pslewis

I'm with BT for my Landline and Broadband - and have been for many years.

Each January I renew my 12 month contract and negotiate another good deal and always getting a new Home Hub free .... this game of cat and mouse has worked well for a long time.

Just got off the phone to them and it's no play this time around!

I am currently paying £5 for Broadband ... I never come near their download limit so don't need anything fancy.

The best they can do is £8:25 a month for what I have ..... I would have to pay £29 for a new Home Hub (a HomeHub 3) if I wanted one [my homehub 2 is unreliable at the moment].

My contract ends on 16th January .... I said I may just not renew it then. They said that there will be a £30 Cancellation Fee!!!!!!

I'm not cancelling!!! Just not renewing!!!

Tough they say - it will be £30 ................ thieving gits!

Now, wise guys and gals, I remember something way back in time about a MAC code or something where they couldn't charge me if I was moving elsewhere?

So, what do I do? Where do I go? How to I switch suppliers?

Will somewhere like USwitch do the donkey work for me?

I know that TalkTalk are really bad - so, they are out.

SKY doesn't get great write-ups.

PlusNet used to be highly regarded - is that still the case?

What about Orange? Maybe combine a mobile with Broadband?

Can I dump BT fully - or do I have to stay with them for Line Rental and suchlike?

Over to you .........

PaulC72

Virgin, everyone needs a virgin

I would be with them (we are with BT and they told me that osme new deals are coming out in the next few months which is useful as our contract isnt up until mar/apr) but only for not having fibre optics in the village.

Anyway with Virgin you can move your phone line to them and pay the £13 or whatever a month directly to them.

i would guess that should a major problem occur it would still be fixed by BT but I am unsure on that.

pslewis

Virgin Mobile .... just had a look and I find £8 a month + Line Renta similar to BT.

Pretty much the same as I was offered by BT ...... however:-

Connection & set-up:
A one-off £36 charge applies to all customers taking National Broadband.


WHAT!?

£36 charge?!

PaulC72

I am sure with your skill and wit you could get them to pay you for the connection Pete

pslewis

It's different than it was ..... these companies seem a bit bullish with their offers, they seem to be sticking to the higher charges.

Zen Internet get very good write ups and have only a 1 month contract. Free Migration too.

subaruturbo_18

I don't know a lot about the other deals around, but i'm pretty sure your contract will state that once the contract period has ended, it will then be on a 'rolling' basis until you cancel or renew.

I would bet a lot of money on the fact that if you leave it as it is they won't charge you that £30. That was most likely just some douche bag on the other end of the phone trying to blag a deal and earn some commission.

If you want to cancel you have to give 30 days notice (most of them do this) but the cancellation fee to me seems a bit unfair.

Since you keep on getting cheaper and cheaper deals you will probably find that they are making no money out of you any more so will not give you any better deals.

mart360

Still sucking them in Pedro,

No matter what's suggested, you'll find a better deal. Thats if you are actually even allowed to make such decisions.



Mart

zip106

Plusnet are very good.

Been with them over a year now (Broadband) but I have my telephone with Talk****e.
As soon as that contract ends I'll move telecoms over to Plusnet.

Your line rental still goes to BT, but through your provider.

Seriously, give Plusnet a ring - you get to talk to some northern monkey in Sheffield, not 'Colin' in Bangladesh.

I've referred 3 people to Plusnet and every time I do I get money off my monthly bill for each referral.

ScoobyWon't

Currently £140 and a bit cash back through Quidco if you move to Virgin Media (not Virgin Mobile).

Jaybird-UK

Check Virgin call costs, very very expensive compared to BT unless you go for an unlimited package

pslewis

Virgin Media seem a bit unfair with a £36 connection fee!

PlusNet ... I'll have a look.

TalkTalk are, so I can gather, utter crap.

Been looking at BE too ... they come high up in the satisfaction stakes.

dpb

Expected better frankly, he's been away for weeks

pslewis

I see that BT are offering line rental for an upfront charge of £120 .... £10 a month.

I would love to leave BT completely ..... but, it seems the MAC only applies if you want to move Broadband - to move phone aswell could prove problematic - so Whuch? say.

David Lock

Plusnet seem fine to me. And someone sensible will answer the phone at 2 in the morning and help.

dl

Ant

He'll be posting in a few days , he got bt to offer it for free

ScoobyWon't

If he's smart he'll use the VM deal at quidco. You can claim the cash back multiple times if you have tv for personal use, put the broadband down as business use etc.

Pjamie

Another vote for Plusnet. Been with them for about 10 years now. Very helpful, super reliable, although I do pay £41.99 per month just for broadband (I should check out if there's any better deals available).

The only thing to be aware of is that Plusnet are now owned by BT who bought them a few years ago. At least they've retained their excellent customer service and not been brought down to BT's level.

albob

tell them you are dead - no disconnection fee then !!

(on a serious note - this is true, my Brother died at the beginning of December, I informed Bt by letter, a week later the phone had been disconnected..)

Not much help tho' seeing as u are alive

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

Don't go with TalkTalk/AOL. We were with them for a few years (god knows why) and we had nowt but bother. The only time we didn't seem to have problems was for a short time after upgrading, we should have switched much sooner.

Anyhow, we have now, to Sky as we already had the TV so seemed to make sense, especially considering their phone/BB worked out way cheaper than what we had been paying TT and AOL. We basically phoned Sky up to find out exactly what we needed to do and it was plain sailing surprisingly. We had to give 30 days notice to AOL, and get a mac code and Sky sorted out the rest pretty much. On our switch, we ended up changing to a Sky line apparently, although I wasn't all that clear on that side of things. We are now paying £10 BB and about £11 line rental (although BB is now £7.50 which I need to sort out, this is for the max BB, you can get limited BB free).

There are quite a few packages about so it's best to check the website/call them to find out what suits you best if you consider them. Personally, touch wood, we've had no problems so far.

EOEUMC

iTrader: (5)

Where with o2 here. That's 4 mobiles, the landline and broadband.
Price wise is ok and customer service from o2 is always good
You pay o2 for the line rental and not BT.

If you have an o2 contract mobile then its cheaper for you to get both landline and broadband.

If your contract is up then why would you have to pay cancellation? If I read it wrong, sorry

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

£7.50 a month with Orange as wife is a customer and gets a Police discount.
Line rental is £12 I think.

No setup up cost either.

pslewis

Well ... BT say this:-

Broadband Cease Charge

What is the Broadband Cease Charge?

The Broadband Cease Charge is a charge raised in certain circumstances to cover the additional cost to BT of the work required within an exchange to recover equipment and amend records when a Broadband line is ceased.

When will the charge be raised?

This charge will be raised should you :-

1.Switch to another Broadband provider without following the standard Migration Authorisation Code (MAC) process.

2.Switch to another Broadband provider without following another recognised transfer process, when it applies.

3.Switch to a Cable provider.

4.Cease your BB and move outside of the UK.

When won't the charge be raised?

This charge will not be raised should you :-

1.Move home and you re-connect to BT Total Broadband via the homemover process.

2.Move home and we are unable to provide the service at your new address.

3.You are ceasing service due to bereavement or severe illness.

How much will I be charged?

Charge will be £30 (prices incl. VAT).

Why is the charge increasing?

The charge has increased as the actual cost to BT of the work required within an exchange to recover equipment and amend records has increased.

What is the MAC transfer process?

MAC stands for "Migration Authorisation Code".
This code of practice allows customers to move between Broadband providers without loss of service.
To follow the MAC process a customer must contact their current Broadband provider to request a MAC Code.
This MAC code must then be given to the receiving Broadband provider to enable them to migrate the broadband service.

See your full Broadband Terms and Conditions

Now, if I am paying, can I request an itemised bill to account for this £30 charge?

I'm sure that they simply push a button!

I'm FUMING .... and when I get mad I get even - small claims court for an unreasonable charge?

what would scooby do

You won't get charged if you request the MAC and migrate to another ISP. Simples

p.s. go to plusnet for both phone and internet - FTW

ReallyReallyGoodMeat

I've been with BE for a few years, and no qualms here - the modem I got from them is a bit cheap but that was a few years ago.

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

Pete this is a total wind up and we all know it.

You have just answered your own question.

ScoobyWon't

Order online and this fee is waived.

pslewis

Thanks for the help ....

I'm getting myself confused over all this ... reading comments on some Forums, BT charges this £30 EVEN IF you use a MAC.

It's not straightforward is it!?

BT offers £120 a year for line rental if paid up front .... if you go paperless billing.

I may move my BB and keep my line with BT ....

So, can I confirm with everyone that - moving using a MAC should NOT trigger the £30 ceaseation fee (they used to call it a cancellation fee .. but have re-named it)!

grovesy

I'm with sky, if you want to go with sky they do all the work for you and that £30 charge sounds bollox. I'm sure Sky would do you a deal on that 30 quid if you tell them.

Only issue with sky are the routers, they are a bit flakey and customer support is terrible.

On the plus side i have talked them into a deal for the nest 12months I pay 10 quid a month for line rental, broad band and unlimited calls.

markjmd

iTrader: (11)

Moving using a MAC rules out the technical justification for a fee (in that it's the method that requires the minimum amount of hands-on input by an engineer), but the rest ultimately comes down to your contract. Until this thread, I hadn't heard of any ISPs charging fees for moving to another provider after the initial 12 or 18 months is up, at least not in recent history, but that doesn't guarantee BT haven't written it into their T&Cs.

ScoobyWon't

BT don't charge if you're moving house. My old neighbour had the same problem with BT charging the £30 fee, even though they couldn't and hadn't been providing the service they had been billing him for. He didn't get it waived after going to the local press.

I think is just BT's attempt to retain customers.