BT comes under scrutiny for increasing cancellation fee

Leave BT Broadband without applying for a Mac code and transferring to another provider and you will now be charged £25 – that's the finding of a PC Pro reader from Edinburgh who contacted the magazine after finding the fee had been raised from £18.11 to £25 in June with very little in the way of advertising.

Applicable even if customers have worked through their minimum contract period BT's new terms and conditions now state: “When you end your broadband service and do not request a migration authorisation code (MAC) or another recognised transfer process to move to another service provider, from 12 June 2009 you will have to pay a cease charge of £25.00.” The only exception to this increased charge is if BT can no longer provide a service to the new address if the customer is moving home.

Although cease charges aren't uncommon among internet service providersl this recent fee increase seems to have slipped by most. Speaking to PC Pro a BT spokesperson explained the reasoning behind the charge as being to “encourage customers to use the correct migration process and cover the technical costs incurred when this process isn't used.” It added: “The charge has increased in line with the costs of the work. This is the actual cost of the work required within an exchange to recover equipment and amend records.”

More information on how to switch broadband provider and avoid cancellation charges can be found using Broadband Genie's Guide.