Bt final bill for full 24 months

Rzr

Hi,

I renew with bt on 30/10 but found much better deal else where the next day so switched via the new providers website. Got some communication from bt about the switch so assumed all was well.
Have received a final bill from bt for 24 months which honestly can't afford (main reason for me moving in the first place) they say I didn't phone to confirm I wanted to cancel but the communication from bt didn't mention this.

I've tried phoning them but 1hr wait times and 4 different teams are really aggravating me, what are my options?

Many thanks,

[Deleted User]

Rzr wrote: »

Hi,

I renew with bt on 30/10 but found much better deal else where the next day so switched via the new providers website. Got some communication from bt about the switch so assumed all was well.
Have received a final bill from bt for 24 months which honestly can't afford (main reason for me moving in the first place) they say I didn't phone to confirm I wanted to cancel but the communication from bt didn't mention this.

I've tried phoning them but 1hr wait times and 4 different teams are really aggravating me, what are my options?

Many thanks,

You just switched supplier after 30 days of a 2 year contract without speaking to BT? Oh dear.

iniltous

Why keep looking after agreeing a new deal ?, why accept a 24 month contract , if you were not happy with the deal ?
It does seem that by moving immediately after agreeing to a 24 month term, you are being clobbered for ETC’s
You ask what are your options , they include pay the ETC, try negotiating a reduction ( although they are under no obligation to reduce the amount if the T&C’s are being correctly interpreted), ask the ‘new’ company to contribute to the ETC’s, or ask them to release you and revert to BT.
It’s not very helpful, and TBH, if the post is to get responses like ‘ yes they are robbing bar stewards ‘ some will probably reply like that, but the more rational would probably say you should have known that signing up with a company and then the day after , signing up with someone else, was going to result in something like this.
What you may find is that the new company didn’t cancel your BT order ( they cannot do that ,but you probably could have ) so they in effect wait until you ‘new’ BT contract order closes , then migrate you, so as far as BT are concerned , you never cancelled , you moved provider and they are not the same thing.

It’s unclear if you were an existing BT customer agreeing a new deal , or were with someone else , moved to BT, and then a day later moved again, if you were already with BT and just agreed a new 24 month contract , then it could be no cooling off period , or a much reduced one

pallyman

If worse comes to worse and your new suppler is cheaper and maybe its a 12 month contract you may be better paying them to leave and stay with BT.

Neil_Jones

Rzr wrote: »

Hi,

I renew with bt on 30/10 but found much better deal else where the next day so switched via the new providers website. Got some communication from bt about the switch so assumed all was well.
Have received a final bill from bt for 24 months which honestly can't afford (main reason for me moving in the first place) they say I didn't phone to confirm I wanted to cancel but the communication from bt didn't mention this.

I've tried phoning them but 1hr wait times and 4 different teams are really aggravating me, what are my options?

Many thanks,

Two schools of thought here:
1) Don't renew and then shop around because sod's law dictates you will find a cheaper deal after you renew.
2) Read your T&Cs properly. You agreed when you renewed the deal to stay with BT for 24 months and if you leave early they will charge you per month left on your contract. This is what has happened.

What you should have done is phone up because you were probably within the 14 day cooling off and that would have given you more leeway to cancel. But you didn't, you just went with somebody else. You have nobody else to blame but yourself.

You can try sitting on the phone and try and plead your case but realistically BT have done nothing wrong and they are under no obligation to help you out. They may do but don't be surprised if they don't.

Take this as a valuable lesson for next time when your current deal runs out.

Rzr

I got 3 communication. Points from BT none said phone in to cancel.
First was an acknowledgement to say we received notification you moved and if you do nothing you will move over. In my eyes theres nothing in the email/text to say phone us to cancel this... On the phone it says you have 14 to change your mind, surely me changing second day after finding a new deal (half the price) indicates a change of mind?
I was with bt for over 5 yrs before I switched.

Neil_Jones

Rzr wrote: »

I got 3 communication. Points from BT none said phone in to cancel.
First was an acknowledgement to say we received notification you moved and if you do nothing you will move over. In my eyes theres nothing in the email/text to say phone us to cancel this... On the phone it says you have 14 to change your mind, surely me changing second day after finding a new deal (half the price) indicates a change of mind?
I was with bt for over 5 yrs before I switched.

You signing up with another provider the day after you agreed to stay with BT doesn't imply you've "changed your mind" at all. That's like saying I will agree to buy a house, then you decide to go and buy the house down the road instead. Would you not phone up the seller of the first house and say something like "unfortunately I will not be going ahead with buying 15 Manor Avenue, but thank you for showing me round, I appreciate your time"? If you didn't do that for the house but showed all the signs of going ahead with it anyway at the time, it implies they think you're going ahead and get the wheels in motion so you're wasting their time and it would be quite inconsiderate.

Of course if the sale was to fall through due to circumstances beyond anybody's control, that's a different thing.

In your case, you didn't contact BT. You just signed up with somebody else. That's the error and that's the main point here. If you'd phoned BT and said "I found a better deal from Provider X, I want to cancel the deal I agreed yesterday with you for this that and the other, unless you can match or beat it, I will be signing up with them today", then you'd have been free to go with no fees. You didn't do that, so they've applied 24 months of early termination fees as per the terms and conditions.

How long you were with BT is irrelevant, you could have still been with the GPO for all the difference it makes. This is not a BT fault. This is a Rzr fault so to speak.

I'm sorry but I don't know what else you want to hear. Feel free to put a complaint in to BT but equally expect them to legitimately tell you to get lost, in a nutshell. If you genuinelly cannot afford the early exit fees make contact with BT and see if they will accept installments, that will be your best bet. Ignoring the demands will only lead to trouble further down the road.

JJ_Egan

What is the difference if you break this new contract and pay it off ??