BT cessation fee and 30 day notice

Uplink

I've taken Virgin Media phone and broadband, but I haven't taken my BT number away, and haven't gotten through any migration process. I called BT to cancel today, and they told me that I have to give them 30 days notice and pay a cessation fee - and that it's all in the terms and conditions...

Alright, so I got bitten by terms and conditions, and gave them their notice, but is there anything I could still do to reduce my exposure?

Apparently, if I had told Virgin to transfer my phone number, it would have been a 14 day notice only, so I'm contemplating calling Virgin to transfer my number even though I don't care about it, but as far as I understand, broadband is still subject to that cessation fee. I would still have to pay the cessation fee because I went with Virgin. There would have been no charge if I had taken Sky, TalkTalk, and the rest of them.

My cessation charge is 5.50, but apparently it could also be 0.00 or 31.00, depending on area. There was mention of some government thing regarding this charge.

I have no record of my conversation with BT on the 9th, when I was told nothing of this, or I'd probably contemplate a complaint. They just told me to place my order with Virgin and they'll do the rest...

teddysmum

Virgin is on a different system, so you are not just transferring as with BT, Sky, TalkTalk etc., which share a common infrastructure.

Uplink

Despite my prevailing understanding of the situation, it looks like my line will be cancelled on the 7th of March, and I only wait 10 days, not 30... I hadn't realised that while on the phone with BT earlier. The guy was adamant that I have to give 30 days notice, but when he said "the earliest I can do is 7th of March" it didn't register that March is the upcoming month

Given that I haven't taken my number with me, that's in the ballpark of giving notice on the 9th, when I called the first time - even though I didn't (no cease order on my account), so I'll cool down now

The result of this experience is that my paranoia now includes a default for "there's a notice period", so when something comes to an end I'll give as much notice as I can whether they require it or not. And in regards to switching telecom providers (and possibly any utility), always use the migration process - i.e. keep the number.

jhp

https://www.cable.co.uk/guides/how-to-switch-from-bt-to-virgin-media/

brewerdave

BT will still charge you the full notice period (whatever it is !) regardless of when the line is disconnected.

Uplink

brewerdave wrote: »

BT will still charge you the full notice period (whatever it is !) regardless of when the line is disconnected.

Yep. I just received the confirmation email today, and it says exactly this. They'll stop the service on the 7th, but charge me for a month, plus the cease charge.

I sent them a complaint, and I'll see what I can do to make this information clearer. Their "I want to cancel my service" pages should mention this.

I did call them on the 9th, and I did say "I want to cancel my service" then, so my 30 days should have started counting down at that point. Somebody should have told me that, but instead I was told that Virgin Media will do it for me. What's more, if Virgin Media had done it for me, the notice period would have been just 14 days (migration process instead of me taking the matter in my own hands) if I correctly understand the terms.

brewerdave

Uplink wrote: »

I did call them on the 9th, and I did say "I want to cancel my service" then, so my 30 days should have started counting down at that point. Somebody should have told me that, but instead I was told that Virgin Media will do it for me. What's more, if Virgin Media had done it for me, the notice period would have been just 14 days (migration process instead of me taking the matter in my own hands) if I correctly understand the terms.

Part of this used to be true-when Virgin offered a service via the BT network you could have migrated to them.
HOWEVER, the only Virgin service now is via cable and is totally independent of the BT network, so it really is "chalk and cheese" unfortunately:(

Uplink

Got it. It's now a matter of a little incompetence on BT's part, and I'll try to get that acknowledged and not be charged for the full month, as although I was ignorant of the 30 day notice period they shouldn't have been when I called. 9 February plus 30 days notice means I should have been charged up to 9 March inclusive, not up to and including 28 March as it stands now.