SSE Broadband Switchover Bill

Request for advice for folk more experienced in the ways of ISPs...

Recently switched broadband from SSE ADSL to Vodafone Fibre when my SSE contract was due to expire.

14 Dec - was due to switch, but because of problems with Openreach fibre it didn't go thru until
6 Jan - at which point my SSE stopped working, and I hooked up the Voda router and connected at fibre speed
19 Jan - Received £53 bill from SSE - compared to usual £18 (since by this time out of contract) - up till 18 Jan
.............emailed SSE for an explanation Jan 19 and again Jan 27 - autoresponses but no replies to either email
26 Jan - Discovered while trying to set up a static IP that my Vodafone order "hadn't fully gone thru yet"
.............( despite the fact I'd now been using their router and fibre-speed service for 3 weeks )
29 Jan - Received "now you're connected" type email from Vodafone

My question is - should I cancel my SSE direct debit before the bill gets taken?

I'm expecting the £53 SSE direct debit to be taken around 2nd / 3rd Feb, and would not be at all surprised to receive a further bill at the same crazy rate to cover the period till the 29th

Am I better sorting this out from a position of cancelled direct debit, and them pursuing me for the amount, or would this likely cause me further problems?

Edited by deleted (Fri 29-Jan-21 15:07:01)

It's never easy to sort out this kind of thing, but the general experience on these forums of cancelling direct authorisations makes things far worse.

The reason for that is most providers provide any refunds due or agreed via that system. If you've cancelled the d/d then they can't, and the raising of manual credit payments by cheque or bank transfer seems to be more difficult than the Brexit negotiations.

In short - don't cancel!

Great - that's what I needed to know. Thank you!

I tried asking the Vodafone guy who just sorted my IP to explain what the situation was (i.e. how I could have been using their service three weeks if my order "hadn't fully gone thru") but he basically said I'd need to sort it out with SSE myself, and they'd be able to see the situation from their end...

In reply to a post by gordon_k:

I tried asking the Vodafone guy who just sorted my IP to explain what the situation was (i.e. how I could have been using their service three weeks if my order "hadn't fully gone thru") but he basically said I'd need to sort it out with SSE myself, and they'd be able to see the situation from their end...

Quite possibly as SSE use Vodafone so even though it went from ADSL to VDSL, you're still within the same routed network, just likely a change of login details.

Had this gone between two unconnected networks, you would have probably still been with the old provider until that welcome email and not been able to connect to them before then. Or potentially a loss of both.

Matt

You might find that part of your bill is a cease fee passed on from OR. I was charged £32 in May when I did the same as you have done - ADSL to Fibre with a new provider.

In reply to a post by jaba:

You might find that part of your bill is a cease fee passed on from OR. I was charged £32 in May when I did the same as you have done - ADSL to Fibre with a new provider.

I was also thinking it could be a cease charge.

I don't think these are passed on by OpenReach though, but by the backhaul provider.

I'd also caution against cancelling the direct debit

In reply to a post by uno:

Quite possibly as SSE use Vodafone so even though it went from ADSL to VDSL, you're still within the same routed network, just likely a change of login details.

Had this gone between two unconnected networks, you would have probably still been with the old provider until that welcome email and not been able to connect to them before then. Or potentially a loss of both.

Ah I didn't realise that - but it did strike me that throughout the various glitches and hitches I never seemed to lose my connection.

Hopefully should make the whole thing easier to resolve.

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

In reply to a post by jaba:

You might find that part of your bill is a cease fee passed on from OR. I was charged £32 in May when I did the same as you have done - ADSL to Fibre with a new provider.

I was also thinking it could be a cease charge.

I don't think these are passed on by OpenReach though, but by the backhaul provider.

I'd also caution against cancelling the direct debit

There wasn't any cease fee mentioned, just a day-by-day bill for the service - as far as SSE were concerned, I hadn't migrated yet.

They had told me something like, "Your cost of your unlimited broadband will be £24 a month when your contract expires" - which I thought was fine for a couple of weeks, since I'd been paying £18 under contract. But when the bill arrived, it became apparent that this new price didn't include line rental, being charged at around £20 a month!

The cease fee could be coming though.

Edited by deleted (Sat 30-Jan-21 12:40:19)

I was charged a cease fee when I switched from ADSL to FTTC with another provider, back in July. I challenged it, and it was instantly refunded - I had been charged "in error".

So, if it does come, and it's just a OR transfer, challenge it!

In reply to a post by sparky_paul:

I was charged a cease fee when I switched from ADSL to FTTC with another provider, back in July. I challenged it, and it was instantly refunded - I had been charged "in error".

Makes you wonder how many other punters were charged "in error" and weren't switched on enough to challenge the charge. Probably a nice little earner.