Landline and Broadband - problems switching

A case study in which the consumer had difficulty in switching between providers.

Issue

The consumer says they were contacted by their provider as they were towards the end of the contractual period. They discussed new packages but did not proceed with a new contract with their provider as they wished to shop around first.

The consumer found a cheaper deal with a new provider and asked them to take over the service from the previous provider.  They were told by the new provider that they did not need to contact the previous provider at all.

A text message was sent to the consumer from the previous provider stating there was a security alert and to make contact with them. The consumer did this and the previous provider informed them that someone was trying to take over their service, they informed them that this was correct and they wished to move away. Several more messages were sent and the new provider was unable to take over the line.

The new provider had to set up and brand new line and the consumer had several conversations with the previous provider to get the old line cancelled but they have failed to communicate with them.

The consumer would like the previous provider to confirm they are no longer a customer; acknowledge they have failed to communicate with them and close the account with no further liabilities.

Provider response

The provider did not supply a case file for consideration.

Our decision

As there was no case file to consider, we had to make our decision based on the available evidence and any industry practices, rules and regulations.

We were satisfied that the consumer contacted a new provider and they should have engaged the switching process which we are happy they did.  However, the old provider failed to allow the transfer of the line.  The provider did not engage in communication with the consumer or the new provider and so this meant that a new line was installed which should have been unnecessary.

The previous provider was required to send switching information to the consumer including when the service would transfer and any associated costs in doing so but they failed to action this.

There are only a very small permissible reasons when a transfer can be objected to, and the old provider did not meet any of these and so should not have objected to the transfer.