23rd February 2010
BT has been accused of "pulling a fast one" over customers after
an investigation found it was failing to adhere to distance selling
regulations.
A study by consumer group Which? claims the company does not
provide "sufficient cancellation rights" when existing customers
sign up to renewable contracts over the phone.
They found that these customers were not supplied with details
of their cancellation rights until it was too late for them to
cancel without incurring a penalty.
This, the group said, was unlawful as it is in breach of the
distance selling regulations which require companies to inform the
customer of their cancellation rights, and provide them with a
seven-day cooling-off period, when selling goods or services by
phone or online.
In their investigation, Which? called BT 10 times posing as
prospective customers. Just one sales rep told the "customer" of
early cancellation charges while three failed to mention that the
contract was renewable - meaning that it is automatically renewed
for the same period - usually 12 months - unless the customer
cancels it in advance.
Peter Vicary-Smith, chief executive of Which? said:"Many phone
companies aren't doing enough to make the cost of getting out of
contracts clear upfront and some charge exorbitant cancellation
fees."
"We think BT is pulling a fast one by not ensuring some
customers get written notice of a cooling-off period and we are
encouraging it to formally add appropriate cancellation rights to
its contracts as soon as possible."
The telecoms giant has since agreed to introduce an "early
termination right" for customers providing them with a "statutory
cancellation period", within which they can cancel their contracts
without incurring charges.
BT spokesman Michael Jarvis said: "BT complies as far as
possible with the UK regulations that implement the EU Distance
Selling Directive but in order to provide service to customers as
quickly as possible - as they expect of us - it is not possible to
give written notification of the information required by the UK
regulations before the service starts.
"We make this clear to customers before they complete their
order with us and ensure that they accept this before
proceeding."
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