Switching providers is GPL , gaining provider led , in other words the new company starts the migration of the ‘line’ , without any reference to the old company , the only notification the customer gets from their current provider is this ‘sorry to see you leave ‘ letter/ email .
This process is open to ‘slamming’ where an unscrupulous company simply starts the migration to get a new customer regardless of the customer actually agreeing to it , so for example, customer calls to enquire with new ISP , or the ISP cold calls someone, an they are offered a deal , customer says ‘let me think about it for a few days ‘ but the ISP submits the migration anyway , or it could be an error like a unrelated random customer gives their new ISP the wrong address for service , or the ISP by mistake selects the wrong address , and starts the migration of the someone else’s line , or could even someone with a malicious intent, making the problem deliberately , by claiming to be someone they are not .
This is the way the regulator Ofcom has designed this GPL process , not BT , there is no check or confirmation with the old provider before the migration instruction is acted on , the automatically raised ‘sorry to see you go’ letter/ email to the customer may be the only way they know something is happening.
Obviously, in genuine wanted migration cases this is fine , it’s when a migration to a new provider was never asked for , or is unwanted , GPL is a problem , if that ‘sorry to see you go’ email or letter isn’t responded to within the stated timeframe, then the migration takes place and is a nightmare to reverse after the migration is completed
