Can you explain in layman's terms?

I want to read the legals that say cannot make it so.

What date did you ask for MAC?
What date did the migration happen?
What date did you inform BT you wish to stop the contract with them for broadband?

I have tried to remember everything and now it actually became much clearer for the most part.

Notice of leaving: 4th January
MAC request: 4th January
Migration happened: 21st January
Informed BT of the migration success: 24th January

I had also given notice of leaving before the 4th of January but I don't remember if it was just the day before so the 3rd of January. It could have been the 2nd of January but I don't think it matters exactly. Anyway, on that day, I called BT cancellations and was offered a cheaper broadband package but I declined the offer and informed the BT cancellations lady I would be leaving. I asked if I was in contract or anything such existed that would prevent me from leaving without penalty. I was told I was long outside my contract period and that I was free to leave.

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

No, my link is to the General Conditions which covers everything. Special conditions for phone are under Telephony.

Unless conditions explicitly state MAC request = notice then you cannnot make it so. After all as I said you may actually want to retain the service when you have MAC if you later do not use it.

In future a customer could be confused by what XRaySpecsX wrote as I now believe what he said above is wrong.

Here is a quote from the Ofcom document I found:

Issue of MAC represents acknowledgement and agreement by LSP that its customer may be migrated to another broadband service provider

Is this suggesting that when a broadband supplier issues a MAC they are effectively accepting and agreeing to the customer's notice of leaving? I think it could be!

I searched for legals to back up XRaySpecsX claim. I searched and searched and searched without success. This legal information would be relatively easy to find if it were true.

The Ofcom document clearly states my broadband supplier is acknowledging and agreeing that I may be leaving which to any layman will be interpreted as acknowledging and accepting my notice of leaving.

I also found out that requesting a MAC or simply giving notice of leaving isn't an instruction to terminate the service because Ofcom specifically state that it cannot be treated as such unless the customer wishes it to be a termination.

I could have called BT cancellations about my broadband once a week saying I am giving notice of leaving and still remain a broadband customer for as long as I want because BT are unable to act on that notice unless I tell them to do so. I could also have called BT cancellations once a month requesting a MAC however I remember reading something about BT could charge if I asked too many times so obviously don't do this as you might end up with a bigger bill than expected. I can't find what I read (I should bookmark more!) so I'm not sure of the details of the charge.

I checked BT's help website for advice on the steps required to switch to another broadband supplier. I actually found very little. There is no mention of notice and there is no mention of having to provide 14 or in some cases 30 days notice.

Here is what it says on the BT help website:

Moving to another service provider from BT
If you need to ask for a MAC from BT, the quickest way is to contact us on 0800 328 6738. Or you can submit your request online and we'll respond within five working days.
You'll have to pay any outstanding charges if you switch to another provider within your initial contract period.

Once a MAC has been issued to you and you've given it to the new provider, migration to your new provider should take place within five working days of the new order being placed.

If we can't issue a MAC for one of the reasons above, you can still stop your broadband service by calling us on 0800 800 030 before moving to another supplier. However, you will get a break in service.

There is a little more information about why issuing a MAC might not be possible but the above pretty much says it all.

Migration looks like a relatively painless process and I believe Ofcom worked on making it relatively painless yet here I am two months later! BT have repeatedly taken extra money from my account without authorisation to do so. The first time I saw it as a mistake because of the way the billing cycle works. I was promised it would be resolved for the next bill but it wasn't and now another bill and it still isn't resolved. Why? I have an idea and I will say leaving is not a relatively painless process and talking to BT cancellations can be anything but a painless process.

The BT cancellations people give the impression that they are well trained but in my eyes something is very wrong. It's like a cancer is growing inside the company in relation to outgoing customers. It's almost like they are learning to despise their outgoing customers especially those customers who move to Virgin cable without the protection of Ofcom and the MAC process.

The BT cancellations guy treated me horribly when he erroneously assumed I had switched to Virgin cable. He worked very hard to make it as painful as possible and he was persistently disrespectful until he realised his mistake. He made it perfectly clear that the Ofcom MAC process doesn't protect customers who are switching to Virgin cable. I wasn't that clued up about it all during that phone call but I am now.

One of BT's legal terms creates the 14 days notice period and it is applicable to my BT broadband service if I am interpreting the legals correctly but it shouldn't be applicable for various reasons. Of course the 14 days notice period doesn't apply to customers moving to Virgin cable. They must make do with 30 days notice. Why? Because those customers aren't protected by the Ofcom MAC process.

Here is BT's legal term:

Once we have provided the service, you may tell us to stop providing it at any time by giving us 30 days' notice. We will accept notice via a range of methods including phone, e-mail, online chat and in writing. You can contact us to give notice using any of the contact details set out on your last BT bill or any other means of contact we have given you, for that purpose. If you are switching to another provider through an approved process, the notice you must give us will be 14 days. We can stop providing the service to you by giving you 28 days' written notice.

Of course, it doesn't specifically say that when moving to Virgin cable you have to make do with the 30 days notice period however that is exactly why the term is worded as such.

When the BT cancellations guy erroneously assumed I had switched to Virgin cable he was happily treating me with disdain as a result of this term. He was doing his job and he told me on many occasions he prided himself on doing the job right.

He was making a mistake but regardless of my pleas for him to see sense he decided he was right and persisted in treating me with disdain. Once he realised his mistake he was quick to apologise but it still pains me to think he is working on the premise that it is perfectly acceptable to keep customers on the phone for an hour because he knows they are not protected under Ofcom's MAC process. I don't blame the guy for how he acted because it is obvious he has been instructed to behave that way. Someone high up in BT really doesn't agree with customers moving to Virgin cable that is for sure.

It's very easy for the layman to misinterpret legals like I did when I believed the standard terms notice period was connected only to the telephone line. It says about the telephone line notice on BT's help website but it doesn't for the broadband migration.

I actually tried to keep this short at first but now I have written much more than I originally intended. As I was writing I felt it was important to include more of my dealings with BT cancellations.

Saying you want to leave is a common tactic for people looking for a retention deal, so did you actually confirm on the 4th Jan that you were giving notice?

Worst case they could charge you the notice period starting 24 th Jan, best case it will run from 4th Jan. Without any written confirmation or email it is your word versus theirs.

The free to leave still means you have to stay for the notice period or at least pay for the part you did not use.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

Saying you want to leave is a common tactic for people looking for a retention deal, so did you actually confirm on the 4th Jan that you were giving notice?

Worst case they could charge you the notice period starting 24 th Jan, best case it will run from 4th Jan. Without any written confirmation or email it is your word versus theirs.

The free to leave still means you have to stay for the notice period or at least pay for the part you did not use.

I didn't know I needed to give 14 days notice. According to Ofcom the requirement of giving notice is supposed to be very clear but in my opinion BT haven't made it very clear except when you are skilled at reading legal documents which obviously I am not because I made the mistake of interpreting the notice period term incorrectly.

When I called about leaving I didn't make a point of remembering exactly the conversation because I didn't know it was necessary. I did my research regarding leaving and I believed I was acting appropriately by simply using the MAC process.

Now I understand more about it all and when I look back at how it all transpired it's fortunate that I did actually provide notice of leaving on multiple occasions regardless that I did not know it might be necessary to do so. Should BT review the calls I made to them they would come to the conclusion very quickly that I told them I was leaving. There was never an intention to deceive on my part. I wasn't looking to deceive them to get a better deal.

It doesn't matter about what XRaySpecsX said now anyway because it is obvious he got it wrong. BT took notice of my leaving when they issued the MAC so simply following the MAC process is enough to satisfy the notice of leaving term in the BT legals.

There is still a potential issue when the migration completes before the 14 days notice period has expired. If BT legals are to be followed directly it means the customer will be required to pay for both services until the 14 days expires. However Ofcom are very clear on that too when they say charging up to the date the service ceases is acceptable. It would be a reasonable argument that BT must not try to enforce the remainder of the 14 days notice since they are no longer providing service.

BT might want to clarify it for it to be more easily understood but I doubt they care about that.

Also I just noticed you appear to be suggesting that following BT legals must be the only course of action.

BT legals aren't the law.The legals are to be applied in accordance with the law.

It's is illegal for BT to include a term that is unfair for a consumer.

Asking for payment for a service that is no longer being provided is most certainly not a fair term.

Why would anyone say that after my service has ceased I must continue to pay for it because a term in BT's legals says I must do so?

>Is this suggesting that when a broadband supplier issues a MAC they are effectively accepting and agreeing to the customer's notice of leaving? I think it could be!

No it is not saying that, it is saying the ISP is agreeing the user may move, there is no pre-requisite that you MUST move after acquiring a MAC.

If you have made it through life with various monthly services and never come across a product without a notice period then you have done very well.

You agree to the Terms and Conditions when you sign-up, you are expected to be offered a summary and the chance to read them in full detail, and I for one always check what the exit clauses are like.

If you dispute the charges which appears to be the case, get the advice of a legal representative or Citizens Advice people. They seem pretty clear to me "If you are switching to another provider through an approved process, the notice you must give us will be 14 days." So if I migrate and start on another provider within 7 days of giving notice I will pay for the next 7 days of my notice period.

It is possible you may not have communicated your formal giving of notice clearly, as you have tied a few knots in your posts here.