Almost 5 years ago I started using Chess for my business phone and broadband. At the time, the cost seemed reasonable, and I thought I would be paying £41 plus VAT monthly for the next 60 months. However, over time and despite the figures agreed in my contract, my bill from Chess has gone up and up so that I now pay them £99 monthly!! Of course, having checked around recently, I discover that I can easily find a similar or better service from many other companies for less than a third of this cost ... so, naturally, I have now arranged to switch to another provider at £27 + VAT monthly. Now the big contractual catch ... I discover that at the point of switching, I will still be, just, within a 5 year contractual period with Chess, so Chess are going to charge me a cool £329.45 termination fee as I switch to the other provider! I've pointed this out to Chess, that I have been a good profitable customer for almost 5 years, despite their ever increasing charges, and I would be happy to part on good terms, if they simply waive their entirely unreasonable £329.45 termination fee ... and this, of course, is when I discover Chess are not reasonable decent types, but are sharks. Only now, have I checked up on their online reviews to discover that all too many customers are having a similar experience ... shame on you Chess! So, Chess are apparently allowed to charge me almost exactly double my contracted cost, over several years ... so I feel I have already been thoroughly fleeced by them ... and they can now charge me an additional £329.45 to get away from them. We all do that thing of not reading all the small print within contracts ... life is just too short ... but we generally think companies will be fair and reasonable in their actual dealings with us, especially when we have actually been good profitable customers for a long time. I would happily just cancel my direct debit arrangement with Chess ... but you know with these types, that you will just end up with threats of legal action and the danger of having a bad debt listed. So, I will pay them their highly unreasonable £329.45 to be rid of them ... and I will also write them some honest reviews. So, please don't sign a contract with Chess Telecom.