BT - Ridiculous cancellation fee

Jim99

Jim99

Jim99

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25 Feb 2015
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I got hold of one of the vouchers for the Sky offer a few days back, i.e. £6 for one year's broadband and rental, which I was planning to take up.

At the moment I'm paying BT £5 per month for broadband (my line rental was paid up front), and the deal expires in December. So I asked them today how much it would cost if I move to another provider... I figured it would be 3 months' bill, i.e. £15, but no.

Apparently it's something like £120. I asked on what basis, and they said that they would cancel the discount, charging full price for the broadband rather than the promotional rate for the last 3 months of the contract, and then whack a cancellation fee on top.

Has anyone else had this? I find it somewhat bemusing. How can it cost more to cancel a contract than to continue it?
 
Because you signed up for a "deal" that runs for either 12 or 18 months.
There's no variation in this period of time - it doesn't run for 10 months, it doesn't run for 16 months.
So, if you request to cancel early you didn't keep to the terms of the deal - so it's voided from its inception and you owe the difference between the deal you no longer qualify for and the proper monthly charge.
 
Remember at the price you're paying to them, you're a number, not a customer.

Even if they operate at a loss by having you as a customer (which they don't) they have the potential to gain from it as well.

By having you, and others, locked into this deal their overall share of the broadband market is increased. Overall bragging rights, weight given to their opinion of the market and advertising campaigns all rely on this kind of statistic to get them more customers and to grow their business.

It's within their interests to not let you go, and part of the marketing ploy of such low prices is to increase their market share.

I'm currently on a 12 month contract with Sky Broadband, but only because it was free! I wonder how much it would cost me to leave? :)
 
Could you not keep bt until your contract expires and get sky broadband set up on a new line? Pay both till the bt contract is up?
 
lego said:
Could you not keep bt until your contract expires and get sky broadband set up on a new line? Pay both till the bt contract is up?
Click to expand...

I did think about that, but by the time I'd paid for a new line etc I doubt it would be worthwhile.

Anyway, it's not the end of the world. My BT is only £5 a month for the next 3 months after all, just not sure whether I'll be able to get as a good a deal as the Sky one when it comes round to renewal.

Unless I can snag something as a black friday deal, or they do some deals to make up for post-Christmas lull.
 
Surely they can't remove the discount retrospectively (i.e. after you've already used the service and paid for it). That's basically a penalty/punitive. According to OFCOM a company can only charge a cancellation fee for a contract where:

1) The charge was made clear before you signed the contract

AND

2) The charge is not more than the amount of your remaining monthly payments (£15 in this case).

I'd be raising this higher up and threatening OFCOM.

Sauce.
 
Rainmaker said:
Surely they can't remove the discount retrospectively (i.e. after you've already used the service and paid for it). That's basically a penalty/punitive. According to OFCOM a company can only charge a cancellation fee for a contract where:

1) The charge was made clear before you signed the contract

AND

2) The charge is not more than the amount of your remaining monthly payments (£15 in this case).

I'd be raising this higher up and threatening OFCOM.

Sauce.
Click to expand...

Interesting, thanks for that. It seemed somewhat crazy.

And, on top of that, they've also increased the price this month, which brings them into risky territory on 3 counts.

Hmm, I think I will pursue this a bit after all.
 
Rainmaker said:
Surely they can't remove the discount retrospectively (i.e. after you've already used the service and paid for it). That's basically a penalty/punitive. According to OFCOM a company can only charge a cancellation fee for a contract where:

1) The charge was made clear before you signed the contract

AND

2) The charge is not more than the amount of your remaining monthly payments (£15 in this case).

I'd be raising this higher up and threatening OFCOM.

Sauce.
Click to expand...

Their argument will be that its only "worth" it to them to do the discount if you are a long term custom and the discount/offer will in the contract be conditional on you seeing out the duration of the contract. Its all perfectly legal, normal and while they may sometimes waiver it in some circumstances to keep a customer happy OFCOM will likely side with BT on this.

The only angle he would have here is how clear it was that the promotional rate is dependant on seeing out the duration of the contract.
 
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Rroff said:
Their argument will be that its only "worth" it to them to do the discount if you are a long term custom and the discount/offer will in the contract be conditional on you seeing out the duration of the contract. Its all perfectly legal, normal and while they may sometimes waiver it in some circumstances to keep a customer happy OFCOM will likely side with BT on this.

The only angle he would have here is how clear it was that the promotional rate is dependant on seeing out the duration of the contract.
Click to expand...

I'm no lawyer and don't profess to be, but I'd definitely be taking advice given the wording from OFCOM. If the OP has taken out a contract at £x for y months, the total sum due would always only be z. If he stays the extra three months, BT get z. If he pays the £15 now, BT still get z. Where is the loss they claim to experience if he 'leaves early'?
 
They might argue for instance that the discount has been costed against the average of people taking advantage of say companion services over that duration and by cancelling early even paying up what he would owe he is no longer likely to take up additional offers, etc.

How that stands from the legal perspective I'm not sure but from the retail perspective I know its a thing (I've no experience of it actually challenged).

The key if it comes to it will be the wording of the contract and how clear the pertinent bits were before signing up - though BT might just write it off to save hassle.
 
So, BT billed me £97 for leaving - just had a chat with them and they have agreed to wipe all charges.

Hopefully that goes through their systems OK, but if so seems to have gone well.
 
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