UK Edition
BT stings broadband customers with £31 'exit fee'
BT charges an “outrageous” disconnection fee if customers don’t immediately take out a new broadband contract when a deal with the provider comes to an end.
Small print on the firm’s website shows that a £31 “broadband cease charge” applies to cover the “additional cost” to BT to “recover equipment and amend records” when a broadband line is no longer needed.
People who switch to a cable provider such as Virgin Media, move abroad or no longer want a broadband service face paying the fee. Moving to another broadband provider that uses Openreach, the BT-owned infrastructure network used by most providers, does not trigger a charge.
A BT spokesman said the charge affected only a “small number” of customers but declined to give the actual figure.
However, the company did confirm that the charge would apply, for instance, if a student left a shared rented house at the end of their course and moved back to their family home.
As their parents are likely already to have a broadband contract of their own, the student would be deemed to have ceased to be broadband customer and be liable for the charge.
This is what happened to Telegraph Money reader Jane Roberts’s 21-year-old daughter. She took out a 12-month broadband contract with BT in July 2016 with her housemates while at university.
Aware of the need to give 30 days’ notice, she phoned to say they would not be renewing the contract when it ends next month. She struggled to find any reference to the £31 charge in the email she was sent when she signed up but BT would not back down.
After this newspaper became involved BT agreed to waive the fee and said the charge itself was under review.
“I think it is outrageous that the charge exists at all,” said Mrs Roberts.
James Daley of Fairer Finance, a consumer rights group, said the charge looked like “drip pricing”, where firms cut headline charges by burying other costs in the small print.
“I struggle to see how BT can justify this charge,” he said. “Ultimately customers have to leave at some point. If there’s a cost it should be included in the headline price.”
BT said the charge was not payable in certain cases, such as when the customer lives in an “exchange area” with no cease charges (you can check this using a tool on its website) or remains a BT broadband customer at a new property.
If BT cannot provide broadband at a new property or if you cancel broadband because of severe illness or a death, the fee also does not apply.
The spokesman said: “The broadband 'cease charge' reflects the work required within an exchange to recover equipment and amend records when a broadband line is ceased. It affects only a small number of people who cease broadband completely or who move off the Openreach network.
“It’s explained clearly on bt.com, with a link from customers’ terms and conditions. We’re currently reviewing it and on this occasion, given the circumstances, we will waive the charge as a goodwill gesture.”