Bill Terms Unclear...

[OpenReachMonopoly99]

Here we go again, yet more issues from BT

So I switched services because I have had the most abominable experience with BT - I was out of service from the 11th of November until the 27th of November and did not receive any refund or any help on the matter - I later found out, from a text from the National Powergrid, it was because of a fault in their line that affected my neighbourhood despite BT's attempts to gaslight me with engineers that didn't show up and lies to suggest everything was fine.

Anyway, I have now switched but they are continuing to bill me - Alright, I suppose there are cancellation terms or something, but it is SO unclear what those terms are???

How do I find out how much longer I have to pay for?? I found a tiny piece of text after trawling through my account info saying "My contract term has ended" but my bill states "Your next bill will be issued on the 18th of Jan"

So what am I paying for and for how long?? Why isn't there a page that simply displays what you are paying for and when ?

The only information I have to go on is "Your contract period has ended, your next bill is in Jan"

Also it's worth noting the direct debit i originally set up was cancelled - So I had to come and pay manually after I switched services!! Really sneaky - Obviously to catch people unawares that when they switch, DESPITE it saying "You dont have to do anything, BT and your new provider will contact each other", you actually DO have to do something, it's pay your last bill to avoid extra charges !!

So someone help me please - How am I supposed to find out what else I have to pay and how long for because BT's website is unclear on this.

[FIZZYLP]

Hello @OpenReachMonopoly99 I’m sorry to hear about your poor experience with BT.

Your account should be fully terminated, closed with final bill issued along with any refunds owed within 30 days.

when you move companies it creates what’s called an AOT or NOT which simply mean Advise/Notice Of Transfer to another CP (new telecom company) also known as the gaining CP and BT will be classified as the Losing CP.

sometimes the AOT’s or NOT’s get stuck and require a helping hand to be resolved.

Unfortunately you cannot self serve so you’ll need to contact BT, who will terminate the billing account and backdate the billing to the date it should of closed, keeping the direct debt active will allow BT to revise any refunds owed or it’ll be issued as a cheque.

*UPDATE* I’ve reached out and messaged a BT Community Moderator for you to hopefully get it resolved ASAP for you instead of calling BT up yourself, they’ll hopefully reply to your post in due course but it’s New Year’s Day and BT are currently closed not sure if that includes the BT Community Team also.

[imjolly]

@OpenReachMonopoly99 

if you are out of contract and have switched to new provider then you should no be continuing to pay monthly to BT.  did you switch provider by just placing order with new ISP and no need to notify BT?

try contacting billing team and see if they can help get this sorted as mods are really busy especially after holidays so may be a few days before they can look at your case

https://www.bt.com/help/contact-bt/account-and-billing/broadband

[OpenReachMonopoly99]

This is the most concise and straight-forward communication I have ever received. BT TAKE NOTE

Thank you for your reply - Nowhere does it say I have a final bill or I should be not paying anymore - Simply says "Your next bill is due" and "Pay now to avoid penalties"

I appreciate the help on New Years Day - I look forward to hearing from a moderator !

[FIZZYLP]

@OpenReachMonopoly99 you’ll always been given a final bill, this doesn’t mean you are required to pay anything as it will always display all the credit and refunds you are owed, the bill will display as a minus figure this is the amount that is owed to yourself.

sometimes AOT’s get stuck and require human intervention to resolve, so you would be required to contact BT to resolve.

if you place an order with another provider as a working line take over will automatically lose your services with BT and BT will sent comms to say sorry your leaving us, this is because of the AOT.

AOT’s get stuck due to supplier applications, so the BT account will just continue as normal and this won’t flag to BT until picked up by a Human, on this occasion it will require Human Intervention.

because it’s New Year’s Day BT Call Centres are closed so this will need to be actioned tomorrow.

as much as I know it’s frustrating when things like this happen but it’s easily resolved.

[gg30340]

For information the moderators deal with requests for assistance on a first come first served basis and they are presently taking about five working days to deal with any requests so you may well find that you will be dealt with quicker if you call BT Billing on 0330.1234.150

[Paul608085]

@OpenReachMonopoly99 

To clarify, have you moved your service to another ISP using the Openreach network, or someone else - either Virgin Media or one of the companies that use an AltNet FTTP network?

[iniltous]

You haven’t really provided anywhere near enough information to give any particularly useful advice , did you switch providers to another ISP using Openreach and used the correct switching process, which is gaining provider led , so you ask them to take over your service and they do the rest , all you do is pay the final bill or bills to the provider you are leaving …the amount of that will vary , on things like were you inside a minimum term , if so how long was remaining, the date of the billing run may be such that you pay for a full month of service after you have switched and are due a refund for days paid for , but that are after the changeover , obviously if you owe early termination charges the final bill or bills may be ‘complicated’ with credits , debits etc.

If you have switched to a non Openreach based provider ( and there are quite a few , but not all available in any one area ) , then you serve notice yourself , if for some reason either your new provider suggested they would do  this for you , but then didn’t , or told you to do it , but you didn’t then , as far as your old provider is concerned you haven’t quit.

If the notice had been served by the new provider you woukd get a ‘sorry to see you leave’ communication, did you get one of those  ?

[DanielS]

Hi @OpenReachMonopoly99,

Welcome to our Community.

I am sorry that your move elsewhere hasn't closed off your account properly yet.

As others have said, we need to look into this for you, get your services stopped and billing corrected.

I'm going to send you a private message that you can reply back to my team on.

It will take my team approximately 5 working days before we can get back to you but we will own your complaint fully.

Thank you
DanielS