removing phone line from contract

danco

It is a single package. I have now looked closely at the T&C. These long detailed documents are notoriously difficult to read. But it does seem to me that they say that I can change from one package to another (for instance, broadband plus phone to broadband only) as long as the contract period is not reduced.

Is anyone else with Hyperoptic or for any other reason read Hyperoptic Residential T&C in detail?

iniltous

I don’t know why you think you can remove a service without penalty simply because it’s possible to add one mid term , adding a service isn’t comparable to removing one as adding a service increases revenue for HO , and commits the user to a further minimum term , removing one reduces HO revenue, and the entire justification for early termination charges is by entering a minimum term the supplier has a expectation that the revenue stream from the customer will be continuous during the minimum term and by reducing or ending that revenue stream , the provider needs to be compensated for that reduction /termination otherwise a more expensive rolling contract requiring only a 30 day notice would have offered .

…..if there were no penalty for quitting early (or part quitting) then minimum terms become pointless , and although admittedly your intention is to remain a customer with only the cheapest service removed , that’s still £3 or £4 plus any call revenue they earn from you for calls made , or an additional fee for taking an all inclusive calls plan for however months remain on the minimum term that revenue from their point of view goes begging, it’s unrealistic expecting them to not apply ETC in these circumstances.

The published T&C’s make no mention of removing telephony and maintaining broadband, the simply say show penalty for ending a broadband and telephone deal early , that’s why the most likely outcome is you pay ETC , unless they waive that as a gesture of goodwill ….but you won’t know unless you get confirmation from HO in a binding way (a sales rep getting something wrong doesn’t meet that standard ) or proceed with exporting your directory number , and if your guess is correct , no penalty will be forthcoming , and therefore no further involvement from you , or they do raise ETC and you cancel your porting request with A&A in the cooling off period, or challenge HO decision to apply ETC

dnpark38

When I was with ZEN I had BB and a phone deal and I wished the phone extra to be reduced and they refused so I had to find a new ISP.

They also did not transfer my phone number and I had to have a new number.

OP should have a plan B just in case he ends with a new number.

danco

Section 7 of the T&C says

During your Minimum Period, you can’t transfer to a new Package with a shorter (or no) Minimum Period (this means, for example, that during your Minimum Period you can’t transfer to a Monthly Rolling Package). Apart from this, you can transfer from any Package you previously ordered to another Package available for your Home. If you do transfer to another Package at any time during the Minimum Period for your previous Package, then the Minimum Period for your new Package will start on the date we begin providing that new Package to you. 

I reckon that says that any changes are permissible.

I agree that if my interpretation is correct then Hyperoptic are being generous, more so that other suppliers.

I don't think there is much point in arguing the matter further here. What would help me is if you can suggest ways of getting a definitive answer from them.

Actually I have just thought of a good way, which has worked well with a problem with a utility company. in the past It is not difficult to find the email address of a firm's CEO. An email to them should provide a definitive answer.

I wouldn't have thought of that without this discussion, so thanks for the replies, even though at times I have felt that I was defending a point of view rather than getting advice.

southsidergs

Sorry but you asked them about cancelling phone with them not about transferring it elsewhere, they were probably telling you abiut a new bb only contract

danco

I may have used the wrong words in this forum. I certainly told Hyperoptic that I wanted to transfer it. And my original post here and several others do refer to moving the phone number, not cancelling it.

Anyway, as stated above, it does seem that the best thing I can do is contact their CEO. Unless anyone has another idea of who I should contact

matelodave

Please keep us posted with the outcome

danco

Yes, I will

danco

As people have said, many ISPs certainly do regard removing the phone line as terminating the contract even if FTTH broadband is retained. However, Hyperoptic, perhaps because it uses its own network and not Openreach, is different.

I contacted the CEOs office, and got a reply from a Customer Relations Executive stating that

Early termination fees are only applied if you terminate the broadband service — not the phone service. Phone service is considered an add-on, which you can add or remove at will.

To put it differently, you can remove phone service from your package, keep the broadband connection, and not incur any early termination fees. They're only applicable if the core — broadband — service is terminated during a commitment period.

That's what I was hoping for, and seems definitive.

Thanks for the replies, even including those who said that I should not make the change even if there were no termination fees involved. I know my own circumstances and will almost certainly make the move.