Anybody heard of these antics from BT?

Xplo · 9 Oct 2018 at 20:04

Automatically signing you into a new 12 month contract on your ‘line rental only’ when you complete an online home move with them.

Apparently the customer retention advisor i spoke to said this was ‘common’ and it’s in their terms, and that i would have been notified of this.

The last bit aggrevated me as I do not recall being advised of this at all when completing the home move online (i am OCD on crossing T’s dotting I’s so can’t beleive i would have missed something like this), and have since re-checked all of my emails from BT from completing the move and there is no mention of this anywhere. Before i go through the tedious task of digging deeper and checking all the fine print and T&C’s which are not immediately forward facing, thought i would see if anybody else has come across this or has been affected by this

I was just coming/about to come out of contract when i completed the home move which is the only reason i can think where this could be justifiable on BT’s part. Still, point stands about not being clearly notified.

TLDR switched to another provider to dodge BT’s out of contract prices and non-competitive renewal offer (of which i was out of contract, and got it double confirmed by an advisor before switching) to then be sent an email by BT afterwards saying if i continue with the switch i owe them £91. Cue a call to an advisor to be told the above

Avalon · 9 Oct 2018 at 21:13

Universal requirement is to be notified at the point of sale that it is a new 12 month contract and receive confirmation of this in the form of either an email or letter. They simply can't tell you afterwards that you are agreeing to a new 12 month contract, however as they recently announced a price rise and notified you of it, you had the right to leave mid contract anyway.

Jokester · 9 Oct 2018 at 21:22

BT contact me every 12months to notify me of a new 12 month contract via email.

Randomface74 · 9 Oct 2018 at 22:02

Yea they are jerks.

Caged · 9 Oct 2018 at 22:56

This is your landline, yes?

http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/8333/~/moving-home-with-bt

What will happen to my phone line contract term if I move?

If you want telephone service at your new address, a new 12-month contract term will always apply for the telephone line.

Avalon · 10 Oct 2018 at 11:53

Surprisingly on a like for like move, Sky don’t insist on a new 12 month contract.

maklabouhlel · 11 Oct 2018 at 22:47

The exact thing happened to me with BT. They didn't tell me I was committed for another 12/12.

Avalon · 12 Oct 2018 at 16:12

maklabouhlel said:
The exact thing happened to me with BT. They didn't tell me I was committed for another 12/12.

From experience, they will have sent you an email, text and possibly even a letter confirming it, as above its on the web site, but they need to tell you at the point of taking out the contract that you will be committing to a new minimum term - they legally can't introduce significant and/or detrimental terms that aren't made clear to you prior to you committing to take service. Mobile phone companies tried this years ago and got lynched by OFCOM at the time and had to agree to waive contracts.