Difficulty of leaving BT!

[Wilcheng]

Hi all,

Why is it so difficult to leave BT?! I put an order to Sky on 29/1/2024 and Sky helped me to contact BT about my leaving.  Received email from BT on the same day indicating they have received the cancellation and will be disconnected all my services.

Sky switch over occurred successful yesterday.  Give the difficulty people reporting in here and elsewhere, I contacted BT yesterday.  The guy said the disconnection has not been completed but everything should be disconnected by midnight. At the same time, I received an email saying I will be charged for my March 2024 bill!

Called BT again today.  Now the guy said there has been an error of the cancellation (despite everything has now switched over), and they now need to put a new request of cancellation of all my services (broadband, landline and tv)!!!  The guy asked me to call back in an hour times to ensure the cancellation happens.  Seriously, I need to call back to ensure your cancellation will happen?!

I will not trust any BT's email communication again as it means nothing! Also, I will not trust the BT customer service as people don't know what they are talking about.  Therefore, please triple check with BT if you have put in a request of cancellation and good luck!

If any BT staff read this, please response and ensure my cancellation happens.  Otherwise, I may have to start a complaint.

[iniltous]

What exact is the problem ? , you contact Sky , they order service, you get the ‘sorry to see you go’ from BT and the takeover takes place , that’s exactly what should happen ,
You then contact BT , why ? , that’s completely unnecessary, you state you will be billed by  BT for another month , that is completely normal ,  the dates of the billing run ( and the  bill production ) take place , even if you have migrated in the interim , but any days you have paid BT for  that are after the changeover has taken place , are refunded to you by BT .
So , what is your complaint ? , it seems to me that after asking unnecessary questions , were given an answer that you didn’t understand ?

[Wilcheng]

Originally I wasn't planning to contact BT. However, I then received an email from BT saying I need to pay my next monthly bill! Therefore, I contacted BT and BT has admitted that there has been an error of cancellation and they have to start the cancellation process again!
If I don't contact BT, I won't discover the error and I will be billed continuously. Also, BT asked me to contact them again to ensure they have indeed cancelled my services (which they should have done by now)
If I call them again and find out they have not done what they have promised, am I not entitled to complain?
This is the first time I am with (and leave) BT and therefore I put a post to ask for help and to seek clarification from fellow community.

[iniltous]

Did you cancel the direct debit , hence the request to pay your bill ?.
Migration cannot be stopped just because you haven’t paid your bill , but obviously you are required to pay , even if you will ultimately get the majority of that bill payment refunded.
It seems to me , you are probably the architect of your own misfortune by interfering in the migration, but if Sky haven’t contacted you ( saying you need to reorder ) then there is no reason to think your BT account is still active, their takeover generates the cease of the BT service, obviously if you pay what you owe ( even if it’s more than you think you owe ) and don’t get a refund, then you have a valid complaint.

[Wilcheng]

I have not cancelled my direct debit because I trusted BT...
I didn't interfere the migration (or at least I think I didn't). All I did was to ask them why am I receiving a bill and then 'accidentally' discover BT has not terminated my services properly (their words not mine).

[garybs29]

Ignore the previous one it seems like from what you've said there's been an issue with the takeover so BT need to cancel, no idea why people here need to have a go saying you caused the issue

[iniltous]

The cessation of BT and the provision of Sky are intrinsically linked when it comes to a migration , if the BT order were cancelled the Sky order would also be affected, that’s why it’s often the case a new provider will need to reissue orders with failed migrations because the consumer has circumvented the migration process, and by the OP admission, they inappropriately called BT after receiving the ‘sorry to see you go’ communication, the only reason to call after receiving that , is to cancel the other providers order.

I asked a question about cancellation of the DD , obviously if the OP didn’t do that , that’s good , but they did make an unnecessary call , the conversation between the OP and the BT Rep , and what was made of that conversation we can only speculate about .

[chrisjp]

"What exact is the problem ? , you contact Sky , they order service, you get the ‘sorry to see you go’ from BT and the takeover takes place , that’s exactly what should happen"
The problem seems to me to be quite clear - the OP contacted BT because they sent him an email saying he was still on the hook for the March bill, even though he had left BT in February. BT then admitted that the cancellation had not gone through, and he then got conflicting information from the BT agents he spoke with.
There do seem to be a large number of stories appearing in this forum about BT agents not knowing what they are talking about and failures by BT to either provide a service or to cancel one

[garybs29]

I suspect the issues may well actually be on the Sky side as wlt's are all gaining provider led

[Wilcheng]

Is there any BT modulator in here that can help me?  All I want is for all my services to be terminated, have my final bill and leave!