How to cancel your Foxtel (and what it might cost)

Whether or not you will owe Foxtel any money will come down to how long you have left on your contract (if you're contracted at all.) Foxtel only offers 12-month contracts and only if you opt for it in order to pay your Foxtel iQ box over time and waive some setup fees. 

If you're month-to-month, you won't need to pay anything except pay your final bill after cancelling (your account will close at the end of the billing month.) If you're in contract, you may be charged up to $300 for an early termination fee (ETF) but this will be pro-rated by the number of months left in your contract (e.g., cheaper the fewer months you have left.)

Not sure if you're still in contract? Call customer service or get in touch with Foxtel Live Chat. 

The next step will be to get in touch with customer service but first, you're going to want to make things easier on yourself by having your account details handy. These days your name and address should be enough for Foxtel to locate your account, but having your account number ready will speed things up a bit. 

Your Account Number is located in the top-right corner of the first page of your monthly bill. Have this handy when contacting Foxtel.  

The next step is to contact Foxtel's customer care to let them know you will be cancelling your service. You can call Foxtel's billing and account team on 1300 657 346 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm). Here's the shortcut to getting through to disconnections:

1. Dial 1300 657 346
2. Press #1 to confirm existing customer
3. Enter the phone number associated with your Foxtel account and press #
4. Listen as the robot reads your phone number back and press #1 to confirm
5. Press #7 to skip to the cancellations and disconnections department

If you'd rather cancel without talking to anyone over the phone, you can also cancel via the Live Chat service on the Foxtel website. 

Confirm with the operator your intention to cancel your Foxtel service. This is typically the part where the person at the other end of the phone will try and tempt you to stay with some enticing perks; discounted Foxtel, free add-ons etc. If any of those sound worth it to you, by all means, take the discount and run. But if you're dead set on cancelling, this is simply a painful part of the process you will have to endure. 

At this stage, contracted Foxtel customers will be provided a figure for early termination. It's how you will be up for should you exit early and is worth thinking about; sometimes it's just easier to ride the contract out. You'll also be notified if you're expected to return any hardware (like the Foxtel iQ box.). 

Foxtel iQ5 and iQ4 boxes must be returned or you will incur a hardware fee. Foxtel iQ and iQ3 boxes can be kept and won't incur a fee if not returned and, oddly enough, Foxtel strongly encourages returning the iQ2 box through the same avenue as iQ5 and iQ4. Here's where you can organise your hardware return. 

And that's all she wrote. Once you've shipped off your old hardware and finished with customer service, all that's left to do is wait for your final bill to arrive. In the meantime, you can still access your Foxtel content using Foxtel Go, at least until the end of the billing month. Otherwise, say Sayonara to Foxtel and start thinking about how you're going to get your premium entertainment from now on. 

Note: Foxtel won't remove its satellite and wiring upon cancellation. To do that you'll need to get your hands dirty or contact a third-party professional.