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Hidden cancellation fees with broadband
Niklos
Posts: 37 Forumite
I learnt a salutary lesson today. Check the T & C's before you sign up!
A couple of years ago I signed up with Telivo for what was at the time a favourable deal. This year their business was acquired by Fastsurf. The deal had lost its value so I decided it was time to go elsewhere. When I tried to cancel via the website I was told there was a fee of £24.
I rang Fastsurf and was told that the original Telivo deal had a cancellation fee of £40 which reduced by £8 every year and Fastsurf had "inherited" it. I had no idea of this at the time as there was nothing in the offer to that effect - in fact I'm pretty certain it promised "no minimum contract". But now, finally reading thru the T's and C's there it is. So in other words if you dare to leave Telivo within 5 years you get penalised.
It is the same with Fastsurf but looking at the offers on their site is there any mention of it? Of course not. In fact it says No ties - 1 month minimum contract and There are no long term contracts ... so you can enjoy total flexibility. I think the word for this is "disingenuous" (actually I think it is another word starting dis- and ending -nest). Yes, the total flexibility to pay a fat cancellation fee if you dare go elsewhere.
In fact there are lots of misleading claims on their website:
We offer FREE connection and FREE migration. Not exactly: not if you want to migrate away.
Our Broadband packages are different and offer you many advantages over the likes of BT and AOL, such as: No Download Limits. Not exactly: only the package which costs £75/month offers that!
Experienced and helpful technical support team. When I rang to ask straightforward questions like "why the cancellation fee?"; "can I downgrade to ADSL Lite?"; "what is the difference between my current package and ADSL Lite?", the guy had to go away to find out the answers! Finally, after endless waits, in utter exasperation I asked to speak to a supervisor and again he had to go away for several minutes before coming back to tell me none were available! I asked if one would ring me: "No, we can't ring out from this office." I was told to ring back on the same 0870 number.
I was tearing my hair out by this time but had to laugh when this "experienced" member of the support team said "I have the details about your current package now..." - "OK, tell me" - "You have a 1 megabyte package" - "What?!" - "A 1 megabyte package". :rotfl:
As I said to him after I'd been hanging on for 15 mins or so whilst he found the answers: "Fastsurf? Fast buck more like!"
A couple of years ago I signed up with Telivo for what was at the time a favourable deal. This year their business was acquired by Fastsurf. The deal had lost its value so I decided it was time to go elsewhere. When I tried to cancel via the website I was told there was a fee of £24.
I rang Fastsurf and was told that the original Telivo deal had a cancellation fee of £40 which reduced by £8 every year and Fastsurf had "inherited" it. I had no idea of this at the time as there was nothing in the offer to that effect - in fact I'm pretty certain it promised "no minimum contract". But now, finally reading thru the T's and C's there it is. So in other words if you dare to leave Telivo within 5 years you get penalised.
It is the same with Fastsurf but looking at the offers on their site is there any mention of it? Of course not. In fact it says No ties - 1 month minimum contract and There are no long term contracts ... so you can enjoy total flexibility. I think the word for this is "disingenuous" (actually I think it is another word starting dis- and ending -nest). Yes, the total flexibility to pay a fat cancellation fee if you dare go elsewhere.
In fact there are lots of misleading claims on their website:
We offer FREE connection and FREE migration. Not exactly: not if you want to migrate away.
Our Broadband packages are different and offer you many advantages over the likes of BT and AOL, such as: No Download Limits. Not exactly: only the package which costs £75/month offers that!
Experienced and helpful technical support team. When I rang to ask straightforward questions like "why the cancellation fee?"; "can I downgrade to ADSL Lite?"; "what is the difference between my current package and ADSL Lite?", the guy had to go away to find out the answers! Finally, after endless waits, in utter exasperation I asked to speak to a supervisor and again he had to go away for several minutes before coming back to tell me none were available! I asked if one would ring me: "No, we can't ring out from this office." I was told to ring back on the same 0870 number.
I was tearing my hair out by this time but had to laugh when this "experienced" member of the support team said "I have the details about your current package now..." - "OK, tell me" - "You have a 1 megabyte package" - "What?!" - "A 1 megabyte package". :rotfl:
As I said to him after I'd been hanging on for 15 mins or so whilst he found the answers: "Fastsurf? Fast buck more like!"
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