Rolling contracts to end

http://crave.cnet.co.uk/gadgets/ofco...lves-50005164/

About time too.

On Tue, 13 Sep 2011 20:45:12 +0100, just as I was about to take a
herb, John <(E-Mail Removed)> disturbed my reverie and wrote:

>About time too.

Why? Is anybody FORCED to have one?
--

Cheers

DrT
______________________________
We may not be able to prevent the stormy times in
our lives; but we can always choose to dance
in the puddles (Jewish proverb).

On Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:46:56 +0100, DrTeeth <no-(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>On Tue, 13 Sep 2011 20:45:12 +0100, just as I was about to take a
>herb, John <(E-Mail Removed)> disturbed my reverie and wrote:
>
>>About time too.
>
>Why? Is anybody FORCED to have one?

Taking BT as an example. The contract is for 12 months, during which
time you are tied into their service. At the end of the year what
many opeople don't realise is your contract is automatically renewed
for another year, unless you leave BT. So say you want to leave after
15 months you can't without buying yourself out of the remaining
contract. Up until towards the end of last year that equated to your
normal rental charge x remaining months left in your contract. BT and
other providers were forced to reduce this to around £3 a month.

So yes, you were forced to have one or leave BT at the end of your
contract.

Blatant rip off and one I am glad to see the back of.

On Tue, 13 Sep 2011 22:00:41 +0100, John wrote:

> On Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:46:56 +0100, DrTeeth <no-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>On Tue, 13 Sep 2011 20:45:12 +0100, just as I was about to take a herb,
>>John <(E-Mail Removed)> disturbed my reverie and wrote:
>>
>>>About time too.
>>
>>Why? Is anybody FORCED to have one?
>
> Taking BT as an example. The contract is for 12 months, during which
> time you are tied into their service. At the end of the year what many
> opeople don't realise is your contract is automatically renewed for
> another year, unless you leave BT. So say you want to leave after 15
> months you can't without buying yourself out of the remaining contract.
> Up until towards the end of last year that equated to your normal rental
> charge x remaining months left in your contract. BT and other providers
> were forced to reduce this to around £3 a month.
>
> So yes, you were forced to have one or leave BT at the end of your
> contract.

Not all BT contracts work like that. Many are minimum initial term of 12
months, then no notice at all. I just terminated one like that, and the
one I still have is the same. Yes, you can get a discount or whatever if
you have a rolling contract, but you are not forced to as far as I know.

I still think banning them is a good idea...



--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org

*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor

On Tue, 13 Sep 2011 22:00:41 +0100, just as I was about to take a
herb, John <(E-Mail Removed)> disturbed my reverie and wrote:

> At the end of the year what
>many opeople don't realise is your contract is automatically renewed
>for another year, unless you leave BT.

A letter is sent out a few weeks before each year is up. I have two
annual rolling contacts with BT. I was fully aware of the facts before
I opted for them and BT could not have made things more clear to me.
If I could get the same benefits without an annual rolling contract,
I'd take it. I don't know what tricks other telcos may employ, but BT
can hold their head up high on this issue.

What really grinds my gears with BT is the stupid 1 hour limit on
calls before the call is charged - and that is the whole call and not
just for the time after the first hour.
--

Cheers

DrT
______________________________
We may not be able to prevent the stormy times in
our lives; but we can always choose to dance
in the puddles (Jewish proverb).

On 14/09/2011 00:31, DrTeeth wrote:
> On Tue, 13 Sep 2011 22:00:41 +0100, just as I was about to take a
> herb, John<(E-Mail Removed)> disturbed my reverie and wrote:
>
>> At the end of the year what
>> many opeople don't realise is your contract is automatically renewed
>> for another year, unless you leave BT.
>
> A letter is sent out a few weeks before each year is up. I have two
> annual rolling contacts with BT. I was fully aware of the facts before
> I opted for them and BT could not have made things more clear to me.
> If I could get the same benefits without an annual rolling contract,
> I'd take it. I don't know what tricks other telcos may employ, but BT
> can hold their head up high on this issue.
>
> What really grinds my gears with BT is the stupid 1 hour limit on
> calls before the call is charged - and that is the whole call and not
> just for the time after the first hour.

I think it's great they're being banned!

When I was asked to move to one when they discontinued the old option
1/2/3 packages, I realised this was a bit of a con and was depending on
people not realising the packages rolled-over for an extra 12 months.
It's a con because you effectively only have one month in the year where
you can move...

I moved to plusnet, which has better customer service, cheaper packages
and no tie-ins.

Why people stick with BT, I don't know.

On 13/09/2011 20:45, John wrote:
> http://crave.cnet.co.uk/gadgets/ofco...lves-50005164/
>
> About time too.

I think the important thing is to inform the customer, not just roll
over and lock in for another repeat period with exit penalties. Some
people may quite like the convenience and terms of being rolled over for
another year if the price is right. The important thing is being
updated, the choice, and the price.

A one-year rolling lock-in may be beneficial if the price monthly price
would have gone up (as most utilities seem to at the moment) half-way
through the subsequent year.

Contrast this with some savings accounts where savers are locked in for
an initial fixed term, then as soon as the term ends, they are sneakily
dropped into an account paying peanuts.

The cookie crumbles both ways: caveat emptor.

chris wrote:

> I think it's great they're being banned!
>
> When I was asked to move to one when they discontinued the old option
> 1/2/3 packages, I realised this was a bit of a con and was depending on
> people not realising the packages rolled-over for an extra 12 months.
> It's a con because you effectively only have one month in the year where
> you can move...

I'm with DrTeeth on this one, I have *no* intention of moving my line
away from BT, so I might as well squeeze extra free services out of them
for my loyalty, I signed up in full knowledge it would self-renew, they
did indeed send a reminder, now renewing the package will be another
thing I have to do once a year ... thanks to dumb people not reading T&C's.

On Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:31:26 +0100, DrTeeth <no-(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>On Tue, 13 Sep 2011 22:00:41 +0100, just as I was about to take a
>herb, John <(E-Mail Removed)> disturbed my reverie and wrote:
>
>> At the end of the year what
>>many opeople don't realise is your contract is automatically renewed
>>for another year, unless you leave BT.
>
>A letter is sent out a few weeks before each year is up. I have two
>annual rolling contacts with BT. I was fully aware of the facts before
>I opted for them and BT could not have made things more clear to me.
>If I could get the same benefits without an annual rolling contract,
>I'd take it. I don't know what tricks other telcos may employ, but BT
>can hold their head up high on this issue.

Indeed so, BT get an A plus on this.

--
brightside S9

On Wed, 14 Sep 2011 08:55:07 +0100, chris <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On 14/09/2011 00:31, DrTeeth wrote:
>> On Tue, 13 Sep 2011 22:00:41 +0100, just as I was about to take a
>> herb, John<(E-Mail Removed)> disturbed my reverie and wrote:
>>
>>> At the end of the year what
>>> many opeople don't realise is your contract is automatically renewed
>>> for another year, unless you leave BT.
>>
>> A letter is sent out a few weeks before each year is up. I have two
>> annual rolling contacts with BT. I was fully aware of the facts before
>> I opted for them and BT could not have made things more clear to me.
>> If I could get the same benefits without an annual rolling contract,
>> I'd take it. I don't know what tricks other telcos may employ, but BT
>> can hold their head up high on this issue.
>>
>> What really grinds my gears with BT is the stupid 1 hour limit on
>> calls before the call is charged - and that is the whole call and not
>> just for the time after the first hour.
>
>I think it's great they're being banned!
>
>When I was asked to move to one when they discontinued the old option
>1/2/3 packages, I realised this was a bit of a con and was depending on
>people not realising the packages rolled-over for an extra 12 months.
>It's a con because you effectively only have one month in the year where
>you can move...
>
>I moved to plusnet, which has better customer service, cheaper packages
>and no tie-ins.
>
>Why people stick with BT, I don't know.

You have - BT own Plusnet :-)
--
Cheers

Peter

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