Dissatisfaction with customer service and a lack of service are forcing a pay exit fee.

[magdalach]

Hello, Today, I spoke with customer service department and was informed that despite the fact that the Now TV broadband service cannot be working in my flat , I am still required to pay for the cancellation fees of the contract that came into effect on April 3, 2024. I am very displeased with this situation because I have an ADSL socket, and the Openreach technicians were unable to connect the service to it in accordance with the law. According to the advice from Citizens Advice and the regulations of Ofcom, I have 14 days to terminate the contract if I am not satisfied with the service. This is because the service has not been delivered to me, yet it is listed as active in your system. The technical person did not check or contact me to confirm whether the service is functioning. In accordance with consumer law, I invoke my right to cancel the contract within 14 days without paying any cancellation exit fees. Forcing payment for a service that has not been provided is a violation of consumer rights.

[Jayach]

You are not speaking to Now here, so you will need to contact them by another route, but you are correct, you can cancel within the "cooling off" without penalty.

[chilli2]

Why can it not be working in your flat?

Is this down to a technical issue ie they need to do some work to make it work, or is this another issue where an install of Now Broadband is impossible for whatever reason?

 If its a technical issue and they can install it, but it will take longer than expected then you may be able to claim compensation for the lack of service -

 If they are unable to install and its not possible, then they (Now) are in breach of contract and you should be able to exit penalty free.

A few questions:

 What package have you signed up to with Now?

Did you previously have a working internet connection in the property?  if so with who?  on what package? what router/equipment did you use with them? did the router plug into the phone socket, or a white box with green lights on it ( called an ONT)

 if you want users on this forum to help you and to help you avoid making an expensive mistake then a little more info is needed

[magdalach]

@chilli2 Hi Curently, I use an LTE package with O2, but recently, the connection has been slowing down. Therefore, I decided to install a broadband internet connection and found a good offer with Now TV's Super Fibre Broadband. I had to wait a few weeks for the installation. It turned out that the service was activated on April 3, 2024, but the router wasn't working - there was no ADSL signal. I contacted customer support, and today, on April 5, 2024, two technicians from Openreach . They stated that the service cannot be provided because consent from the building owner or agency is required to connect the cables. To me, this is absurd because the socket is already installed in the wall. Perhaps a cable replacement is needed, but the technicians didn't undertake this. Due to the lack of a working service, I decided to cancel the contract.

[Jayach · Accepted solution]

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@magdalach wrote:
today, on April 5, 2024, two technicians from Openreach . They stated that the service cannot be provided because consent from the building owner or agency is required to connect the cables. To me, this is absurd because the socket is already installed in the wall.

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This suggests they were intending to install Full Fibre, rather than FTTC.

Do you know if you are in a Full Fibre area?

https://www.openreach.com/fibre-broadband/ultrafast-full-fibre-broadband

[magdalach]

@Jayach It seems that the Fibre service is available but cannot be installed due to technical reasons. Finally, someone reliable replied to my email, and I managed to resolve the contract without paying exit fees. Thank you for your support. 

[RoyB]

@magdalach 

Good for you!

But we still don’t know quite what the problem is/was.

Now are a bit confusing because they sell two packages with Fibre in the name, but these are FTTC (Fibre To The Cabinet) and the link from the cabinet to your master socket is still copper only.

Blame Ofcom, not Now, for allowing this confusion in the first place, though.

However, copper is currently being phased out, and new copper is being restricted or made unavailable; and even existing copper cannot be used for new connections in what are called FTTP Priority Exchanges, basically those with 75% Full Fibre (Fibre To The Property) coverage by a certain date. If you are in one of those areas, and within the 75% coverage, then you can only move to FTTP, and Now can’t sell you its FTTC.

There are some other, rarer, combinations of circumstances that would prevent an installation, like being under an Exchange where Sky/Now don’t have their own equipment in the exchange for LLU (Local Loop Unbundling).

But all of this should have been sorted out long before any attempted installation 😢

[chilli2]

@magdalach  Now Super fibre is a VDSL/FTTC  service over the copper cables, as is Fab Fibre with brilliant broadband ( and oxymoron in naming if ever there was one) is ADSL.

 The only full fibre (FTTP) package is "Now Full fibre 100"

going with another supplier may present similar issues that you have had with Now, unless you are gong back to the same fixed line supplier you were with before.

 Take a look see what internet companies are in your area.

As for building managemetn/landlords not allowing installs of internet connections then you should complain to your MP as in todays environment internet access is pretty much a key utility in all but name