Leaving EE TV, what do I need to do?

[ptrduffy]

My EE TV contract expires at the end of this week.  I've decided that it's not worth renewing it  - we never watch anything on Sky/Now/Discovery, and the recent changes to IP mode recording and playback remove the only real benefit.

I have a few questions which I'm sure others here will be able to help with

1. What happens if I don't cancel - will it switch to a monthly rolling contract?  (I need to get my aerial sorted, and that might not happen by Friday)
2. My Netflix is currently bundled through EE TV, and is on a different renewal schedule (it renewed for a month yesterday).  How do I go about taking this back to a direct subscription?  And if I do so before the next monthly renewal, will I just get a pro-rata refund on my next BT bill?
3. If I don't return the TV Box Pro, I understand that's a £140 charge with the possibility that it stops working at some point in the future - but other than that it shold continue to function as a Freeview PVR (limited to aerial mode), correct?

Many thanks in advance.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

@ptrduffy 

As far as I understand it:

1. Yes and the price will likely increase if you had in contract discounts. You will have to call BT at some point to cancel.

2. You will need to cancel it with BT then add direct payment details with Netflix once the period you paid for has lapsed. You should be able to cancel in MyBT but nothing much works in there right now, so again, you might need to call.

3. Yes, but I would recommend investing instead in a Manhattan T4-R if you are going to have a working aerial. £200 gets you the same size hard drive, fresh 2 year warranty and a proper Freeview Play certified device.

[edbostan]

My contract expires at year end and I am doing the same. Don't forget you pay for a month in advance. I am on the Entertainment package and it includes Netflix, Discovery + and Now as part of the subscription. As to whether I need another box is up for debate as so much is on catch-up and on-demand I hardly record these days.

[ney]

I left BT TV as it was called back then just under 2 years ago when my contract only had a few days 

In my case I never had to send my Youview box back as I had it since 2019 but the pro box that they now used and that you have has to be returned to EE.
Channels will stay on for a week or so on the package that your on before they turn them off. At lest they did for me and you got 60 days to return your stuff back to them. You can transfer your Netflix account back to paying Netflix direct if you want. When I had BT TV Netflix was an added extra and I was already paying Netflix direct. So never had Netflix as part of a TV package.

In my case I did move to paying Now direct with discounts. After I cancelled the TV.

Also been using HD Firesticks connected to my two TVs for all my apps for a good few years now.

I also still occasionally record TV but not as much as I used to.

I have since fully left BT and I now with another internet  provider.

[ptrduffy]

Thanks all for the detailed replies.

@Anonymousthe Manhattan T4-R looks good (bar some reports on other forums about poor SD quality), but I like the fact that the BT box uses a Bluetooth remote as it means I can have the box hidden away - I will likely either keep that box or source another.

[Midnight_Voice]

@ptrduffy 

Be aware that what BT will charge you is a ‘Non-return fee’;  you still don’t own the box, and you never will.

But I think you have two years in which to send it back, and get your non-return fee returned, unless EE TV have changed their T&Cs about this lately.

I daresay that a lot can happen in two years; will Now be so attractive when Sky lose HBO, will the inexorable march of on demand finally render recording pointless, or what?

By the way, no doubt you know, but any recordings you have made from the EE TV internet channels will no longer play once you’ve left, as well as those channels no longer being available to watch or record going forward.

I think the box will keep working, in that EE TV won’t spike it remotely. But watch the business news for EE TV putting a shot across CeX’s bows for selling Pro boxes; that would be a bellwether.

[GarethPrice]

@Midnight_Voice 

There’s an interesting article on CordBusters re the Sky/HBO relationship going forward

Sky-wont-lose-hbo-hint-max-deal/ 

[zulu17]

@Midnight_Voice 

The wording  used I believe is/was

“Payment of the non-return equipment charge does not transfer ownership, you must still return the loaned equipment. If the loaned equipment is returned within two years of the non-return equipment charge being levied, we will credit your account (or provide a refund at our absolute discretion) an amount corresponding to the condition of the loaned equipment allowing for reasonable wear and tear”

so the amount may not be the full non-return  equipment charge.

[Midnight_Voice]

@GarethPrice 

Oh, Sky will still carry it; but HBO content is probably the tentpole attraction of Now Entertainment, and Now Entertainment is in turn the tentpole attraction of EE TV, at least for the sport-blind like me, and I can’t see Sky striving to keep HBO content on Now, once there is a Max app out there.

In better news, it looks like the most-missed service on IP TV may be coming….

https://www.cordbusters.co.uk/talking-pictures-tv-plans-streaming-expansion/

[GarethPrice]

@Midnight_Voice 

Couldn’t agree more about HBO being a major part of the attraction of Now/EETV along with many of the recent Sky funded drama series, plus comedies such as Veep  and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Talking Pictures would be the icing on the cake as totally reliant on IP for the present time, also given they are about to start showing the very first series of Z-Cars, most of whose outside scenes were filmed around West London, where I spent my childhood, and was in the background as an 11 year old in one episode in series two, and our house was featured in another episode (we had the actor John Barrie in our front room peeking through the curtains at Frank Windsor (John Watt) coming down the road). Sports wise the only attraction for me is the motorsport element (F1, Indycar, British GT, WEC)