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Moving House (and this Cessation charge)

arrowst
Dabbler
Posts: 22
Registered: ‎10-08-2007

Moving House (and this Cessation charge)

Hi guys,
I'm moving house on friday, and I'm trying to understand the best way to move my broadband.  As a bit of background, I have sold my house, and going into rental for 6-12 months before buying a new house (so may be moving again in the next 12 months).
I was thinking of cancelling my broadband, and starting a new contract with a new provider (probably O2) in my new rented accomodation, but as I understand it I would need to pay a cessation charge if I was to do this?  I'm slightly annoyed at this, as the reason I'd stayed on a month to month contract was to avoid these fees, and I don't think I was advised of the opportunity to exit when this fee was introduced (I think it must have gone to my main email, which was knackered with spam - from memory, after plusnet had leaked all their email addresses by mistake??).
As I understand it, my only alternative is to move with plusnet and defer the £60 fee, but I would still be liable for that if I moved again within 18 months?
Any advice on my best way forward? 
Cheers
6 REPLIES 6
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
Thanks: 457
Fixes: 21
Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Moving House (and this Cessation charge)

It is very much a case of swings and roundabouts.
Just a mention about the e-mail, it was sent to everyone. You should have changed your preferred mailing address in the member centre if you were not going to monitor your default address.
If you have no deferred items on your account, then if you were to cancel you just have to pay the £20. You could read this thread
If you start with a new supplier, what connections fees might you have to pay, what sort of contract is it? Do they charge if you move etc? Do you value PN's customer service etc.? Do their packages suit you? It's a trade off and only you can decided these things.
If you want to stay with PN and you have no deferred items, I think I would recommend cancelling and start a new contract with PN in the new accommdation this only ties you for 12 months deferred fees. If you then move with PN, you only have to pay the £40 and then be tied for 18 months deferred fees, costing £60 to get out. The choice is yours.
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Moving House (and this Cessation charge)

Hi arrowst,
What you've said is pretty much correct.
If you cancel, it will cost you £20 cessation plus whatever would be outstanding under your 30 day notice period.
If you choose to move your broadband with us, we'll defer the £60 charge for 18 months and if you were to move again during that time, you would need to pay that.
Like anotherone says, it's a case of swings and roundabouts.  Most suppliers would also charge you if you were to leave within the 12 month period.
cornishrex
Newbie
Posts: 9
Registered: ‎04-03-2008

Re: Moving House (and this Cessation charge)

I think all the posters responses are fair. However, please can some-one explain, if you have to pay £60 to move or "get out", what is the financial benefit of paying for a "monthly" contract as opposed to a yearly or 18 monthly one? It doesnt really seem to be a monthly contract any more, because you have to pay several times the multiple of a month's fee to get out. Dont get me wrong - I have no complaints about Plus Net; I just dont understand why Im paying for a monthly account.
pjmarsh
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 4,030
Thanks: 1,575
Fixes: 20
Registered: ‎06-04-2007

Re: Moving House (and this Cessation charge)

The costs are (from BT Wholesale ie the supplier) £20 to remove broadband from a line (ie cease the broadband), and £40 to put broadband on a line (activate broadband).  These are charged to all ISP's, a lot of which will pass them on the the end user (some with extra admin charges as well).  A house move is basically a cease on the broadband at your current property and an activation on the line at the new property.  Anyone can migrate out of Plusnet for free (ie change the ISP for the line). 
I think the only yearly contracts that Plusnet have (on residential products anyway), is where you have taken a discount in subscription for promising to stay for a year.  If you where on a yearly contract you would be liable to pay the remaining months subscriptions on your account plus the cease charge.  The deffered activation, cease and hardware charges are not part of your main contract with Plusnet (monthly or annually), but is basically Plusnet promising to pay these for you if you stay for a certain amount of time.  This amount of time is what Plusnet calculate to make that money back from you without it costing them more than you have paid.  Plusnet have this as 12 months for the £40 activation charge, and 18 months for the £60 house move charge (cease + activation).
Phil

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Moving House (and this Cessation charge)

Quote from: cornishrex
However, please can some-one explain, if you have to pay £60 to move or "get out", what is the financial benefit of paying for a "monthly" contract as opposed to a yearly or 18 monthly one? It doesnt really seem to be a monthly contract any more, because you have to pay several times the multiple of a month's fee to get out. Dont get me wrong - I have no complaints about Plus Net; I just dont understand why Im paying for a monthly account.

Basically the advantage is that you don't have to buyout the tremainder of your contract, only the house move and cessation charge.
So, assume you're on a monthly contract with BBYW Pro and then move house and subsequently decide to leave a month later.  It'll cost you £60 to leave plus anything outstanding under the 30 days notice, whereas if you were on an 18 month contract, realistically it could cost you anything upto about £300.  So there's a fairly big difference.
cornishrex
Newbie
Posts: 9
Registered: ‎04-03-2008

Re: Moving House (and this Cessation charge)

ok, thats fair enough. At I understand why there is still a benefit in having a monthly account. Thanks for the response.