bt leaving charge

blackaqua

sassybooboos wrote: »

just to let you all know [EMAIL="ben.verwaayen@bt.com"]ben.verwaayen@bt.com[/EMAIL] (chief execs email address)

bt have agreed to cancel my charge of £96 after i emailed the chief executive after having been told by customer services tough pay it.

so everyone else who are not being told re that they are being put on a new contract and then getting a cancellation charge.

What a star! :T

BT have been ignoring every phone call and letter for 7 months! Emailed Ben and got a reply 3 minutes later saying he had forwarded it to the high level complaints department. Hopefully I will now be able to speak to someone about it! :beer:

Update: Just got a call from their office, they have credited my account 3 months credit plus £25!

Beer_Monster

Hello all,
Good work on the e-mail address. I did a bit of law at uni and it is my understanding that if a condition is specifically checked prior to entering into the contract and that the condition is so important that it is a pre-requisite of entering into the contract then it will over-rule any written contract. This is particuarly relevent where standard contracts are used.

Below is an exerpt from my latest e-mail to BT. It mentions the case of Evans & Son Ltd v Andrea Merzario Ltd (1976). For all those that are interested it is about here are the details; Evans wanted to have his goods sent by ship. He checked with Merzario that they would be carried below deck. Merzario sent out his standard contract which included the term that they couldn't guarnatee whether goods would be carried above or below deck. The goods were carried above deck and swept over board. Evans sued for the loss and won.

My exeprt below includes some legal terms that others wanting to complain may want to use. It's a bit long winded so skip past it if it's not relevant to you. For those taht are interested here it is:

"Prior to entering the contract I was given a pre-contractual statement by your sales agent that I would be free to cancel my phone package fee free with one months notice. The assurance I was given was a pre-condition of my entering into the contract. Had I been told I would not be able to move suppliers for 12 months or incur the cancellation charge I would not have entered into the contract. I specifically told the sales agent I did not want a phone package and only wanted broadband. I also made it clear that I would be seeking the most competitive supplier of broadband. When told that I had to sign up to some form of phone package I asked for "whichever was the cheapest". This turned out to be the option 1 'phone calls only' package (even though I had made it clear that I did not want a home phone earlier in the conversation). Using a 'detached objectivity' approach I believe that the reasonable third party would believe the assurance I sought (and received) was a pre-condition of my entering into the contract.

I have been told that BT send out letters with their terms and conditions for all new customers. I have also been told that these terms are what I was actually signing up to and I was free to check them once I received them. I would like to point out that:

a) I should have been made aware of any deviation from the terms that I verbally agreed to over the phone and given the chance to ratify the new terms, and
b) under English case law, specifically Evans & Son Ltd v Andrea Merzario Ltd (1976), the fact that I specifically checked that I would not be charged for early termination over-rules any standard contract you may later send out which may include alternative terms.

To the best of my knowledge Evans & Son Ltd has not been over-ruled by any other case law."

normanmark

Beer_Monster wrote: »

Prior to entering the contract I was given a pre-contractual statement by your sales agent that I would be free to cancel my phone package fee free with one months notice. The assurance I was given was a pre-condition of my entering into the contract.

Irrespective of whatever cases have happened nearly 40-50 years ago, could you show me the proof of the above where sales agents (from BT) state that you're free to cancel with a months notice? (Apart from the distance selling regulations where you have a 7 day period if you want to cancel)

BexTech

TwentyThree wrote: »

Thanks for that, I understand where they are coming from, but when I originally called I was told I could swap and was not made aware it was a 12 month contract. I feel BT are misleading their customers by not informing them of their terms!

You don't have to move line rental to Sky, in fact it would be a BIG mistake moving line rental away from BT. That doesn't mean you can't move your calls to Sky or use them for broadband.

It's never wise to move line rental away from BT. Calls - Yes, Line rental - No.

garden33

Hi Folks

I have spent the whole morning reading through the endless threads on BT.....

I am in a similiar position...

I have just recently left BT, ending my contract before the 12 months was up. They have sent me a bill for approx £130ish (dont have bill to hand).
When I rang to cancel, I was assured I would only have to pay the remaining months left in my contract, which was about 4 months= approx £56.

I have rang numerous occasions, I've got dates, times & names, I've spoke to every man & his dog in delhi and Im still no further in resolving my complaint.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE can anyone help!!!

Is it right I get charged £70 cancellation fee AND the remaining months???? I never recieved any written contract neither was I told!!

Any advice / help would be greatly received.
Thanks

So, of course, I have

Garnett_F

normanmark wrote: »

lol i think i've said this before but that notification of yours wouldn't stand up in a court if it came to it

Only in criminal proceedings - AFAIK for civil no notification's required.

System

[quote=BexTech;10519419

It's never wise to move line rental away from BT. Calls - Yes, Line rental - No.[/quote]

WHY ? i moved from bt to talktalk 12 months ago and its the best thing i ever did , bt tried to charge me a disconnection fee but i asked to hear the recording of the conversation when i was told i was entering an 18 month contract needless to say they could not produce it and the fee was cancelled.

BexTech

CHRISSYG wrote: »

WHY ? i moved from bt to talktalk 12 months ago and its the best thing i ever did , bt tried to charge me a disconnection fee but i asked to hear the recording of the conversation when i was told i was entering an 18 month contract needless to say they could not produce it and the fee was cancelled.

Only BT are forced to allow you to use cheap call access, others such as TalkTalk can and do block cheap call access. Means they stuff you on certain calls, then when you find you want to move on it can get quite expensive, so you find you have the choice play the inflated call costs once they have enough people, like they have been slowly doing and therefore paying more than others, or pay a high move back to BT fee.

It's never wise to move line rental away from BT. You might not realise it now, but there will come a time when you'll remember this thread.

sassybooboos

i think they should only charge you for remaining months left on your contract. does it not say on your bill what the £70 is for?

i managed to get my charges dropped as they never told me i was starting a new contract.

they have sent me a bill today minus the cancellation charge.

Beer_Monster

normanmark wrote: »

Irrespective of whatever cases have happened nearly 40-50 years ago, could you show me the proof of the above where sales agents (from BT) state that you're free to cancel with a months notice? (Apart from the distance selling regulations where you have a 7 day period if you want to cancel)

Sorry mormanmark but I'm not sure what 'proof' you're talking about. The only proof I would have is a copy of the call recording. If you're after a case that includes BT you're looking for the wrong thing. The case I mentioned establishes the legal principle, which is all you'd need. Case law stands, regardless of age, until a judge over-rules it with a later case.

By the way, I also e-mailed Ben Verwaayn (on Monday) and was told my complaint would be passed to BT's high level complaints department. I had a call this morning from a very nice lady saying that the cancellation charge would be credited to my account and I would get a 'small gift' by way of an apology.

:j