BT charged £163 cancellation fee because of speed upgrade

I joined BT in 2010 and use BT infinite option 2 at the beginning. In March 2013, I got a email from BT that I can get faster speed without extra cost. I thought that is a free upgrade and I did follow the link and upgrade my service. This month, I wanted to switch to talktalk as it is 1/3 cheaper. At the day the service is switched over, I got a email that I will be charged 163 pound cancellation fee. I called BT and was told that because of the speed upgrade, my contract was automatically renewed. I told the customer service that I was not notified there would be a 12 month contract automatic renew. If I know that, I would not do it because for a normal home user, there is no difference for max speed of 35M and 70M (anyway what I can get, according to speed test is max 50M in my area). I do acknowledge that I did not read the whole term and condition listed on BT website (who will !!). However, I did check my on-line account and did not find any information about my contract period before I did the switch over. As I have been with BT for nearly four years, I thought my contract should be ended at the end of the first 12 months. It is not fair to bind the end customer into another contract with something not really useful and without notifying customer clearly.

Please suggest what can I do.

£163 cancellation for a contract that is 12 months long and started in March 2013 sounds odd. What is the break down for the fee?

I have had problems with virgin in the past with issue. Do you still have the Email?.

On Infinity it was probably an 18 month contract (OP never checked the T&Cs and we have only his statement that it would be 12 m). So he's probably being asked for 8-9 months @ about £18-20 pm early termination (hold to term) charges for BB + phone plan.

Edited by XRaySpeX (Wed 22-Jan-14 00:35:44)

I think a few well-know posters here have been on Infinity and upgraded it within the first six months, resulting in their existing 18-month contract being replaced by a 12-month one from the upgrade date.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

upgraded it within the first six months

OP regraded after over 2 years!

My point being the upgrade resulted in a 12-month term, despite the customer having more than 12 months outstanding. That, to me, implies the OP is right in what he says about his contract, seeing as he had nothing outstanding.

Yes, your point is valid. However each contract will be as BT sees fit to offer at the time.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

£163 cancellation for a contract that is 12 months long and started in March 2013 sounds odd. What is the break down for the fee?

The email was received in March but I possible did the upgrade in April. I still need to check with BT when the contract will end as I cannot find any information about it.

In reply to a post by noppix1:

I have had problems with virgin in the past with issue. Do you still have the Email?.

Here is the email from BT. Finally noticed a single sentence about renewing contract. But it does not mention anything how long the contract is, 1month, 2months, etc? When I signed up with BT at the beginning, I clearly saw the duration of the contract. But where is that information when I did the upgrade.

Hello,
We recently sent you a couple of emails, telling you how to get even faster BT Infinity without paying a penny more. It's all thanks to improvements we've made to our network in your neighbourhood.
See how fast you can go
To see just how fast your new BT Infinity can go, try our speed checker.
We can now roughly double your download speed from up to 36Mb to up to 76Mb, and your upload speed from up to 9Mb to up to 19Mb. (Of course, as with all broadband, your speed will depend on your line, location and the time of day.)
Nothing to lose
When you renew your BT Infinity contract, as well as not paying a penny more, you'll keep the calling plan you're on.
Plus, as an Infinity customer, you'll keep getting:
� unlimited broadband¹ usage and wi-fi minutes²
� free protection for up to seven PCs or Macs with BT NetProtect Plus³
� free access to 4.5 million wi-fi hotspots in the UK and 3 million abroad⁴
Sign up now for even faster BT Infinity
Once you've checked your new potential speed, just click on the link below to sign up for a new contract at no extra cost.