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Promises by BT and Ofcom over home line charges are not being met, finds Miles Brignall
BT is continuing to hit renters and people moving home with a £122 phone reconnection charge, despite promises from both the company and communications regulator Ofcom more than 18 months ago that they would look to end this practice.
Back in November 2007, Guardian Money revealed how Ofcom changes to the telecoms market had resulted in BT charging customers a (then) £125 connection fee when they moved into a different property, even though in many cases the previous occupant had been a BT customer.
The charges seemed particularly hard on renters who moved into a property that had been empty for only a few days, or anyone moving into a home in which the previous occupant had switched the line rental from BT.
At the time, both the regulator and BT said they were looking at the issue, but there has been little progress. If any*thing, the problem has worsened, with BT now making all "new" customers sign up to a 12-month contract.
In one recent case, Mike Rusby and his wife Sooshun were without a landline for two and a half months after moving into a rented flat in Leyton, east London, just before Christmas. Although they were already BT customers and there was an existing BT line in their new home, they were forced to pay £122 to end an "unbelievably frustrating" wait to get a landline installed.
"I work as a graphic artist from home and a phone and broadband link is vital," says Rusby. "When we moved in, we were told that the previous tenant had a BT business line. Trying to get them to switch it over to allow us to use it was a nightmare."
He says orders to BT to reconnect the phone were repeatedly cancelled without explanation: "I made around 15 mobile phone calls to them and sent numerous emails. Each time I phoned they said it would be done. When I asked why it hadn't happened, I was told they cancelled the order. In six weeks we put in five orders – each one was cancelled without a reason."
Unable to put up with the situation, Rusby paid the £122 fee and a new landline was installed. "There almost seemed to be a policy of making it as difficult as possible in a bid to get us to cough up the money," he says.
Internet chatrooms are awash with complaints from frustrated home phone users that they have been hit for the reconnection charge. A forum on the moneysavingexpert.com site to discuss the issue now runs to 63 pages.
A west London lettings agent says the issue is a huge problem for his tenants, especially in areas where there is an apparent shortage of phone lines.
"We know of a particular block of flats where a tenant might tell BT he is leaving but, when the next tenants move in, a few days later, BT demands they pay a £122 reconnection charge – even though all the wiring is in place. It's ridiculous," says Lee Silvester, *office manager at Diamond Move.
Kersi Peddar, 78, of West Molesey, Surrey, had his phone line accidentally disconnected while he was away in India. When he queried why his OneTel (now part of Carphone Warehouse) line had been cut, he was given no explanation but he was told he would have to go back to BT and pay £122 to have a line reinstalled.
The problems stem from 2005, when Ofcom insisted that BT create a separate company (Openreach) to manage the engineers who connect homes to the exchange. The idea was to give all the telecoms companies equal access to the exchange network and so stimulate competition – but it hasn't worked.
One unintended consequence of the decision was that it allowed BT to insist on reconnection charges when a customer moves house and the user terminates the contract.
A spokesman for BT says that many of the issues surrounding line connections had been successfully resolved. "Most of our new customers find that they do not need to pay a connection charge for a line, especially if there is a suitable line in their property available for takeover," he says. "In cases where we need to involve an engineer or put in a new line, we do have to charge, which is what happened in the case of Mr Rusby."
BT says it will now refund £122 by way of apology for the time the Rusbys were without a phone line.
Ofcom says it wasn't aware that these fees are still a big problem, and reiterates its view that its changes have helped to stimulate competition in the home phone market.
What are the options
To avoid reconnection fees when moving into a new property, you have to tell the previous occupant not to cancel the service before you arrive.
The TalkTalk call centre advises customers to ask for a name change if they are moving into a property in which it supplies the phone line. If the line is supplied on behalf of other providers – such as Tiscali – you may find you will have to go back to BT and pay the reconnection fee.
In theory, existing BT customers such as the Rusbys shouldn't have to pay the fee, but all too often they do. According to Guardian Money readers, BT's default stance is to charge customers – it is worth sticking to your guns over charges.
If you move into a property in which there is no line, you don't have to sign up with BT, although your options will be limited. The Post Office will install a line anywhere in the UK for £109. TalkTalk will install one where it has "unbundled" your local telephone exchange (limited to 80% of the population) for £44. However, you should be aware that you will have to sign a two-year contract with the company.
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