Swapping home phone service?

[Technical Ben]

So, I decided to take the plunge. To swap from BT to IDNet. The monthly contract is the main reason.
However, I've never dealt with home phones before, so do I just call/email for a swap? 

[Rik]

Just that, Ben. It takes about 12 days to go through (to prevent slamming) but it's just a billing change, so there's no downtime or any changes to your services or number.

[Simon]

Slamming? 

[Rik]

Some companies, maybe big names beginning with T, used to move people's line without telling them what was happening except in the most obscure small print. Ofcom instituted the delay so that the losing carrier could ask the customer if they really wanted to leave. Why the technique was called slamming I have no idea.

[Simon]

Ah, right.  Funnily enough, I had a letter from my old telecom provider like that when I switched to IDNet.

[Rik]

Now you know why.

[Simon]

Indeed. 

[Technical Ben]

Some companies, maybe big names beginning with T, used to move people's line without telling them what was happening except in the most obscure small print. Ofcom instituted the delay so that the losing carrier could ask the customer if they really wanted to leave. Why the technique was called slamming I have no idea.

Probably because they would slam the phone down, before the customer could ask what was going on. "Ok... what does that mean?" became "ok" and you had the contract. I'll give them a call tomorrow or asap then. I'll do my best not to confuse things. 

[Rik]

 

[Gary]

What makes me laugh is I change rom BT to Idnet today and BT say it will be done by 23:59, handy that when I need to call a friend abroad, hence the IDNet tariffs with international calls  BT you are useless 

[Rik]

It's just a billing change, so they do it from the keyboard, Gary. It might be worth checking with support to see if they know whether it's happened.

[pctech]

Most phone companies do stuff like that.

For example if I want a bolt on on my mobile O2 take 48 hours to process it.