Hi guys,
I can't find anywhere better than here to ask my question.
I have lived in a rented flat since mid September. I'm a student and this is the first flat I have rented (other than university halls). Anyway, me and my flat mate decided we wanted internet in the flat so we ring BT to set up a phone line and within 2 weeks its ready. There's only one phone socket in the flat so we plug in a phone and hear no dial tone. Fair play. We ring BT and tell them and they run some quick checks on our line to find no problems. Next they offer us an engineer to come and check our line; if he/she finds the problem is because of the wiring in our flat, we'll get charged £20 for calling them out and £90 an hour!!! And since they'd already checked the lines from their end, it was a high chance it was from the flat.
Obviously we didn't want to pay that, it's ridiculous. So our next stop was our estate agents. We told them the problem and they said that under contract the phone line is none of their responsibility. Great. So an engineer costs £110 or more (from BT), and my landlord will not fix it.
Being the students we are, we just let it sit. And now, here I am, 6 months down the line and fed up of paying the £11 monthly line rental for fuck all. I haven't made one phone call from the line. I've rang it a few times just to hear the ringing through the ear piece so I know it's still there (and that dial tone brings tears to my eyes since I know that that sound is costing me about £20 a pop). So, lying in bed and realising i had fuck all to do this mornin', I picked up my MOBILE to ring them on their 0800 number just to have the operator tell me that this call isn't free for mobiles. FUCK. So I continue, listening to the operator instructions to ensure that I get the correct person on the other end of the phone the first time round as I've made too many of these phone calls and been redirected enough times to learn.
About 15 - 20 minutes later (reasonable in comparison to other holding times) an indian chap answers the phone. "Hello, is anybody there?", "Hello, I want to cancel my line", "Hello, can you hear me sir?", "Yes, I want to cancel my line", "Hello?, *insert gujarati talk*". Eventually I get through to him. He puts me on hold a couple of times, and eventually tells me I have to speak to somebody else and gives me a number to call - the same number I had just called! I tell him, so he redirects me himself (damn it!). Next guy I speak to is an English bloke. I explain the situation, and he tells me that I have to pay £70 to cancel the contract, or continue paying for the next 6 months and pay £66. Personally, I don't want either. So tell him to leave it and shut the phone. Now I don't know what to do.
Its a bank holiday today, but tomorrow I'm intending to cancel my direct debit to BT, thus terminating the contract under my own terms. I will not be paying the £11 monthly bills. I will not be paying the £70 fine. And I leave the current flat come 1st July. Will there be any consequences? Can they take me to court? And if they can, will they?
Sorry about the long post, but I'm a broke student well into my overdraft and simply can not afford to pay for this shite, what with the drugs n all.
EDIT: Forgot to mention (incase you didn't realise) it's a 12 month contract.
I can't find anywhere better than here to ask my question.
I have lived in a rented flat since mid September. I'm a student and this is the first flat I have rented (other than university halls). Anyway, me and my flat mate decided we wanted internet in the flat so we ring BT to set up a phone line and within 2 weeks its ready. There's only one phone socket in the flat so we plug in a phone and hear no dial tone. Fair play. We ring BT and tell them and they run some quick checks on our line to find no problems. Next they offer us an engineer to come and check our line; if he/she finds the problem is because of the wiring in our flat, we'll get charged £20 for calling them out and £90 an hour!!! And since they'd already checked the lines from their end, it was a high chance it was from the flat.
Obviously we didn't want to pay that, it's ridiculous. So our next stop was our estate agents. We told them the problem and they said that under contract the phone line is none of their responsibility. Great. So an engineer costs £110 or more (from BT), and my landlord will not fix it.
Being the students we are, we just let it sit. And now, here I am, 6 months down the line and fed up of paying the £11 monthly line rental for fuck all. I haven't made one phone call from the line. I've rang it a few times just to hear the ringing through the ear piece so I know it's still there (and that dial tone brings tears to my eyes since I know that that sound is costing me about £20 a pop). So, lying in bed and realising i had fuck all to do this mornin', I picked up my MOBILE to ring them on their 0800 number just to have the operator tell me that this call isn't free for mobiles. FUCK. So I continue, listening to the operator instructions to ensure that I get the correct person on the other end of the phone the first time round as I've made too many of these phone calls and been redirected enough times to learn.
About 15 - 20 minutes later (reasonable in comparison to other holding times) an indian chap answers the phone. "Hello, is anybody there?", "Hello, I want to cancel my line", "Hello, can you hear me sir?", "Yes, I want to cancel my line", "Hello?, *insert gujarati talk*". Eventually I get through to him. He puts me on hold a couple of times, and eventually tells me I have to speak to somebody else and gives me a number to call - the same number I had just called! I tell him, so he redirects me himself (damn it!). Next guy I speak to is an English bloke. I explain the situation, and he tells me that I have to pay £70 to cancel the contract, or continue paying for the next 6 months and pay £66. Personally, I don't want either. So tell him to leave it and shut the phone. Now I don't know what to do.
Its a bank holiday today, but tomorrow I'm intending to cancel my direct debit to BT, thus terminating the contract under my own terms. I will not be paying the £11 monthly bills. I will not be paying the £70 fine. And I leave the current flat come 1st July. Will there be any consequences? Can they take me to court? And if they can, will they?
Sorry about the long post, but I'm a broke student well into my overdraft and simply can not afford to pay for this shite, what with the drugs n all.
EDIT: Forgot to mention (incase you didn't realise) it's a 12 month contract.
