GoFibre unable to move BB to new home - early redemption penalty!

AlistairS

My elderly mother has broadband with them and due to health issues is having to move to a more suitable property in the same Town.

She phoned up today and asked for her broadband to be transferred to the new property. She gave them the address details and was informed that their services were not available at the new address yet.

They are charging her £340 early termination fees!

She pointed out that she wanted the services transferred, but through no fault of her own this isn't possible.

Any other broadband provider who cannot transfer the services do not charge early termination fees as this is outwith the customer's control. I can testify to this happening to me personally.

So is my mother expected to only consider moving to another property if it has Gofibre availability is this even legal?

Nevermind...

Ayr_Rage

Unless the contract specifically says early termination fees will be waived if a new property is not served then your mother will be liable.

Yes it is legal.

Your general assertion that all other ISPs waive fees is incorrect.

swingaloo

We had a fee charged when we moved as Virgin did not cover our new address.

MyRealNameToo

Historically companies were more likely to waive the charge if you want to keep them but they cannot provide but it's certainly not universal. 

Ultimately you have signed a contract that says you will pay for 12 months, its your choice to move before those 12 months are up and so your responsibility to pay. If you feel there is a reason you can't commit to a 12 month period you should sign up for a shorter minimum term and pay the higher fees per month.

Brie

Check how much it might cost if she doesn't terminate the contract early.  It may be less to have it run the full term and she set up a new contract with someone else at the new place.

littleboo

The contract was presumably  for service at a specified address, not any address. Unfortunately, AltNets often have patchy coverage in any given area

Woodstok2000

As others have said, this is both legal and pretty much standard across the industry.

However.....many companies offer a buyout promotion where they pay your termination fees when you switch, usually up to £200-300. If you can find a company offering this that is also able to serve both properties, you could theoretically switch now with some termination fees covered, and then move house under the new provider...

iniltous

Woodstok2000 said:

As others have said, this is both legal and pretty much standard across the industry.

However.....many companies offer a buyout promotion where they pay your termination fees when you switch, usually up to £200-300. If you can find a company offering this that is also able to serve both properties, you could theoretically switch now with some termination fees covered, and then move house under the new provider...

charging early termination fees when a customer is inside a minimum term and moving to an area not served by the existing ISP is not standard across the industry the largest ISP  BT don’t , Virgin don’t , with Virgin you need to prove the new address has no availability by providing utility bills , and may other larger ISP that use large networks don’t , but small niche providers generally don’t have a large footprint, and irrespective of the reason the customer is moving , the fact is the Alt Net can say the customer committed to a minimum term and now want to quit early….it may not be fair if the move is for health reasons but it’s not illegal for the ISP to apply the early termination section of the contract the customer wants to break .

JSmithy45AD

Brie said:

Check how much it might cost if she doesn't terminate the contract early.  It may be less to have it run the full term and she set up a new contract with someone else at the new place.

I can't see how that would be possible? Besides, if paying ETCs do you not save on the VAT portion? There's also equipment return if applicable. They'll be sending packaging to an address she no longer lives at.

JSmithy45AD

AlistairS said:

My elderly mother has broadband with them and due to health issues is having to move to a more suitable property in the same Town.

She phoned up today and asked for her broadband to be transferred to the new property. She gave them the address details and was informed that their services were not available at the new address yet.

They are charging her £340 early termination fees!

She pointed out that she wanted the services transferred, but through no fault of her own this isn't possible.

Any other broadband provider who cannot transfer the services do not charge early termination fees as this is outwith the customer's control. I can testify to this happening to me personally.

So is my mother expected to only consider moving to another property if it has Gofibre availability is this even legal?

Is your BB due to or already at end of contract? Any chance you can get the service there so you can take on the rest of the contract?

AlistairS

as above..