BE want to charge me for cancelling

ticktack_2

This is mainly just to ask for opinions, and also a heads-up to anyone else who may be thinking of signing up with BE.

Yesterday I signed up for broadband (broadband only, no phone) with BE, having read favourable comments about the speed and the service.

I signed up online and their postcode-lookup generated the address incorrectly. I have both a flat number and a building number, and the two numbers were transposed, creating a nonexistent address. I tried to correct it but I wasn't able to do so. So I raised a ticket and told them the address was wrong and needed to be correct before the modem was sent out. I gave the correct address.

They replied that the modem had already been dispatched (!) and they would get the address corrected after the first delivery attempt! But after that I got text messages saying the box would be delivered 15 Dec. I didn't know if they meant:

-- the address has been corrected, and the box will be delivered 15 Dec

or

--the first delivery attempt will be tomorrow but it will be going to the wrong address so I needn't wait in.

Maybe it should have been obvious to me what they meant but it wasn't, and when I tried to find out I got no reply.

I waited in. I received an email giving me a tracking number, and then around 11a.m. I received an email repeating the tracking information and asking me to let them know when it arrived. Neither of these emails made any reference to the wrong-address problem. Tracking info said it had arrived at the local depot and was "in transit".

Around 4pm I got an email telling me the box would be delivered tomorrow! Meaning I would have to wait in again. And my address STILL hadn't been corrected on the website account details, even though I had asked for this to be done. At this point I rang them up, but although I got through quickly, the person who answered was very offhand and just said it was down for delivery tomorrow.

I began to think I had made a mistake signing up with BE. I went to the forum, something I should have done before. I found several posts from people who had cancelled within a day or two of signing up, and they had been hit with a charge. Other posters responded sympathetically but quoted the T&C, in which, it turns out, there is the following clause:

"Please read the following paragraph carefully as it contains a change to your statutory rights. You agree that if you order Services from Be online or otherwise at a distance then Be will immediately start work on the technical and operational elements required for provision of the Services upon the issuance of Be's order acceptance, which shall be prior to the end of any statutory cancellation period, and you acknowledge and agree that you will thereafter not have the right to cancel any Services under the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 or otherwise."

I know this should have rung warning bells with me when I read the T&C. I did read them but I somehow didn't register that bit. I didn't think it was possible to cancel customer's statutory rights by saying it in the T&C. At any rate, I decided as soon as I read that, that I didn't want to stay with a company that would put that in their terms. Not everyone would see it that way, I know, but it's just too hardnosed for me to feel comfortable with.

I rang them and cancelled, and they did indeed inform me I would be charged £30. I will ring OFCOM tomorrow to see if there's anything I can do.

Any comments? Yes, I already know I should have read the T&C more carefully.

bod1467

The DSRs list certain items which are excluded from cancellation rights. One of these relates to services where action is commenced to enable the purchaser to use the service, such as with an ISP.

Basically, BE have done nothing underhand and their T&C complies with legislation. (I am happy to be proven wrong).

You might get more-knowledgeable opinion if this thread is moved to Consumer Rights.

ticktack_2

Thanks for the reply. I'll come back eventually and post a follow-up, in case anyone may be interested. :-)

Jemma-T

Why did you complete your order when you knew they had the wrong or incomplete information? I'm assuming you wouldn't do that with an order from an online store.

Can't see how/why BE have done anything wrong so far.

ticktack_2

I'm pleased to say that this problem seems to have been resolved satisfactorily.

bod1467

In what way? You're staying with BE or they've waived the cancellation charge?

ticktack_2

I understand the situation better now than when I posted before, so here's a fuller explanation.

bod1467 wrote: »

The DSRs list certain items which are excluded from cancellation rights. One of these relates to services where action is commenced to enable the purchaser to use the service, such as with an ISP.

Correct (I now know). But there's still a period in which the purchaser can cancel. The point at issue, in this case, as it turned out, was whether I was liable to pay £30 for a BE engineer's visit to the BT exchange to physically connect my line to BE's equipment. I'm not very knowledgeable about these things, but since posting previously, I've spoken to OFCOM, who explained that if you supply a MAC code, which I did, and your line is with BT, which it is, no engineer's visit should be necessary. In fact, BE apparently did NOT use the MAC code, because I was able to use the code in signing up with O2 after I received confirmation from BE that the account had been cancelled. So did they send an engineer to the exchange? And if so, why should I have to pay for an unnecessary visit?

Basically, BE have done nothing underhand and their T&C complies with legislation. (I am happy to be proven wrong).

I'm not privy as to the reasons for the problem arising, and I'm not inclined to hazard a guess. Problems are usually due to error or misunderstanding, in my experience.

I agree with you that BE's T&C comply with legislation. I do think that more people need to be aware of this particular exception to the right to cancel. I know I'm not the only one who didn't know about it. If anyone reading this thread wants to see what it says, there's a document called "The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000" on legislation dot gov dot uk, and "A guide for businesses on distance selling" on oft dot gov dot uk (can't post links)

Personally, if I ran a business and I wanted to make use of that particular exception, I'd think it was in my interests to double-check that the customer realized they were signing away part of their cancellation rights. It could save trouble for both sides. Up to them, however.

Anyway, I'm glad to say that after numerous further email exchanges, I've now received an email confirming that "no invoices will be raised", which I assume means I'm not going to be charged. So I'm satisfied, and awaiting activation with O2 tomorrow.

O2 use the same postcode-lookup as BE, being the same company or something, but with O2, when I rang them up and explained about the address being wrong, the assistant listened to what I was telling him, took the trouble to check out the postcode-lookup then and there, and saw for himself that the wrong address was being generated. He corrected it to the address I gave him, and sent the O2 modem out to the correct address, and I received it, and everything's going along just fine. With O2, the customer gets a 30-day period in which they can cancel. Three cheers to O2. :j

bod1467

O2 and BE are sibling companies belonging to Telefonica (the Spanish telecoms company). O2 LLU connections actually use the BE equipment and network.

ticktack_2

Run differently though.

The relationship between the three bodies seems more "grandparent-parent-child" than "parent-siblings." O2 is owned by Telefonica, and according to BE's website "Be was set up as a privately-owned, independent ISP (Internet Service Provider) in October 2004 and started trading in August 2005. We are very pleased that as of June 2006, we have become part of a much larger group, having been bought by O2."

ticktack_2

espresso wrote: »

Yes definitely, O2 has lost lots of customers due to the traffic management policy that they now operate more

[..]

You will probably regret your petulance! No traffic management on BE.

What suits one person, may not suit another. Wild horses couldn't drag me back to BE, let alone a no-traffic-management policy.