Confirmation of BT Cancellation Charges

Drunkstar

That's not what my letter from BT says, and that's also not what the Customer Advisor told me when I made my order, but then they cocked that up along with many things that have made the last 2-3 months quite unbearable as a young, first time buyer.

Can I ask 2 questions:

1. Why have I been hit with a £130 cancellation charge for Call Mobile Option, which I didn't want, but was given free for 12 months?

2. Why have I been charged a further £350 cancellation charge for ending my service early?

I'll just type out something from the BT terms & conditions:

"From 1st May 2007, for customers ending their service early, we replaced the existing charges with a policy that requires customers who have ordered a line on or after 1st May to pay the outstanding line rental for the 12-month minimum term of their contract, up to a maximum of £70 (incl. VAT)."

Right, here we go:

the 7 days right to cancel was on the special offer on the call mobile service, not on the line itself. As I stated a line has no cooling off period itself. I you had that offer then the cancellation would have put on the FULL charges for the cancellation period, not the £70 one as its a special offer with is own T+C.

The £350 as well as the £130 seems odd though. I wish I could help mate, but I dont touch billing on the new IT system I am afraid.

cufc_mike

Drunkstar wrote: »

Right, here we go:

the 7 days right to cancel was on the special offer on the call mobile service, not on the line itself. As I stated a line has no cooling off period itself. I you had that offer then the cancellation would have put on the FULL charges for the cancellation period, not the £70 one as its a special offer with is own T+C.

The £350 as well as the £130 seems odd though. I wish I could help mate, but I dont touch billing on the new IT system I am afraid.

Ok, for the first part, you're correct, I did have 7 days to cancel the Call Mobile Special Offer, as stated in the first letter I received.

6 days later, I received a 2nd letter welcoming me to BT Together Option 2, and I quote: "Your 12 month contract begins on 23 Oct 2007. You have 7 days to cancel from date of activation. If you decide not to go ahead with this offer, you may cancel up to seven calendar days from this date."

Now, I'll just switch to the back, where the small print is:

"Customers can cancel their order up to 7 days from when BT supplies customers with the offer. If you tell us you want to end this service after 7 days and before the end of the 12 month term, you will incur an early termination charge."

You mentioned Terms & Conditions......can you tell me how BT customers are supposed to follow Terms and Conditions when they don't have the damn things supplied? I expected a hard copy with my first sign-up letter, but that didn't arrive. Do BT expect all customers to have Internet Access? Because I certainly didn't for the first 4-5 weeks of moving in.

Finally, the £350 cancellation charge??? I can understand them wanting me to pay off my line-rental for the rest of the contact...but 12 months multiplied by £11.95 per month = over £200 less than the £350 charge applied to my account.

Also, how do BT get by, by applying a cancellation charge to an offer given free to a customer for 12 months?

Drunkstar

Your 12 month contract begins on 23 Oct 2007. You have 7 days to cancel from date of activation. If you decide not to go ahead with this offer, you may cancel up to seven calendar days from this date."

"Customers can cancel their order up to 7 days from when BT supplies customers with the offer. If you tell us you want to end this service after 7 days and before the end of the 12 month term, you will incur an early termination charge




Both those refer to the special offer IIRC.

cufc_mike

And it states this in the letter? Or in the Terms & Conditions I was sent out?

This was stated on both the letter welcoming me to the Call Mobile Option, and the BT Together Option 2 package.

Anyway, I have opened a new topic regarding my situation, instead of hi-jacking this topic further.

garden33

lenny007 wrote: »

Nope, just the 12 months.

After speaking to an "advisor" (huh!) this morning, i was informed that i shouldn't have been charged the £70.00 and will be credited it. When i asked where in the terms and conditions the termination charge was noted, i was told it wasn't and that i would have been told when i signed up for the contract about it.

I asked if they had the call on record, was told not all calls were recorded, and when i asked "how do you know i was told then", i was informed "you would have been". When i asked how do you know you are crediting me the correct amount, i was told "because i'm telling you".

I asked who i should speak to in order to complain and was told "the charges were correct" and it was inferred that no complaints would be considered. It was only at the end of the call when i was asked if there was anything else i needed and i responded "the address to complain to" was i informed it was on Page 2 of my bill (which i don't have to hand seeing as i'm at work).

So BT comment that there is a termination charge but unless you are told at the outset, there is nowhere it is in print. Then, they overcharge you and when you ask why "this" part of the overcharge is being refunded and not the other, they say "because i'm telling you it's correct", even though the bill is wrong in the first place.

The other "belter" of a comment was when i commented i was being charged line rental after i had switched suppliers. The "advisor" stated there was a 14 day notice period. I commented that i wouldn't have thought they would have swapped the call charges over and not the lines at the same time, he said they do.

So in effect, for 14 days i'm paying both BT and Talk Talk for line rental!!!!

Next course of action is to write to them and complain. I'm not taking this lying down!!

Hi Lenny007

Did you get this sorted??

I am having the same problem.... I have cancelled my BT account before the 12 month contract has finished and have been sent an invoice for £130.00 ish (dont have the invoice to hand) and have been on the phone 3/4 times, for hours at a time and must have spoken to every man & his dog in Delhi to try and find out where they get this figure from?

Still NO JOY!!!!!

When I 1st rang BT to cancel and get advice of any cancellation charges, I was informed that I would only get charged for the remainder of the months left in the 12 month contract. This was about 4 months remaining, which worked out to be approx £50/£60.

I dont know what to do next?? I have made a note of every phone call and took dates, times and names.

Any advice would be greatly received!!
Thanks

amdy56

can i ask, my wife excepted the option of, free weekend calls, family and freinds, caller display.and it was all in with the cost of the line rental we pay to BT....on the provisor that we had a chance to cancel.. ( i wasnt too happy when she told me) 1, The letter from BT explaining the cancellation procedure arrived after the cancellation date. 2 No mention was made of a cancelation fee. 3, the phone bills are in My Name (not my wifes). 4 neither my self or my wife have signed anything. 5, this was a cold call (they called us, we didnt call them). 6 i am already tied in to pipex with a package deal that includes phone calls.
can i get BT to return my calls to pipex only without being charged?

fairway61

Had problem with the internet speed - contacted BT several times but never received a reply or any help from their customer service dept.
Finally I decided to cancel the phone/broadband package 9 months earlier in 2008.
Then sent me a bill for £230 which i did not want to pay but they threatened me with baillifs action.
After referring the matter to Otelo (waste of time) finally got a final reply from them in 2010 telling me that they would ask BT to pay a £50 as a gesture of goodwill and a letter of apology.

I have started proceedings through the small claim court and the hearing is on 25 June 2010. I can't wait to meet their lawyer.