Hi,
To set the scene, we have a BT business account with many lines in our premises (average quarterly spend of £2.5k). We have a few houses that we own on the grounds, one of which had a BT business phone line and broadband installed (with x amount of months left in contract).
An employee moved in to this particular house last week. Prior to his move (and as anybody moving would), his wife called BT residential informing them of the move and that they wanted a phone/broadband at the new house (technically, our property with an exiting BT business phone line and broadband). The employee was not aware of the existing line in that house. At no point did they claim to work for the company and at no point where they notified the line was already active. It was the employee's wife that called as she was the account holder of the BT account in their old house.
Today, we received a bill from BT business informing us we need to pay £120.50 as an 'Early Termination Charge'. However, nobody at this business and certainly nobody authorised on the account has asked this to be done.
Many calls to BT, transferred from one department to another - it is now in the hands of the 'local business team'. They are saying the only way to stop this charge is to re-enable the business line. However, this would obviously knock the residential number off and not only cause inconvenience, but also (presumably) cost them similar to the above.
My question is this really, how can somebody cancel the line if they are not authorised to? When I rang to query the bill, I got asked a series of security questions before anybody would even talk to me. Is this not required for cancellations? Surely Joe Bloggs can't call BT and get a business (or residential for that matter) line cancelled?!? Crazy!
The best outcome for us would be for BT to write-off the charge but still cancel the line. This would mean the residential line stays the same and it's less incoinvenient for everybody. But, the business team suggested this wasn't really an option.
Who or where do I go from here? I am VERY angry that this has happened. Thank god it wasn't for the actual main line number!!!
