BT Charges for Old equipment 21 November 2022 at 6:58PM in Phones & TV 11 replies 707 views

ispookie666

Just recontracted for 24 months - BT Broandband, TV and Phone 
I just looked at BT website to get the link for returning old equipment and came across this
 https://www.bt.com/help/tv/how-to-return-and-recycle-your-bt-broadband-hub-and-bt-tv-box-fo  
staggering charges for some of the kit!

southsidergs

Same for Sky - 

What you'll be charged

The charge depends on what equipment you haven’t returned to us:

• Sky Q 1TB box - £115
• Sky Q 2TB box - £135
• Sky Q Mini box - £50
• Sky Q Hub/Sky Broadband Hub - £50
• Sky Broadband Booster - £35

Eldi_Dos

What would be the normal practice with this returned equipment, would it be broken down into its component parts and recycled or cleaned up and reissued.

ispookie666

Eldi_Dos said:

What would be the normal practice with this returned equipment, would it be broken down into its component parts and recycled or cleaned up and reissued.

Looks more like a way to extract money with recycling a bonus

400ixl

If they don't make the penalty for not returning them more than you could sell them on Ebay for, what would be the incentive to return them. With this in mind the amounts look perfectly reasonable.

There is no money to extract as you can return the equipment with no charge and postage free.

Where is the extraction of money if you follow the terms of the contract you signed up to?

matelodave

ispookie666 said:

Eldi_Dos said:

What would be the normal practice with this returned equipment, would it be broken down into its component parts and recycled or cleaned up and reissued.

Looks more like a way to extract money with recycling a bonus

A strange comment - they dont charge you if you send it back - they even send you a label and pay for shipping.

TBH I'd rather send it back than chuck it in the bin or have it adding to my collection of old routers.

ispookie666

Not everyone lives close to post office and no there was no return package.  
I definitely was not informed of these when taking out the contract. I even asked them not to send me BT Smart Hub2! 

What next, send the phones back after the contract ends? 

littleboo

ISP's sending out thousands and thousand of routers have a responsibility to make sure they are disposed of properly. This is how they do it. Unfortunately, some people think its ok to check this stuff in landfill bins.

ispookie666

Logical way would be to incentivise returns. 

iniltous

if you don’t return it , you are charged , there’s the incentive 
Ignorance of the rules is no excuse, it’s even quoted on the page you linked showing the costs for not returning kit 
We made some changes to our Terms & Conditions on 13 December 2019, meaning that BT Hubs and BT TV boxes are being loaned to you. So if you joined us or have renewed your contract on or after this date, you’ll be charged for not returning equipment to us. You’ll have 60 days to return it from the date you stopped using it before we charge you. 

jon81uk

Pretty certain there is some legal thing that forced broadband companies into charging for equipment that isn't returned for recycling.