BE Broadband Bill nearly 3 years late!

liquidbutindebt

I have just cancelled my Internet connection with BE There. They have been billing, and I have been paying £9.99 since February 2009. My package was unlimited 24Mb broadband with static IP. It turns out that £9.99 was just the static IP element and they haven't been billing me for the broadband element. Today, nearly 3 years later, they have presented me with a bill for £746.48 to cover the outstanding broadband element for the whole period. This has never previously appeared on my bill and they have never queried my bill.

Can they do this? Surely this is their mistake. If I had known it was going to be that expensive I would have cancelled for a competitor long ago.

bod1467

I have been with BE since January 2008. I am on the Unlimited plan which came (and still comes) with a single free static IP address. I have no idea what this £9.99 charge is.

liquidbutindebt

The £9.99 is for additional static IPs over and above the 1 that comes with the unlimited package. But the point is, they never billed me for the broadband element, and I never realised this. Actually they still haven't, I am yet to see a bill with this outstanding amount on it! All I have is a support ticket saying I haven't paid this much and that I should contact them to take payment!

Can they do this?

bod1467

They cannot invoice for payment without submitting an invoice that details what the request is for. Respond to the ticket that you'll consider their request when they issue you an invoice that details how they have derived that value.

liquidbutindebt

So this is what they state in the Ts and Cs:

Be monthly subscription fee - Recurring Charge, paid monthly in advance, for the provision of your monthly broadband Services. The first payment will be pro-rated from the time of connection to the end of the month but the first two days of service after the date notified to you for provisioning of the Services are free of charge (and you will be refunded pro rata should the actual activation of your Services occur after that period)

Obviously I have been paying a monthly fee. I thought it was the above. Nearly 3 years later they are telling me it wasn't. There is no mention of the Static IP charge in the Ts and Cs.

They also say:

All invoices will be issued and held on the Be website in the member centre. You will need your member ID and password in order to access the member centre. Be will email you to notify you when a new invoice has been issued and you are responsible for viewing and taking copies of these invoices.

This of course is true except the invoices on my account only show the £9.99 which I have been paying, not what they are claiming I now owe them!

I have queried the fact that I can't pay an invoice that has never been issued. But I suspect all they will do is raise an invoice for the total amount and claim I have received the services.

But I ask again... can they make me pay this? It seems very unfair.

jadziad

£10 is what ten static IPs would cost per month. Having just one static IP is free.

Contact Be - they're generally very good at sorting out problems. There's no need to fret in public until the provider has had a chance to correct a mistake.

liquidbutindebt

All I am doing is trying to understand my position on this. They have made theirs abundantly clear already by requesting payment. Clearly they are way off piste from a process point of view otherwise they would not be asking me to pay a bill that didn't exist.

I'm not in any way suggesting it won't be resolved amicably I am simply arming myself with facts in case there is an issue. I'd rather be prepared up-front, especially since they are already behaving somewhat unusually!

Mark_In_Hampshire

My take on it is that yes, they can do this. Because the customer agreed to the charging and requested the extra IP block element of the contract, and so in the same turn, agreed to pay it.

The customer did not pay it, because the supplier did not bill it. Doesn't change the above though.

Debts are considered "statute barred" which means they can't be progressed (not quite true, but means they won't get anywhere) after a certain period often thought to be 6 years.

bod1467's advice is spot on IMO. First they have to present a bill. And especially in the current climate (no commentary on the OP's personal position) anyone thinking they can present a bill of that size and just be paid by return needs their head examined. The supplier will have to accept that and work with the customer.

What I would say is that the supplier cannot trap the customer or hold them to continue any contract until that outstanding amount is paid.

Welcome any opinions which refute the above, that's just my take.

liquidbutindebt

But the supplier is not meeting its own terms and conditions. They clearly state:

"Be monthly subscription fee - Recurring Charge, paid monthly in advance, for the provision of your monthly broadband Services."

I have paid a monthly fee in advance, which I thought was the above. How am I supposed to know there is an element missing? Now they are requesting a large sum in arrears through their own mistake, contrary to their own Ts and Cs.

They have a statutory responsibility to provide a service with reasonable care and skill. To bill someone incorrectly for nearly 3 years falls way short of this test IMO.

espresso

liquidbutindebt wrote: »

But the supplier is not meeting its own terms and conditions. They clearly state:

"Be monthly subscription fee - Recurring Charge, paid monthly in advance, for the provision of your monthly broadband Services."

I have paid a monthly fee in advance, which I thought was the above. How am I supposed to know there is an element missing? Now they are requesting a large sum in arrears through their own mistake, contrary to their own Ts and Cs.

They have a statutory responsibility to provide a service with reasonable care and skill. To bill someone incorrectly for nearly 3 years falls way short of this test IMO.

You are clearly looking for a way to wriggle out of paying for the service that they have provided and that you have used. You specifically requested extra static IP's needed for your business and you must have negotiated this on top of your unlimited up to 24Mb broadband package price. Did you not have a responsibility to check your invoices and ensure that you were paying the correct amount?

Did you really expect to get truly unlimited up to 24Mb broadband with extra static IP's for £9.99 back in Feb 2009 or did you in truth think that you were getting away with paying less than you should really be for that package? BE will likely pass on your debt to a debt collection agency if you do not for the services provided.

If you had now discovered that you had been over charged for the last three years, I'm sure that you would now be demanding a full refund.
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liquidbutindebt

It is a domestic broadband package and not associated with any business. I'm not trying to wriggle out of anything, as I have stated already, had I understood the true cost I would have switched supplier long ago. I'd like to stick to the facts please rather than have someone assume I'm some kind of no good cheater (yes, that's you espresso)!

I have paid my invoice regularly in full. They are now claiming they invoiced incorrectly. Their terms and conditions state that broadband is paid monthly in advance. They are charging me a lump sum in arrears. Do I have to pay?