right to cancel broadband contracts

yz324

I will be moving house soon and I have been looking at MSE page on broadband deals. I am slightly worried about the speed I would be getting comparing to the ones they advertise after reading some reviews on other websites.

My question is this:

Suppose, i got a package with a company. Then realise it is dead slow within the first week (say), do I have the right to make a complaint and cancel?

bris

In the vast majority of cases no, when the service starts there is no right to cancel.

You would have to prove a breach of contract as significantly not as described, not very easy to do as there are a number of factors that can dilute the speed you would like to get.

Remember the broadband sites only offer "up to X speed" but can never promise you will acheive that speed.

yz324

bris wrote: »

In the vast majority of cases no, when the service starts there is no right to cancel.

You would have to prove a breach of contract as significantly not as described, not very easy to do as there are a number of factors that can dilute the speed you would like to get.

Remember the broadband sites only offer "up to X speed" but can never promise you will acheive that speed.

this seems pretty !!!!? so what is stopping companies offering 30MB superfast broadband and only give you 1MB and say 'it is only up to'?

Caz3121

have a look on here with the postcode http://www.samknows.com/broadband/broadband_checker
much of the speed depends on the distance from the exchange, so the further away you are the slower the speed

Ectophile

Make sure you get them to give you a speed estimate before you sign up. If the speed you get is substantially below that, you then have good grounds to cancel for non-performance. Even then, you would need to give them a chance to fix the problem.

agrinnall

yz324 wrote: »

this seems pretty !!!!? so what is stopping companies offering 30MB superfast broadband and only give you 1MB and say 'it is only up to'?

That's an unlikely scenario, as superfast probably wouldn't be available if the line will only support 1 Mbps. However, the general proposition is correct, it's the completely unfair way in which broadband is sold in the UK. Where I live the maximum speed I can get is under 0.5 Mbps, but I still have to pay the same for an 'up to 16Mb' package as someone who actually gets 15 Mbps.

forgotmyname

You ask them for a rough estimate of your line speed, They will have a good idea from previous connections or from neighbours speeds as well as the overall distance.

The checkers say 3 - 3.5mb here but i get close to 5mb. Long way from the exchange. Thinking of going to fibre.

shaun_from_Africa

The samknows website states that I'm in a 6-7Mbps area but I'm actually getting 15-16Mbps so I would take the figures it gives with a big pinch of salt.