BT increase of Line Rental without notice?

[skintgirl]

Hi all,

I am new on here, so please forgive any blunders I might make, till I get the hang of the site.

I recently took out at a 12 month contract with BT for line rental at £11.50 per month. I notice on my Bill that I am now being charged £12.50.

When I queried this with a (non UK) call centre employee, I was told that a letter had been sent out... I never got the letter, I asked for proof that BT sent the letter as I told them if I received the letter, I would have probably shopped around for a cheaper deal (sky etc).

Obviously got nowhere fast with the Non UK Employee's poor command of the English Language, so said I would write a letter and put the phone down.

But my question is can BT just arbitrarily increase the line rental price? I do have the orginal paperwork that states it is £11.50 line rental for 12 months...

I know it is a small amount but I am currently unemployed (got made redundant in March)... and also it is the principle!!

Any help/advice much appreciated!

ps. I absolutely loath BT, and only use them so I can have my Internet service (with another company naturally)

[Chutzpah]

Hm... I haven't received anything.

Funnily enough, I got a letter from VirginMedia a couple of weeks ago informing me that the cost of certain calls outside my package were increasing. This annoyed me slightly because they and I had a bit of a "ding dong" when I moved in June last year and they insisted that I had agreed to a new 12 month contract when I had moved the year before .

(Cut a long story short, I had been with them for a couple of years, moved my services to another house, moved again wished to cancel as they completed stuffed up the move of the services, but they insisted I had agreed to a new minimum 12 month contract which I disputed)

This annoyed me slightly as they locked me into a contract, but just decided that "just like that" they could change the cost of the services they were providing.

[Tony]

I also loathe BT and received one of these letters recently, must dig it out.

Anyway, this might help:

The correct procedure

With any contract or sale which is concluded away from the trader’s normal business premise, you must be sure you have been presented with clear written notice of your right to cancel, at or before the time the contract is made. If you have not, the contract is legally unenforceable. This notice, which cannot be in the form of small print, or otherwise disguised, must also provide a cancellation form and advise you on how and to whom a notice of cancellation is to be made. You can use the cancellation form provided or a simple written notice, as long as it is clear of your intentions. And as long as you have posted your notice of cancellation before the end of the cancellation period, it doesn’t matter when it is actually received. For this reason, it is always advisable to send it recorded delivery.

I am pretty sure this applies in this situation.

Cooling Off Periods | Consumer Information

[Chutzpah]

I was told in June last year that I would have 'agreed' to a new minimum contract term over the phone, and of course when I insisted they proved it I was told they don't keep records of calls that long.

I called Consumer Direct and after a bit of deliberating they decided that enforcing a minimum contract period if you moved would be legal if it was in the small print when you joined initially.