BT Broadband cancellation costs
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LozBelch
Posts: 1 Newbie
Hi
Please tell me if I am being completely unreasonable, but I'm rather cheesed off at the >£100 cancellation fee I have been quoted by BT for my broadband.
I took up a 12 month contract in December 2015, was phoned in December 2016 and asked if I wish to renew, to which I responded yes. 6 months later and I wish to cancel my service as I'm moving house (I could transfer, but as a new customer you get a much better deal). I was told that I have to pay for the rest of my contract, a fee of >£100. On BT's own website referring to cancellation (first google result for 'bt cancellation fee terms') it states that
"An Early Termination Charge only applies if you cancel within your minimum contract period. So for example if you took a service with a 12 month minimum contract period and then
wanted to stop receiving the service 13 months later, no Early Termination Charge would be payable. However in most cases if you decide to stop a service, whether your minimum
contract period has ended or not, you will need to give us up to 30 days’ advance notice and you’ll continue paying for the service until that notice period ends."
I was under the impression that the minimum contract period was the first 12 months of my contract, and there should now be no cancellation fee. Evidence supporting this assertion is that my bill increased by 44% for the exact same service (I viewed this as the cost of no longer being tied in to a fixed contract). I have since been told that there is essentially no minimum contract period; even if I had been a BT customer for 1000 years , unless you happen to cancel your service on the exact date it started you have to pay for the rest of the contract. This seems rather unreasonable to me. BT were able to offer me no reason why my bill had increased by 44% for the exact same contract as I was on before. In truth, I can transfer the service to my new address (and then cancel immediately when the contract expires) but many people will not be in this situation, and the current cost of the contract is much much higher than I could get as a new customer. Why do BT point people towards terms and conditions that seem downright misleading? Like many others, I believe that if I sign a 12 month contract that is my minimum term, and after that a price increase is reasonable given that I am no longer committed to a defined period, but I should be able to cancel for a nominal fee.
I understand that I probably have no grounds to stand on given that legally I probably signed a new fixed term 12 month contract, but the terms and conditions referring to minimum terms seems incredibly misleading. Any thoughts?
Please tell me if I am being completely unreasonable, but I'm rather cheesed off at the >£100 cancellation fee I have been quoted by BT for my broadband.
I took up a 12 month contract in December 2015, was phoned in December 2016 and asked if I wish to renew, to which I responded yes. 6 months later and I wish to cancel my service as I'm moving house (I could transfer, but as a new customer you get a much better deal). I was told that I have to pay for the rest of my contract, a fee of >£100. On BT's own website referring to cancellation (first google result for 'bt cancellation fee terms') it states that
"An Early Termination Charge only applies if you cancel within your minimum contract period. So for example if you took a service with a 12 month minimum contract period and then
wanted to stop receiving the service 13 months later, no Early Termination Charge would be payable. However in most cases if you decide to stop a service, whether your minimum
contract period has ended or not, you will need to give us up to 30 days’ advance notice and you’ll continue paying for the service until that notice period ends."
I was under the impression that the minimum contract period was the first 12 months of my contract, and there should now be no cancellation fee. Evidence supporting this assertion is that my bill increased by 44% for the exact same service (I viewed this as the cost of no longer being tied in to a fixed contract). I have since been told that there is essentially no minimum contract period; even if I had been a BT customer for 1000 years , unless you happen to cancel your service on the exact date it started you have to pay for the rest of the contract. This seems rather unreasonable to me. BT were able to offer me no reason why my bill had increased by 44% for the exact same contract as I was on before. In truth, I can transfer the service to my new address (and then cancel immediately when the contract expires) but many people will not be in this situation, and the current cost of the contract is much much higher than I could get as a new customer. Why do BT point people towards terms and conditions that seem downright misleading? Like many others, I believe that if I sign a 12 month contract that is my minimum term, and after that a price increase is reasonable given that I am no longer committed to a defined period, but I should be able to cancel for a nominal fee.
I understand that I probably have no grounds to stand on given that legally I probably signed a new fixed term 12 month contract, but the terms and conditions referring to minimum terms seems incredibly misleading. Any thoughts?
0
Comments
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You seemed to have entered into new contract, you say ;
"was phoned in December 2016 and asked if I wish to renew, to which I responded yes. 6 months later and I wish to cancel my service"0 -
Why did you agree to renew (i.e. start a new 12 month contract) in December, did they offer a price reduction? If nothing was offered as an incentive then doing nothing but continuing on the existing contract would have been better.0
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Contract length is usually 12 18 or 24 months depending upon the offer .
I have never seen the contracts as you imply misleading and thousands of posts on MSE .
Can you not move the contract to new home and avoid penalty . But that will start a new contract from date of new service .0 -
Minimum does not refer to the first contracted period,but the minimum time for the current agreement, which if you break without good reason (like price rise) incurs a penalty charge.
You have chosen to breach the terms to gain a new customer offer from elsewhere, so you can't expect them to let you off free(or there would be no point in having contracts).0 -
I have since been told that there is essentially no minimum contract period; even if I had been a BT customer for 1000 years , unless you happen to cancel your service on the exact date it started you have to pay for the rest of the contract. This seems rather unreasonable to me.
It would be unreasonable if if were true. However you can cancel your service for free at the end of the contract or at any time afterwards, as long as you haven't entered a new contract.I understand that I probably have no grounds to stand on given that legally I probably signed a new fixed term 12 month contract, but the terms and conditions referring to minimum terms seems incredibly misleading. Any thoughts?
What do you mean by probably? What do you find misleading? It sounds like you regret signing up for another fixed term contract because you realise you could have gotten a better deal elsewhere.0
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