Cancelling service - 32 days notice

[lina2]

My contract is over and I cancelled my service today -- the rep over the phone told me that it would be cancelled on 16 July, but then when I got the confirmation email it said it would be cancelled as of 18 July. I called to get this fixed and the rep told me he had to cancel the cancellation and then re-cancel, but this could take up to 24 hours so I'd end up still paying for 31 days of service. 

Seems really shady on BT/EE's part. 

[iniltous]

A minimum of a months notice (30 days ) to quit is required , this is for straight forward quitting rather than migrating to another company , and  is industry standard practice, if you don’t want to be with a company any longer than the minimum term , you serve your  notice to quit one month from the end of the minimum term , so the last month of the minimum term is also the 30 days (or a month ) notice.

If you called today ,then today doesn’t count (as you are already part of the way through) so the first day of your notice is the 17th of your notice, the last day is 16th July , ( 14 days left in this  month , and the first 16 days in July )  , 14+16=30 , but you pay for the whole day of 16th July .

Until you get your final bill  you don’t know what you will be charged , if it’s an extra day , complain then , presumably the refund will be £1 or £2 you be used assuming you pay  between £30 and £60 per month , but obviously you may not get charged anything past 30 days , what you have been told is a guesstimate , the software will work out the actual amount 

[lina2]

Right, but my email confirmation of the cancellation says 18 July, not 16 July. 

[chrisjp]

With all the things that are certainly wrong with BT's service, a mismatch of 2 days for cancellation seems rather a trivial matter and, as iniltous says, would end up costing you just an extra £1 or £2.

[lina2]

It's a trivial matter, but one that financially benefits BT. If they tack on an extra two days to every cancelled customer's final bill, I suspect it would add up to a non-trivial amount. Further, I don't think it's a surprise that the trivial mistake is one that makes them money rather than losing it. The impossibility of me getting this corrected over the phone -- in a call that took 25 minutes, suggests they have a vested interest in not fixing it, and why would they? 

I lodged a complaint and will escalate it to the ombudsman after six weeks. Making this into a money-losing proposition for BT may motivate them to get it sorted. 

[garybs29]

Question is though why did you not just do a one touch switch? Would have saved you having to call BT anyway

[Manatarms84]

BT will not let something this trivial and easy to sort to get the the ombudsman - when the final bill is issued if you feel it is incorrect then call and make a complaint - they will fix it there and then I would imagine

[iniltous]

As already stated , you have an estimated date and are getting overly agitated about it , when the final bill arrives probably 4 to 6 weeks away , if you are charged ‘rental’ for the 17th July and later , bring it up when you have notification, you get a bill notification in advance, that states  ‘we’ll take this figure on the ****” generally a few days later , giving you time , if necessary to call explaining the notice period started  today the 17th June  , then 30 full days takes the notice period up-to and including the 16th July , but at the moment the bill hasn’t even been produced, let alone been paid .

[lina2]

You're absolutely right when you say "BT will not let something this trivial and easy to sort to get the the ombudsman".

I filed a complaint with BT and they offered me a month of free service and an apology. 

This was much faster than me waiting for the bill, then calling and having another 25 minute chat with an agent who doesn't have the communication skills to explain or understand the situation in a coherent way. 

To anyone else who finds this thread because they have the same problem, just file a complaint via the webform: https://ee.co.uk/help/contact-ee/complaint