Does every broadband switch incur double charging for a 14 day cancellation period?

thejaminthecity

I'm a bit confused as to whether this is legal. Utility switches don't work this way?

EE charged my account (£11.60) for a 'cancellation period' (7 jul 2015 to 21 jul 2015). My 1 year contract ended (7 jul 2015) and the service was switched to Sky (3 Jul 2015). EE were probably notified around the 25 Jun 2015. Obviously, it's only £11.60 but it could be a lot more for other people. Do the companies feel entitled to charge this as you can reverse the switch within 14 days of activation?

William

flashg67

Have you asked for the money back? I know they did this to me on a mobile contract, but I got it back

thejaminthecity

I pre-cancelled the DD so I haven't paid it yet and they referred it to a debt agency. It's not the amount, it's the arrogance of these company executives, they continue doing whatever they think they can get away with. I'll happily pay it if that is the way the industry regulations work, I just find it hard to believe that every switch has a 14 or 30 day overlap of double payment effectively. If they ever want me as a customer again they know what to do?

thejaminthecity

The short answer is EE refunded the cancellation charge. Technically they may have been right as the switch took place 3 days before the minimum contract expired. They still seem to be saying that if you switch after the minimum contract expired, they need 30 days notice or there is a cancellation charge. I'm not sure about the legality? The long answer is below.

================================

Our current Terms and Conditions state the following under Termination
Rights:

You can give Us notice to terminate this Agreement, to take effect on or
after the end of the Minimum Term. However (except as set out in point
9.3) if, in Our total discretion, We accept notice from You to terminate
this Agreement within the Minimum Term, You will have to pay Us a
Cancellation Charge. You can terminate this Agreement without having to
pay Us a Cancellation Charge after the Minimum Term has ended upon 30
days notice.

You can view the link for our Terms and Conditions as below:

http://ee.co.uk/help/accounts-billing-and-topping-up/terms-and-conditions/ee-terms-and-conditions/broadband--home-phone-EETV-terms/home-network

We received notification from your new provider for the transfer of the
landline on 19/06/2015. The transfer completed on 03/07/2015 and this is
normally when we apply the 14 days notice period, so it should have
closed 17/07/2015.

brewerdave

It is a normal condition once you are out of the minimum time period - I believe some telecom companies only require 7 days notice but others still require 31 days.

mgfvvc

As far as I know only EE do anything like that. I switched from BT to Zen 3 or 4 days before the end of my contract and I was only charged to the end of my contract.