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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Miles Brignall

BT is trying to charge me £348 to leave its broadband service

A BT Home Hub 5
BT chased a reader for almost £350 in early termination fees after he left for Sky. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA

Can you please help me as BT is chasing me for £348 in early termination fees despite previously telling me that it would forgo these charges. The broadband service provided to my house had always been poor but after I had open-heart surgery four years ago, I needed a service that worked. After repeated attempts by BT to improve matters, I eventually switched to Sky, which improved matters somewhat.

At the time, BT said I could leave penalty-free, and staff told me to ignore any bills that were sent. However, the company’s most recent letter said it will pass the matter to debt collectors if the bill is not paid with seven days.
AB,
Penzance

It won’t be much consolation to you but I think BT’s customer services are much improved in recent years – most likely due to the decision to bring its call centre operations back to the UK.

After I got on to BT, it quickly resolved the matter. It says: “We’re very sorry for the time it has taken to remove AB’s early termination fees. This was due to human error when processing the final bill and closing the account.”

We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions

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