Great Hunt: What stops you switching broadband?

racing_blue · 9 September 2015 at 5:56PM

Countertenor wrote: »

My broadband comes as part of a bundle including landline, mobile, gas & electricity, plus a cashback card giving me up to 7% on purchases. The deal is almost unbeatable. The speed is fast enough for my needs - paying more for a faster speed would be pointless. My provider is Utility Warehouse.

That sounds interesting. Are you able to tell us £££ ?

BobbyCat · 9 September 2015 at 5:57PM

I agree with RaspberryFool, tho' I'm with TallTalk (ex Tiscali) not BT. The real hassle is the hours it takes to change email address on hundreds of suppliers, businesses, hotels, academic & institution websites (most will not accept email notification & insist you login & change on their website). The last time I switched, this took days - the manhours cost equated to more than the first year's savings.

Daisy_Bell · 9 September 2015 at 6:38PM

I'm with Virgin Media and appreciate their high broadband speed, their excellent (free) customer service and sheer reliability of their services. They're not the cheapest, but when you factor in the free service when anything goes wrong (very seldom) they're good value, especially when you take one of their bundles. A lot of companies advertise their so-called 'Deals' that last a year and then prices go sky high, but you don't find out until later that if anything goes wrong (you need your modem or TV top box replacing for instance) you are charged for both parts and service! (Sky) In any case, I have found Virgin very accommodating when you ring 'em up and negotiate!

Seriously, when it comes down to it, if one is happy with a particular service, whether it be utilities or whatever, I believe it is better to leave well alone and not risk a lot of hassle and poor service just to save a few quid a year! Factor in all of the above and you realise you're not going to save much at all - if anything! It could even cost you more in the long run!
At my age, I prefer peace of mind with as little hassle as possible! :rotfl:

Badrick · 9 September 2015 at 7:14PM

We're with Sky, I look for free unlimited broadband offers around the time our 12 month contract is ending, ring Sky and ask if they'll match free offer, which they always have, so we sign up for another 12 months. Been doing this for a few years.

gordgoodfellow · 9 September 2015 at 7:27PM

It's my email address, which is ****@btinternet.com.

I would LOVE to switch from BT to another provider, as BT have done some unacceptably stupid things over the years and they cannot seem to put any of them right. If ever you have reason to call BT's technical help call centre in India you will enter a nightmare world of madness where everyone promises everything yet nobody knows what they are doing because their training is so terrible. I have been having the same problem for several years which BT cannot put right, yet everyone in the call centre promises me they will fix the problem that day. Complete nightmare!

So I actively want to switch to another. But my BTInternet email address is what I use as my business email address. It provides my livelihood. I also use it to redirect to other email addresses but the BT address is the main one.

For example, if I switched to Virgin Media I would have to change the email addresses on all my websites, all my stationary, letterheads, promotional leaflets, online articles and press releases going back years, etc.

cing0 · 9 September 2015 at 10:29PM

Lies from the company. Latest example - moved to BT basic for phone line and later on, asked for BB. Was told the line wasn't capable (despite previously having Sky ADSL).
Speed estimates for the unaware - whatever they tell you, halve it.

If you live miles from the exchange, your only practical BB option bar VM is fibre where of course you get shafted on price.

Whenever you change or interact with a service provider (energy, banks, comms etc), things always screw up. There should be a switch guarantee like you get with bank accounts. BT openreach take the p**s with the time it needs to do its work. Nothing physical needs top happen as with ADSL (beyond the property), the same exchange kit is connected and only a logical change is required downstream near to the ISP end.

Changing suppliers regularly will tip you into the endless spiral of CISAS/Ombudsman services complaints about bad providers which then turn into endless complaints about rubbish ADR.

Feel sorry for the poor sods paying hundreds a year for an email address!

happyinflorida · 9 September 2015 at 11:06PM

Have had so many problems with some providers and when you are forced into a contract with them for one year, it means it is a nightmare for so long.

Talktalk were the worst company we ever went with, they ended up cutting off our phone line suddenly - even though we were up to date with payments (they had taken the monthly direct debit payment 3 days prior to cutting us off!) which left us totally without anything and everything - a complete nightmare.

I was recovering from an accident at the time, unable to walk, in bed - so my husband had to buy me a PAYG mobile so I could phone for help in an emergency if I fell whilst trying to get to the loo or anything else, like a house fire.

Talktalk took 3 months to give us back a phone line and broadband - with another provider. I will never, ever forgive the bast-rds for what they did. I did complain and they refused to accept they'd done anything wrong, they even made up lies about writing to us first - which they never did. Got absolutely no where complaining and they refused to even refund our months money they'd taken or compensate us - I would never recommend that vile company - avoid Talktalk completely. Very, Very, Very bad company.

esuhl · 9 September 2015 at 11:39PM

With all the people saying that they stick with their ISP to keep their email address, I think MSE should do an article explaining how to register a domain so you can switch ISPs, and even switch email providers while keeping the same email address.

Registering a .co.uk domain costs about £4 a year and 1&1 offer the first year for 99p, so it's not expensive.

Mountain_Man_2 · 10 September 2015 at 12:01AM

The main reason I don't switch is the same as many others - the hassle of changing email address.

If we can transfer phone companies and keep the same number, why doesn't this work for email addresses?

esuhl · 10 September 2015 at 12:12AM

The reasons I am hesitant to switch are...

1. Due to the problems I've had in the past when switching the phone line away from (and back to) BT. I've been charged hefty fees to restore BT equipment, with no justification or warning in the terms.

2. I also pay for line rental in advance. So, my Sky broadband renewal occurs at a different time to my line-rental renewal. I'd have to synchronise these to leave BT.

3. Also, ISPs tend to supply their own routers. So I'd have to replace and reconfigure the new one. The technical support provided by all major ISPs is APPALLING! How can anyone in a technical support team for an ISP not understand the difference between uploading and downloading?! How can they have no clue what an SMTP server is?!

Since ISPs don't employ anyone with technical ability to speak to customers, nor do they provide documentation about their network or the routers they supply, I'm reluctant to change anything that might break my network.

I liked BE. At least they could explain what they were selling and how it worked.

4. With all the hassle, and possible downtime, signing a 12-month contract without even knowing what kind of service I might (not) get is a leap into the unknown.

Great Hunt: What stops you switching broadband?

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