One Touch Switch (POP Telecom)

ST£V£

Hi,

Am I correct in thinking that under the one touch switch scheme I do not have to give the full 30 days leaving notice and I will not be charged any part of this fee for leaving before the 30 days is up?

The CoT did come back and say £0 termination fees.

My present ISP (pop telecom I know bad decision) is trying to charge me for not giving the full 30 days notice, I am in the last month of the contract so there's no additional fees there. They have also tried to hit me with a unreturned equipment bill of £79.99 but as they already have the equipment in their own possession I can't see how they can make that stick.

I cannot be the first person they have tried this on with, so any advice and the eventual outcome from anybody would be appreciated.

Neil_Jones

If you're moving provider pick somebody and sign up with them.  They'll do all the legwork including contacting your old provider..  You speak not to them.

You may have to do 30 days if you are terminating the connection and not moving it to somebody else.

iniltous

If you quit before the minimum term expires, OTS doesn’t ’absolve’ you of this obligation but it should make the the 30 day notice somewhat redundant , it is complicated if you try and align the dates exactly to avoid charges ,

If someone was not inside a minimum term , switched using their appropriate process (this was the case also with the previous system as well as OTS )  , if the switch was done before 30 days notice have been served , it  is unimportant, you don’t have to give 30 days , 10-14 days was the approximate period between ordering service from the new provider and switching .

It’s  the same now as it was , if for example you are still inside a minimum term , and switch , and that switch takes place before the minimum term expires, there will be early termination charges for the period from the switch to the date minimum term expires, the gray area is if (for example) that was 2 weeks , do they charge 2 weeks or the full 30 days , either way it’s not really failure to give the required notice , it’s if the minimum term hasn’t been observed

….IMHO the obvious thing to do is make sure the switch is after the minimum term has expired not try to be too clever and get the exact date , a few days is not going to make a huge difference in price , 

ST£V£

Thank you both for your reply's, I think my question may well have been answered however I will set out the dates so everybody can make up their own mind about POP Telecom.

24th Oct. Minimum contract ends with POP.

05th Oct. Using OTS signed up with Sky (given change over date of 23rd so in 18 days time but less than POP's 30 days notice. So leaving POP 1 day early. Last month of contract had already been paid for. CoT stated £0 termination fees.

06th Oct. Invoice from POP for £102.77 Early Termination & Non Returned Equipment charge, note I still have 17 days of contract left with POP. The early termination fee as far as I can can tell can only be because I have not given them 30 days notice.

07th Oct. Sent equipment back as I have another router which I could set up anyway and to stop the equipment charge for £79.99 stone dead.

I have also informed POP that I do not give them permission to proceed with the invoice.

Hope this sets every out better. So the question is, can I be charged for not giving 30 days notice?

Thanks,
Steve

dex6112

If they haven't yet taken the £79.99 charge for non-returned router, please cancel your Direct Debit immediately. There are 2 earlier threads about this in Phones & TV, please read those.

ST£V£

Thank you for the above message.

Logged into my account to cancel the DD to find POP has already taken £102.77 today.

As the invoice was dated 06th Oct and today is 13th Oct. I have not been given 10 days notice so I am going for the Direct Debit guarantee. Wish me luck and I will let you know the outcome.

Steve

iniltous

TBH , most reputable ISP’s take a months  payment after the switch has taken place,  is not unusual or anything really to be concerned about , invariably the bill production was already underway before the notification of switching was provided by the new ISP , so a refund of all the days paid for after the switch is made on the next billing cycle, that’s why normally keeping a Direct Debit authority open is advised so the refund can provided be by reverse DD , but I’d argue that POP are not a ‘regular’ ISP and as evidenced by multiple posts on this board are guilty of some pretty  ‘underhand’ behaviour.

If you have been charged £103 presumably £80 of that is for the non return (yet) of the router, the way they process the return of equipment  seems pretty dishonest,  they work on the basis that you won’t return the router (even though it’s got no inherent value and not worth keeping ) and apparently proof of posting is insufficient to prove to them that it’s being returned , it’s not until they actually receive the worthless item that they process the return of the charge they made   (and given the type of company they are , are they likely to do this speedily , if at all , ) , I’m sure I saw a similar post where POP , apparently without a trace of irony, told a customer to ‘trust us , when we get it back we refund your money ‘ it would be useful if that poster ever confirmed they were refunded at all .

Most  ISP don’t add the equipment cost to the final bill with a promise to refund it when the router is received ,  they only raise a charge separately later on , and only if it’s not returned within a specific time period 

ST£V£

Logged into my account to cancel the DD to find POP has already taken £102.77 today.

As the invoice was dated 06th Oct and today is 13th Oct. I have not been given 10 days notice so I am going for the Direct Debit guarantee. Wish me luck and I will let you know the outcome.

Update

I have been to my bank and they say they will reverse the payment as under the Direct Debit guarantee I was not given 10 days notice. The Direct Debit mandate has now also been cancelled.

Let's just hope POP don't have something in their t&c to say they can do it in under 10 days.

Informing POP Telecom they are not authorized to take a Direct Debit payment will not stop them from taking it.

Steve

dex6112

Glad to hear that your bank reversed the payment and that you have cancelled the DD .

Here is my experience with Pop in case it may help.

08/09/25 Applied to new ISP.

11/09/25 Received invoice from Pop including £79.99 charge for non-returned router plus small charge for not giving 30 days notice. Tried to discuss on chat with Pop but pointless. Cancelled DD.

12/09/25 Received 2 identical emails from Pop stating that they would charge £9.99 for not paying by DD. I replied to email stating that I would post the router back and would let them know when the tracking showed it was delivered, and when they had cancelled the router charge I would reinstate the DD to pay my final bill.

17/09/25 I emailed Pop with the tracking number which showed that the router had been delivered to them that day. Their reply included the following “ Thank you for your email and informed us that the router has been sent back to us, We will check this to our warehouse and once it's been received we will then remove the non returned equipment charge and then you can settle your final bill from us.”

23/09/25 Received regular email with monthly bill attached. The bill correctly included only telephone calls made in August that had not previously been billed. Email did not mention £9.99 non-DD charge but stated “To pay your invoice please go to www.poptelecom.co.uk/pay”. I went to that link and the balance payable did not include the router charge, just the new bill plus the extra for not giving 30 days notice, which in my case was just a couple of quid so I didn’t think it was worth any more hassle. Paid by Paypal. Received receipt from Paypal for payment.

I’ve heard nothing from Pop since. There is still a small amount due to them for unbilled phone calls so I am expecting a final bill next week which, if it is accurate, I will again pay by Paypal. My port to my new ISP went through smoothly.

I hope this is helpful and if I can help in any other way please let me know. Good luck.

ST£V£

dex6112, this is interesting as, so far your experience is the same as mine and it gives me an idea of what's coming next.

In my case

£79.99 for non-returned router. (which I have returned & know they have it).

£22.78 for not giving 30 days notice. That's around a full months bill. (which under OTS rules I'm not sure the 30 days notice is required).

My line rental/broadband is paid up until the 31st Oct & as I don't make any phone calls from my house number that should be it.

Steve

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Below are the requirements for returned equipment.

Customer pays return postage

CONDITION OF ROUTER
*The router must be clean and from a smoke-free home.
*All cables must be included (DSL and Ethernet).
*The mains power adapter must be working and undamaged.
*The router itself should be undamaged, unmarked, showing minimal wear, and fully working. Any router that is faulty or not fully working will be treated as damaged.
--
CHARGES FOR MISSING/DAMAGED ITEMS
Router missing, damaged, or not fully working: £79.99
Mains adapter missing or damaged: £14.99
DSL/Ethernet cable missing or damaged: £9.99

dex6112

iniltous said:

If you quit before the minimum term expires, OTS doesn’t ’absolve’ you of this obligation but it should make the the 30 day notice somewhat redundant , it is complicated if you try and align the dates exactly to avoid charges ,

If someone was not inside a minimum term , switched using their appropriate process (this was the case also with the previous system as well as OTS )  , if the switch was done before 30 days notice have been served , it  is unimportant, you don’t have to give 30 days , 10-14 days was the approximate period between ordering service from the new provider and switching .

It’s  the same now as it was , if for example you are still inside a minimum term , and switch , and that switch takes place before the minimum term expires, there will be early termination charges for the period from the switch to the date minimum term expires, the gray area is if (for example) that was 2 weeks , do they charge 2 weeks or the full 30 days , either way it’s not really failure to give the required notice , it’s if the minimum term hasn’t been observed

….IMHO the obvious thing to do is make sure the switch is after the minimum term has expired not try to be too clever and get the exact date , a few days is not going to make a huge difference in price , 

Steve,

On reading iniltous's earlier post above (the highlighted paragraph) i thought of the possibility that they could be charging you a full month because of you switching a day before your minimum term is up!

I would suggest that, when you receive the email tomorrow about cancelling the DD, you reply to that email and ask them for a breakdown of the £22.78 charge. Also tell them the tracking number for the router and when it was delivered and ask them to remove the ridiculous £79.99 charge.

Keep us informed.