Virgin adds cancellation fee for new ADSL customers
As of 7th June 2005, new customers ordering a Virgin ADSL service will become liable for a disconnection fee of £50 if they cancel their account within 12 months of its activation. If you are moving house, but retain the Virgin service at your new residence then Virgin will exempt you from the charge. This new clause to the company's Terms and Conditions is clause H.5, which is reproduced below:
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Up until 7th June Virgin offered customers signing up to the service free activation and a one month contract. This made the service very popular with people who moved a lot, and any one looking for a cheap to set-up no commitment service. The £50 cancellation fee is really Virgin now attempting to recoup the activation fee that they would have paid BT Wholesale when the line was activated originally.
Virgin are not alone in recouping free activation costs, Pipex has ran a similar scheme for some time. PlusNet have a five year deferred payment scheme for activation, whereby as every year goes by you would repay less of the activation fee if you leave the provider, or you can simply opt to pay the activation at the beginning of your contract.