I specifically made it clear I had no intention of staying with BT... without me asking for a "temporary line" I wouldn't expect that the only option would be to sign up for a 12 month contract. In fact this isn't the first time I've signed up with BT to then switch to TT... the first occasion in 2006 was painless in fact and I certainly wasn't asked to enter a contract or charged once it was broken. Since TT aren't able to open new lines for people (admittedly not BT's fault), how on earth would I have gone about signing up with them without involving another provider? I'm sure there's probably an answer but surely not one that is clear to the average consumer?

Hi, I've tried to scan through previous posts so as not to duplicate anything but didn't find anything relevant, apologies if I missed something! I moved into a new flat in April this year and immediately signed up with BT with the intention of switching to TalkTalk (I've never had a problem with them, apart from them always trying to find something new to sell to you when you contact them). Shortly after, I signed up with TT and they obviously did the arrangements to cancel my BT line rental etc. I've since received letters from BT (now up to the Debt Recovery Unit letter as I've left it so long) telling me I owe some £104 for early cancellation of contract. When I made the call in the first place I was quite clear about my intentions, indeed why would I sign up for a 12 month contract when I intended to defect to TT? I've just spent an hour on the phone this evening being transferred between 6 different departments to finally get the answer that it would have been a verbal contract with written confirmation of the contract. I asked to hear a recording of the call I made, apparently all details of that initial call have been deleted as the employee I spoke to no-longer works for BT. Given that I didn't cancel on receiving the confirmation letter (did I receive it? did I even open it?) they assert that I've accepted the terms. I may well have read the letter and done nothing about it, but I'm certain that I made myself clear as to what I wanted, which was definitely not a 12 month contract! Surely with no record of the original call, it can't just hinge on a letter I may or may not have received, let alone even read and accepted? Is there anything I can do, or should I accept this as being my fault?