Customer being hit by hidden fees by broadband and phone providers

Broadband and phone providers in the UK are to come under investigation by the regulatory body Ofcom after floods of complaints relating to hidden charges that have nothing to do with actually using the service. The hefty charges that are being applied to customers’ accounts by some broadband and phone companies are resulting in huge monthly payments for the customer and tidy profits for the providers. A review into many of these costs and charges will now be carried out by Ofcom.

Amongst the charges and fees that are being looked into are late payment fees, non-direct debit fees, exit fees, and fees for reinstating services if disconnected through failure to make a bill payment. A number of broadband and phone providers charge these fees, and for many customers the costs can really add up, hence the high level of complaints made to Ofcom.

Yvan Bamping of broadband comparison site http://www.broadband-expert.co.uk stated that what may appear to be a good deal on the surface may actually end up costing the customer far more than expected. It’s important to understand all the fees associated with your broadband connection and we would encourage broadband providers to make this clear in their advertising.

According to officials at Ofcom the fees that are currently being reviewed and investigated do not include every single fee charged by these service providers. However, Ofcom has stated that should it be deemed necessary to investigate other fees that are not currently on the list then it will do so. One of the service providers that charges is a fee is Namesco, which charges a fee of up to twenty five pounds for late payments on Internet account. Another is Virgin Media, which charges five pounds per month to customer that do not pay by direct debit, and a further ten pounds if the payment is late.

There are also other service related charges that are applied by some service providers according to recent reports. Namesco, for instance, charges nearly sixty pounds to customers that are moving home and wish to take their Internet service with them. Charges are also applied to those wishing to move their home phone with some providers.