Bt locked into a rolling 12 month contract??

Richard_T_

Im trying to sort out a cheaper phone package for my parents, a while back they signed up to a Talk anytime package ( not sure what one exactly)from BT, this was before the stuff about 12 month self renewing rolling contracts being stopped.
I tried looking online, and signing them up to an online account, but BT insist on paperless billing ( my dad still preffers the bill as a letter from BT, nut will switch to e-mail for a new provider) any other way?

macman

What do you mean by 'a while back'? If they signed up less than 12m ago then they'll have to pay an ETC to get out anyway, auto-renewing or not.

Richard_T_

macman wrote: »

What do you mean by 'a while back'? If they signed up less than 12m ago then they'll have to pay an ETC to get out anyway, auto-renewing or not.

by while back I mean more than two years ago ( or maybe three?)

macman

So you'll need to check if you are on an auto-renewing contract or not.

neil9313

macman wrote: »

So you'll need to check if you are on an auto-renewing contract or not.

Bt stopped it in Dec 2011, you can also have paper bills and online if you dont get the old paper discount.

macman

But if it auto-renewed before that date, the OP is still in contract for the subsequent 12m.

bikeman

I've got one of these by auto renewing/rollover contracts. It is of course fundamentally unfair to renew a contract witout a positive acknowledgement by the consumer yet these contracts renew on the strength of not cancelling upon receipt of an email that can easily be missed.
Secondly, a rollover into a new 12 or 18 month contract may not fit in with the consumers timescales for switching.
Once the initial contract has ended and you decide to leave, cancel your direct debit, give them 30 days notice and ignore all requests for payment of penalty charges. BT will have to take you to court to recover any penalty they try to levy - I bet they don't and if they do I bet they don't win.

Buzby

I don't see how t is 'fundamentally unfair' - there's the quid pro quo - you got free off-peak calls Mon-Thurs whilst those that did not only got the Fri-Sun. They changed nothing, so the consumer knew what to expect (or should do).

The auto-rollover ended in December, so the gotcha was BT added the fee for the 'feee 'Mon-Thurs calls so the customer would not be disadvantaged.

As to cancelling the DD - sure, they won;t take you to court, but they will sell the debt. Do you have the tenacity to hide from Debt Collectors who are justified in collecting the money due? They can do this for up to 6 years. It's always better to pay the debts you incur, not try to justify the reason why they shouldn't get the money you originally agreed to,