sent box back which I had paid £60,they had taken 1 months payment out and now taken £50 out even though i have not had service,emailed and rang loads of time and spoke to people in India,who I can,t understand really angry what should I do,want to cancel but they told me£205

we got the whole package(phone,broadband n tv) but we werent told we wud need an ariel 4 the bt vision(we already had sky) so we were mis-sold a product n it took ages 4 the charges 2 b taken off the bill 4 the bt vision(we told them we wud b stayin with sky),no one ever rang us bk wen they said the y wud,n we also got charged 125 pound 4 bt 2 put a phoneline in,although they said it wud b free!!! i had 2 chase them up 4 this 2 b credited 2 our bill,which wudnt have happened otherwise! all we have had is problem after problem with them.

Heinz

jode123 wrote: »

we got the whole package(phone,broadband n tv) but we werent told we wud need an ariel 4 the bt vision(we already had sky) so we were mis-sold a product n it took ages 4 the charges 2 b taken off the bill 4 the bt vision(we told them we wud b stayin with sky),no one ever rang us bk wen they said the y wud,n we also got charged 125 pound 4 bt 2 put a phoneline in,although they said it wud b free!!! i had 2 chase them up 4 this 2 b credited 2 our bill,which wudnt have happened otherwise! all we have had is problem after problem with them.

I'm sure it wasn't explained to you that you needed electricty for BT Vision to work either but it's not unreasonable to expect people to know that you need that and an aerial to receive the (Freeview) terrestrial TV part of BT Vision.

Mark_In_Hampshire

Heinz wrote: »

I'm sure it wasn't explained to you that you needed electricty for BT Vision to work either but it's not unreasonable to expect people to know that you need that and an aerial to receive the (Freeview) terrestrial TV part of BT Vision.

I can't quite agree with this, though people should read the particulars of what they're buying and fail to do so at their own cost/peril.

BT Vision is being marketed to customers as some sort of genuine alternative to cable and Sky.

Cable and Sky customers don't need an aerial to get Freeview channels.

ehale29

jode123 wrote: »

we got the whole package(phone,broadband n tv) but we werent told we wud need an ariel 4 the bt vision(we already had sky) so we were mis-sold a product n it took ages 4 the charges 2 b taken off the bill 4 the bt vision(we told them we wud b stayin with sky),no one ever rang us bk wen they said the y wud,n we also got charged 125 pound 4 bt 2 put a phoneline in,although they said it wud b free!!! i had 2 chase them up 4 this 2 b credited 2 our bill,which wudnt have happened otherwise! all we have had is problem after problem with them.

Hi still waiting for £60 back and £35 and taken £50 today,just canceled today and they want all this money.

iniltous

Mark_In_Hampshire wrote: »

I can't quite agree with this, though people should read the particulars of what they're buying and fail to do so at their own cost/peril.

BT Vision is being marketed to customers as some sort of genuine alternative to cable and Sky.

Cable and Sky customers don't need an aerial to get Freeview channels.

True, they dont need an aerial to get freeview channels but they do need an aerial to get Freeview,

DVardysShadow

Simon_c wrote: »

So, the motto to anyone else, don't beleive a word of what the call centre staff say, and make everything a complaint.

You are not out of the woods for 6 years to come. You have nothing in writing, it is all verbal. You are now nicely set up to have your credit record trashed and a Debt Collector chase you after a few months.

All because you have no written record of any agreement or any acknowledgement of the reason for your cancellation and only a verbal agreement to pay less than the final bill.

Send the money by cheque and enclose a letter stating why you are paying less than the stated amount and state that it is in 'full and final settlement' of their bill. And keep a copy.

ehale29

Hi I have rang emailed and rang again,they are the most shoddy company I have ever known,still waiting for my letter of cancellation off them and they had the cheek to ring today and ask why have I cancelled my direct debit,what should I do?