Broadband cancellation charges

dreilly13

I currently have a BT package which includes broadband, TV & entertainment package (including BT Sport). I pay £81.83pcm.
Sky are able to offer me a package including broadband/Netflix/Sky sports for £66pcm.
The issue is I am locked into BT until Dec 2023 for broadband (exit charge £677.72) and Dec 2022 for TV (exit charge £57.39).
Sky will pay up to £200 towards cost of exit fees from BT, however this would still leave me with an exit charge of over £530.

I can reduce the broadband package with BT by approx £14.00 per month, however I would then be locked into a contract for a further 24 months - something I am loathe to do. They claim they are unable to reduce the TV package at this time until within a month of my contract.

I have tried to haggle with BT to reduce the exit charges to no avail.

Has anyone had similar to the above where you have been able to successfully negotiate lower exit charges?

Alternatively, has anyone switched to a new provider and refused to pay the exit charges levied by the previous one? I did ask BT what if I switched and cancelled my DD & refused to pay the exit charges - unsurprisingly I was told the debt would be passed to a debt recovery agency and would adversely affect my credit rating. 

mjm3346

BT  tend to lock you in for 24 months and the cancellation charge can be close to what full payment would be for the remainder of the contract term. You would owe the money as per your contract (plus collection fees) so easy for them to pursue and make it more difficult/expensive for you to get credit



"Has anyone had similar to the above where you have been able to successfully negotiate lower exit charges?"
You have nothing to bargain with as you would be leaving them

iniltous

If you think about it , why would any provider negotiate downwards the early termination charge for leaving a minimum term early ?, the ETC is part of the T&C’s agreed when you signed up….if you want to leave early and for arguments sake the ETC was £200, how would the Telco ‘benefit’ by reducing it to £100, you are still leaving , it just means the Telco has just given away £100 that they are entitled to…obviously if the ETC has been incorrectly calculated and if getting it recalculated reduces the amount is completely different to asking for a gesture of good will and asking them not to apply the T&C’s , there is no good business case for simply charging you less than you owe.
As you know , cancel the direct debit and don’t pay just means your credit is trashed and instead of BT chasing you for the debt , a debt recovery business will , the debt isn’t just forgotten about , it will follow you long after someone else is providing your service 

macman

You agreed the contract and within it, the ETC. You are now leaving them, in breach of contract, so no more revenue stream from you. So why would they agree to reduce the ETC?