OneStream need cancellation notice even though I’ve already switched

AndrewAfresh2

I’m trying to get OneStream to stop their direct debits, having switched from them over 3 months ago. They say I need to reinstate the DD (or they’ll charge £25) & give a month’s notice to cancel. On the many occasions I’ve switched broadband before, I’ve never had to give notice to the old company, they automatically terminate (which makes it easier & more user-friendly for the consumer), hence I presumed they received notice from the new company. What has changed or is it OneStream do this to extract as much money from their customers as they can? Thanks for any help!

la531983

Was this an Openreach to Openreach transfer?

Ayr_Rage

How did you go about the new order?

Who did you move to?

Was it a like-for-like service? (ADSL/FTTC/FTTP)

Did you move a phone number?

In any event, if the transfer was correctly initiated by the new company rather than you just ordering a new line, then you should have received a "sorry to hear you are leaving" communication from OneStream.

What actually happened?

Peter999_2

la531983 said:

Was this an Openreach to Openreach transfer?

It doesn't matter anymore withe One Touch Switch 

We’re making it easier than ever to switch your broadband provider - Ofcom

littleboo

But the OP says this happened over 3 months ago, and one touch switching is very new. So they probably pre-date it. And even with one touch switching, there must be away of requesting a new service without cancelling the existing - some people want more than one service at the same address.

400ixl

Peter999_2 said:

la531983 said:

Was this an Openreach to Openreach transfer?

It doesn't matter anymore withe One Touch Switch 

We’re making it easier than ever to switch your broadband provider - Ofcom

One-Touch wasn't live 3 months ago when the OP migrated was it? It also doesn't cover all ISP's especially if changing the underlying network provider.

iniltous

As already stated , much depends on who you moved to, If Onestream and the new provider were/are both Openreach based ( I don’t know if Onestream are available on Alt Nets  as well as Openreach ) but if for arguments sake Onestream were Openreach and the new provider was Netomnia or City Fibre , then you need to serve notice yourself ( at least you did before OTS , One Touch Switching came  into operation ) ,
if service has only been over Openreach FTTC , 3 months ago is before OTS , so  your assumption that you didn’t have to serve notice is correct because the new ISP should have done that on your behalf , having said that , personally I would have been concerned if I didn’t receive a ‘sorry to see you leave’ communication from the old company as that indicates the process was working, however it’s all a bit moot now , as that old system ( NOT , Notice of transfer ) has gone and it’s replaced with OTS , and who knows what gets sent out by the losing provider if you switch using that .

AndrewAfresh2

Thanks for your replies. The switch date (to Pop Telecom ) was supposed to start 27 August - Pop told me I didn't have a phone line (because I didn't pay OneStream for it - I didn't realise this) so OpenReach visited 5 September to reinstate it. Was OTS live at both these dates?

iniltous

I suspect what has happened is that POP telecom messed up , it makes no sense for POP to tell you that you didn’t have a phone line ( you obviously did have a line otherwise how did your Onestream broadband work ) having a phone service with broadband isn’t necessary, many people have standalone broadband ) ,a phone line and phone service are not the same thing , not having a phone number doesn’t mean you don’t have a line , POP can use other information to locate the Onestream service that you wanted taking over if you don’t have a phone number to give them  , it seems they didn’t bother checking the other things and basically decided to put a new line in your address.

The fact that Openreach visited cant have been to reinstate the phone line , it can only be because they were asked to provide a second phone line for the POP service to work over ….so basically  POP didn’t takeover your existing Onestream service , they arranged to install a second line alongside the Onestream one .

Onestream were never were notified of anything, because there was nothing to advise them of ( they don’t care if you get a second line , that doesn’t affect them ) , so you stopping the direct debit etc and unfortunately that puts you in the wrong not Onestream , obviously you did that because you assumed POP had done the correct thing and migrated your Onestream line , the evidence suggests they didn’t do the correct thing , putting you in this position.

FWIW , if POP had done the correct thing ,( migration instead of a new line )  Openreach wouldn’t have visited  ( they would have no need to visit , the line already existed ) , and you would have been automatically contacted by Onestream saying ‘sorry you are leaving’ , so in this case Onestream are not the villain but POP are …all because, presumably because you said you didn’t have a phone service with Onestream, POP decided you needed a new line …you obviously didn’t realise it , but you had 2 lines / 2 services, and that’s why Onestream continued to bill you for the one they were supplying .

In this case the OTS isn’t the problem, even if that was the process used , the date is the period where it was live but ISP were also using the old system as a back up , 

AndrewAfresh2

Thank you so much for writing & clarifying. I seem to remember POP saying when I was trying to transfer to them, they couldn't find me on the Openreach database & that is why they said I need to pay for a new line. 
OneStream have now replied they haven't ever received a request to transfer from another firm.
Therefore I am thinking of complaining to Ofcom that Pop Telecom advised me erroneously, which has caused me to continue paying for the unnecessary line from OneStream. 

400ixl

You have my sympathies, OneStream and PoP Telecom are two of the bottom dwelling ISP'a and look to add on charges wherever they can and have particularly poor customer service.

Unfortunately chasing the lowest price leaves you dealing with these types of companies.

As you say, if they are both OpenReach then you just contract with the new ISP and they are to engage with the current ISP and arrange. You should have got a "Sorry you are leaving" type communication from OneStream not too long after signing up with Pop Telecom. 

When you switched to OneStream, did they have to send an engineer to set you up? If they didn't then you should have informed Pop Telecom that you were on OpenReach customer and did not need a new line and this was an ISP swap on an existing line.

Unfortunately hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Going to the ombudsman may be the only route given the ISP's involved unfortunately.