HELP! Cancellation Fee - BE Internet

zidanee

Hello,

I feel very stupid now as if I've been scammed! I have been telling all my friends how good BE Internet is and that you don't have to sign a 1 year contract with them and so on. And now when I need to move, BE tells me that yes, there is no 1 year contract, but I need to give a 3 months notice (!!!) or pay £40 as a cancellation fee (which is plain rip-off - it costs them nothing to stop providing me the service).

Is there any way I could get out of paying this? They don't want to transfer the service to the new tenant and they don't want to transfer it to a different address and name. So frustrating!!!

colderuk

I doubt you could get out of it as it's in their T&C

JimmyTheWig

How frustrating.

Not sure if there's anything you can do though, other than to ask them nicely.

Is there anything in law that says terms and conditions have to be reasonable or made explicitly aware to customers? There's only so many T&Cs you can read. You tend to just assume that the small print is all ok unless you are doing anything particularly out of the ordinary.
Or is the point that you should just always read the small print?

colderuk

its quite clear on the t&c

Can I cancel my Be order within 7 days of placing the order online?

Yes. Please inform us on a ticket of your decision to cancel your order within 7 working days of placing the order (this is known as the cooling off period). We will reimburse any money that you’ve paid us (if we’ve already collected payment), minus any deductions (if applicable, see below), within 30 days of receiving your written cancellation notice.
If your order has not yet been sent to BT (they will need to physically connect you to our network in your local exchange), then we will cancel your order without any additional charges to you.
If we have already sent the order to BT, there will be a charge of £30 to all members, to cover the cancellation fee that we need to pay BT.

How do I cancel Be’s Services?

On the Be unlimited and Be pro packages, you may cancel your service at any time, providing you give us 3 months’ notice in writing on a ticket. Tickets can be raised by going to your member centre. We do not accept telephone cancellations.
Letters can also be sent to Cancellations, Be Un limited, Be House, 62 Lancaster Mews, London W2 3QR, faxes can be sent to +44(0) 870 731 9130.
Please include the following details: name, the address the account is registered to, username, email address and the phone number on which you receive Be’s service.
If you choose Be Value, your initial contract period is 1 year. After the first year, we simply ask for 1 month’s notice in writing to cancel your contract without incurring any additional cancellation charges. You may cancel with 3 months’ notice anytime after 9 months’ of your original contract start date.

Can I cancel the service if there are price increases?

Be has a 3 months’ notice period - if you want to cancel your Be unlimited or Be pro accounts at any time for whatever reason without incurring any cancellation fees, you simply need to give us 3 months’ notice in writing.
For Be Value members, your initial contract period is 1 year and Be guarantee that your monthly broadband fee will not increase during your first year. After the first year, we simply ask for 1 month’s notice in writing to cancel your contract without incurring any additional cancellation charges.
We will always aim to give members at least 3 months’ notice if our prices increase (and if this isn’t possible, we’ll allow you to cancel prior to any price increases - although we’re sure this will never happen!)

Can I cancel my Be service if I'm not satisfied?

Yes. You can cancel your service at any time, providing you give us 3 months’ notice in writing on a ticket if you have Be unlimited or Be pro. If you have either of these products and would like to cancel your service sooner than the 3 months’ notice, you may pay our express cancellation fee of £40. This cancels your service within 10 days after the request date.
If you have Be Value, you can cancel at any stage in your first year, but you are liable to pay any remaining monthly fees that would be payable before the end of your first year’s contract. After this, a standard 1 month’s cancellation notice is required to cancel your contract without incurring any additional costs. If you would like to cancel your account sooner than the 1 month’s notice that is required after the first year, you may pay the express cancellation fee of £30 instead.

Woby_Tide

these companies and their dastardley terms and conditions. It won't be long before they start charging a monthly fee to provide people with a service

JimmyTheWig

Unfortunately, zidanee, I agree with colderuk - it looks pretty clear to me, too.

Will you still use them at your next address because of this? If not, then I'd say phone up and tell them that. That unless they can transfer the account to your new address, or waive the cancellation fee, you won't be using them in the future.
See if they value your customer loyalty.

Woby_Tide

they can't transfer accounts to new addresses, it's a 'feature' of the Be billing system, in some cases though they have helped people cease one contract on the proviso that a new one is taken out at the new address but in the same name. Its normally best to raise a helpdesk ticket online to start discussing such things though and also to get it in writing

I am moving to a new address, can I move my service, and should I expect any downtime?

Yes, providing we are able to offer you our ultra-fast broadband service at your new location. There will be a charge for reconnecting your new premises to our network as we need to pay BT to physically connect your new BT line to our network. If you choose an express cancellation on your current account, you will need to pay the express cancellation fee, but this will be refunded to you once your new account is active (please raise a ticket in your new account to request this).
The process is the same as when you first signed up (BT will need to physically connect you to our network in your local exchange). You will need to place a new order for your new address, and connection will usually takes 2 - 4 weeks. We are committed to complete all connections as quickly and as seamlessly as possible.
If we can’t service your new address, you will unfortunately need to terminate the service, which may still either require 3 months notice in writing or payment of any relevant cancellation fees (depending on your broadband package and length of contract remaining). Please see ’ How do I cancel Be’s service? ’ for more information.

How much does it cost to move my Be service to new premises?

If we are able to provide you with Be’s ludicrously fast service in your new premises, we’ll only charge you for reconnecting to your new premises (which is the standard connection charge) and will credit any applicable cancellation charge on your original account when your new account is set up.
Can I transfer my service to another person at another address?

No. When you order Be, we agree to provide service to your address on the BT phone line that you supply during the ordering process. We cannot therefore move this service to another person at another address.

Can I transfer my service to another person at the same address?

We do not offer this functionality at the moment, but we may offer it in future.

from the original post though it seems they don't want to do this which is where they will fall foul of the terms. That said even if you knew you were moving that could have got rid of one of the 3 months notice if not more which would have reduced the terms

zidanee

Woby_Tide wrote: »

from the original post though it seems they don't want to do this which is where they will fall foul of the terms. That said even if you knew you were moving that could have got rid of one of the 3 months notice if not more which would have reduced the terms

I am moving to an area where BE is not providing their services

See if they value your customer loyalty.

Will try that...

Thanks!

JimmyTheWig

Oh, "different address and name". Mis-read that in the first post.

Good luck, but I'm not sure they've got much to gain from your customer loyalty if you won't be taking their product.

zidanee

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Oh, "different address and name". Mis-read that in the first post.

Good luck, but I'm not sure they've got much to gain from your customer loyalty if you won't be taking their product.

Thank you!

You will be surprised - I know I was. I have received such a reply:

Thank you for the email.You can understand that Terms and Conditions should be respected.This is for everyone no matter how many years they have been with us.Loyalty is great thing and you do not need to feel like a fool as you have chosen one of the best providers around.Of course there is always to improve and believe me we do our best on daily basis. To prove you our great attitude to our customers,you will pay no cancellation charges. Please update the ticket with your final decision. Regards

I think this is simply amazing - I didn't expect much when I emailed them. It's brilliant that there are still companies out there that care about their customers, see the bigger picture and understand the value of customer loyalty. I will definitely use them again in the future! And I will feel proud to continue to recommend them to everyone.

JimmyTheWig

Blimey!
Well done for trying. It's always worth a go.