BT won't let me leave!

Haveanicedaytwo

Following Martin's advice to find a cheaper broadband and phone deal back in January I called BT to cancel. BT sent an email to say services were stopping on 16 Feb 2024. Here were are on 4th April and BT still taking payment and refuse to cease services, despite many phone calls, emails and complaints. They just keep saying it's a problem with Openreach and it's out of their hands. How can this be? Ofcom don't want to know. Our number was ported to Virgin media on 15th Feb and is working so there should be no reason or excuse to refuse the cease. BT simply close the complaints I've raised. I've been told I'm due compensation for the delay and to claim from the new provider! Absolute shambles. Has anyone else had similar recent experience from BT?

mebu60

I presume you're talking broadband and phone line services here. Were you out of contract with BT? Did your Virgin Media broadband service start on 15/16 February and have you been paying for that? 

Haveanicedaytwo

Yes, BT broadband Fibre 2 package including landline contract ended 9 Jan and I called BT to cancel 19 Jan when they sent confirmation of services stopping on 16 Feb. BT wanted 30 day notice even though I was 'out of contract' as the way BT term the bill is a 'special offer discount' for 24 months so I had in effect had a perpetual contract and the T&Cs stated 30 days. BT customer services have agreed they should have cancelled my services and sent emails to apologise but they blame Openreach each time saying it takes 48h to get a response from Openreach. This has gone on for weeks. Each time I ask to escalate they say they are waiting on Openreach.

The issue I'm highlighting, and asking if anyone else is affected, is how BT can blame Openreach when my contract is with BT? I can't contact Openreach to complain. I think BT know this and are using Openreach as a scapegoat. BT also tried blaming Virgin Media as they say it's a different network so if the number port request comes from Vigin they don't acknowledge when it's complete and so Openreach can't compete the cease. I guess the number port from BT to Virgin has caused the issue but I can't see how BT can legally keep taking over £40/month after they have told me they were stopping the services and to which I have not agreed. The number port to VM completed successfully on 15th Feb and I've been paying for that along with BT for no service whatsoever. The VM switch deal came with a £80 bill credit which has been eaten up by BT! Wonder if that's why VM offer the bill credit?

iniltous

If you ported the phone number and it’s now working via Virgin , if the BT service hasn’t been ceased , and is still working , what phone number is on the BT service ( ( presumably it can’t be the number that is now on Virgin  ) it’s not uncommon for BT to stop and renumber a line , so although there is a dialtone , no chargeable calls are possible, have you tried calling from the BT line to confirm it’s actually still working ?,
Most  customers are required to send back the BT equipment, i have done that , if you have , how do you know the broadband service is still working ? 

There is a BT customer forum, post your query there  , the BT Moderator may pick up your issue 

https://community.bt.com/

Haveanicedaytwo

iniltous said:

If you ported the phone number and it’s now working via Virgin , if the BT service hasn’t been ceased , and is still working , what phone number is on the BT service ( ( presumably it can’t be the number that is now on Virgin  ) it’s not uncommon for BT to stop and renumber a line , so although there is a dialtone , no chargeable calls are possible, have you tried calling from the BT line to confirm it’s actually still working ?,
Most  customers are required to send back the BT equipment, i have done that , if you have , how do you know the broadband service is still working ? 

There is a BT customer forum, post your query there  , the BT Moderator may pick up your issue 

Thanks iniltous, yes sent back the old BT Hub 5 and they acknowledged return weeks ago, so unsure if BB still works. No idea what the new number they provisioned is and didn't want to call from it in case BT say I'm using the service I no longer want and use as an excuse not to cease. I never requested a new line be provisioned only all services stopped.
Yesterday BT sent me an email saying I'd changed some settings and switched off web protect whatever that was - I've never used it and certainly made no changes so maybe they have finally ceased. The land line dial tone has also gone.
Will try BT forum if I don't get a response from BT next week. I really wanted to know if other customers had been affected given the likely high migration away from BT after Martin's programmes highlighting the cheaper options. FWIW so far VM's M125 'fibre' BB + landline is over £10/m cheaper that BT and twice the BB speed and so far has been more stable than BT's 'Fibre 2'. But will only be cheaper if BT stop charging me for their services after requesting the stop nearly 3 months ago. 

Shylock_249

Could you NOT instruct your bank NOT to pay the Direct Debit?

Haveanicedaytwo

Shylock_249 said:

Could you NOT instruct your bank NOT to pay the Direct Debit?

Yes, but if I cancel the DD and BT fail to take payment so I don't pay then would that will affect my credit history? It's then up to me to prove BT is at fault and lot more hassle.  

Shylock_249

Haveanicedaytwo said:

Shylock_249 said:

Could you NOT instruct your bank NOT to pay the Direct Debit?

Yes, but if I cancel the DD and BT fail to take payment so I don't pay then would that will affect my credit history? It's then up to me to prove BT is at fault and lot more hassle.  

What's the alternative; they take your money forever (forever is a long time)?

iniltous

TBH , it’s all something that should be easily sorted, if a Virgin now have the phone number , that in itself should cease the BT service, and it’s not clear if BT is  still working anyway  , as the BT router isn’t connected and dialtone isn’t present, but as stated , even if dialtone was present, it can be a stopped line soft dialtone, so the question I would be asking is was there some process not followed , or an assumption made that was incorrect….
FWIW , joining Virgin , because they are a separate network, it’s  a 30 day notice , so that could mean paying for a month when service wasn’t wanted , and with bills being produced well in advance, it’s always possible that a further month had  a bill that was already in production, that is ultimately refunded ( another reason not to cancel the direct debit ) , but ultimately even if it’s a mistake , and BT didn’t act in the instruction to cease ( after taking the 30 days into account ) any overpayment is refunded.

As stated , the BT community forum moderators can look at what’s happened, who ( if anyone ) was at fault, or if it’s simply a combination of notice/billing periods clashing, and organise any refund if that’s appropriate .

Haveanicedaytwo

iniltous said:

TBH , it’s all something that should be easily sorted, if a Virgin now have the phone number , that in itself should cease the BT service, and it’s not clear if BT is  still working anyway  , as the BT router isn’t connected and dialtone isn’t present, but as stated , even if dialtone was present, it can be a stopped line soft dialtone, so the question I would be asking is was there some process not followed , or an assumption made that was incorrect….
FWIW , joining Virgin , because they are a separate network, it’s  a 30 day notice , so that could mean paying for a month when service wasn’t wanted , and with bills being produced well in advance, it’s always possible that a further month had  a bill that was already in production, that is ultimately refunded ( another reason not to cancel the direct debit ) , but ultimately even if it’s a mistake , and BT didn’t act in the instruction to cease ( after taking the 30 days into account ) any overpayment is refunded.

As stated , the BT community forum moderators can look at what’s happened, who ( if anyone ) was at fault, or if it’s simply a combination of notice/billing periods clashing, and organise any refund if that’s appropriate .

Of course it should be easily sorted - that's what's so annoying - but how can a customer sort it if BT keep blaming Openreach?  It took over 20 minutes for BT to answer the first call on 19th Jan to cancel the services. Gary said any number port would not affect my cancellation request and I received a email confirmation the services would stop on 16 Feb. Gary also said I'd receive a final paper bill which never arrived. I called BT at least 4 times to chase, each time it takes over 15 minutes but finally got put through to Sean who repeated the same line that they need to contact Openreach and it will take 48h as had the 3 previous times. But Sean promised to email me back with an update which he did. Today he's emailed to say it looks like the services have been cancelled but I still have to wait another 48h before any refund or compensation can begin. It just beggars belief. I just want to let others know the hassle BT have put me through and hope it's not more widespread. 

iniltous

TBH , the reason why I posted the link to the BT community forum is because the BT Mods are good at getting what appear to be unusual problems sorted , FWIW , your issue isn’t a common one , with the caveat that often the billing period doesn’t align with the cancellation date , so paying for the month after you leave and then  getting most of it refunded isn’t unusual, but you say your issue is 3 months old .
I’m sure with intervention by the BT Mod , if you had posted on the community forum say on week 5 ( so not getting worried too soon by reporting before then )  by week 6 or so the issue could have been cleared , so 6 or 7 weeks ago.