Cancelling BT

jstvj

Having moved into my new home about two months ago I started new contracts with BT for home phone and broadband.

I was told to expect 15 meg broadband speed and at its best it achieved 12 meg but then deteriorated to 4 meg or even less, so I have never been happy with it.

Now there is a fault with the phone line being dead and BT cannot tell if it's the line or in my home. If the latter they will charge £130 which being retired I cannot really afford. In any event they can't come for nearly a week to repair.

I hardly use the phone and can get an acceptable mobile service, so am thinking of cancelling BT. Can I do so, without incurring a penalty on the grounds of poor service

macman

No, because you haven't given them an oportunity to fix the problem. What tests have you done to establish where the fault lies?
Start by plugging a corded handset int the test socket to test the line.
You willl only be charged if the fault is on your equipment or downstream from the master socket.
If you cancel the line then you will of course have no broadband either.

jstvj

I have tried unplugging everything and connecting a spare corded phone. Also checked main socket connections which are ok. If I allow BT to repair and it is in my home I am committed to £130 bill which I simply can't pay so I can't chance it. As I said Broadband has also been unsatisfactory and my mobile including Internet is just as good. Can I cancel ?

Heinz

No. You are in a contract and you must give the provider the opportunity to fix the fault.

All broadband suppliers quote 'up to' figures so you have no grounds for cancellation there either.

The £130 is standard script when you report a fault. It's designed to make sure, as far as possible, that people check their own equipment before an engineer is tasked with the job. As long as you've plugged a known-working corded telephone into the test socket behind the bottom half of the master socket's faceplate and the fault still exists, there is no chance you will be charged - the fault is on the BT Openreach network, not in your home.

Mark_In_Hampshire

As regards the broadband:
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/telecoms/codes-of-practice/broadband-speeds-cop-2010/code-of-practice/

If, after following the procedures i and ii above, the customer has implemented the measures advised by the ISP but continues to receive an access line speed at or below the minimum guaranteed access line speed then the ISP must offer the customer the opportunity to leave their contract immediately, and without penalty. Customers will only have the option to leave their contract without penalty within a three month period of the start of their contract.

Note however that you do have to give the ISP an opportunity to bring the speed up to the estimate you were given and there can be several causes for poor speeds not all of which lie with the ISP, hence the above.

As regards the line rental/calls - you also need to give them the opportunity to fix the problem. A week isn't unreasonable nor unusual, as it's a residential line (assumption) with no guaranteed SLA.

You are only liable for the cost of the repairs if 1. You damaged the equipment in some way or 2. It's "your side" of the master socket (if you have one) - you're not responsible for the master socket or anything upstream of it. That said, there's some history of repair charges popping up on peoples' bills even when they were told it would not be chargeable and/or the fault was indeed upstream of the master socket and that then needs disputing.

BT_company_representative

Hi jstvj,

As Heinz said, if the fault is on the BT Network then the charge isn't applicable.

If you're having trouble getting this fault progressed get in touch, we'll then be able to look into this for you.

Our "Contact us" link is available on my profile page.

Thanks,

Stephanie

jstvj

I have again been in contact with BT and I now understand that when they visit next week, I can refuse any home based repair, thereby avoiding the £130 charge, which I just cannot afford. If this happens then they say I can cancel home phone and broadband without penalty. Otherwise, I will have to pay £47.

However, if the fault is on the line and non chargeable, there is still the question of the slow broadband. I have reported it several times and the last time was told to change the server numbers on my laptop but not to expect immediately results for a couple of weeks. No improvement, so I purchased a speed improver gadget, again I waited a while but no success.
My 3G is faster and quite adequate for normal surfing. The broadband is often too slow for my Internet TV to receive a signal, so that is redundant and often the signal is lost completely.

macman

£130 is the call out charge, even if no work is done, and assuming the fault were on your side.
4MBps should be perfectly adequate to run services such as iPlayer or internet TV, so this indicates a fault elsewhere.

Mark_In_Hampshire

There is a fair possibility that the line and broadband faults might be related.

If part of the circuit has degraded and is basically knackered, then as it degraded the broadband speed (sync rate and IP profile) would be all over the place and progressively dragged down to the minimum possible speed, then fluctuate back up a bit then down again - so it would start at say the 15Mbps and eventually end up at whatever speed it can consistently manage, if there is one.

If whatever it is has now degraded to the point where it no longer works, or, say, the wind has finally caused some part of the line hanging on by one or two threads to snap, that would explain the loss of all service.

So it's possible that the line repair might restore the broadband speeds.

jstvj

Thanks Mark, I am inclined to agree with you, especially as the signal does seem to be affected by the weather. It was not particularly noticeable during the Summer, but now the WET Winter is here, the deterioration in speed is consistently worse.

macman

Noise on the line? Dial 17070, option 2, quiet line test.