BT broadband Haggling thread

It's that time of year again. My contract is due up for renewal.

I'm currently paying £12.50 a month excluding line rental for Unlimited Infinity 1 (up to 52Mb). I was paying £10 a month until April when BT increased their prices. I paid my line rental upfront last year.

To re-contract for another 12 months, I've been offered the same package for £5.50 per month excluding line rental. TalkTalk had a competing offer for £25 per month including line rental.

Is it worth paying line rental upfront again? I suppose this would make it difficult for me to move to another ISP should BT increase their prices again. Or could I haggle with BT to further better their offer?

JJ_Egan wrote: »

If BT do increase prices within your contract then the Ofcom rules allow you to leave without penalty . That includes ALR refund pro rata .See posts on the forum .

I am paying my BT line rental advanced again next month as a price rise within contract means i leave without penalty but usually BT will negotiate at the point of departure .

Thanks for replying. Very useful advice and I wasn't aware you are entitled to leave with a pro rata refund of ALR. I renewed my line rental last night but was told on the phone that my new contract would start immediately instead of at the end of my old contract which should expire at the end of June. The adviser mentioned I would receive a refund of the line rental and broadband I paid in advance until next month, but was hoping my new contract would be scheduled to start next month instead.

lloydyyy wrote: »

Thanks for replying. Very useful advice and I wasn't aware you are entitled to leave with a pro rata refund of ALR.

It only happens if you leave due to a change in your contract introduced by BT that affects you & you tell BT that this is why you are leaving.

Paying line rental in advance puts you in a fixed term contract. If they announce an increase in the advance line rental then that doesn't affect you, but increasing the cost of your broadband, asking you for more money for line rental or call setup costs/price per minute/maximum free call lengths/numbers would.

My contract is due to come to an end on 19th June, although a monumental c*ck-up by BT back in March meant I was recontracted without my permission. I was given a reference number for the complaint, and notes were added to my file so I won't be held to the new contract, but the system is going by my contract end date of September 2018, and thus the retention offers are pants.



I rang BT on 22nd May and was offered Unlimited Infinity 1 at £24.49 per month including line rental or £5.50 per month if I pay line rental upfront. I couldn't take the offer there and then because I had a meeting to attend, but the adviser said if I called back on or before 24th May then the offer would still be there. I was called back on 24th May and the offer had risen to £26.49 per month with line rental or £7.50 per month without line rental. I logged a complaint and that was it.


Although another adviser said he could honour the £7.50 per month deal and add £24 of credit onto my account to make up for the difference. Alarm bells started ringing because I went through a similar situation last year with BT, and then a few days before the end of my contract I was offered a pretty good deal and decided to stay. The adviser who offered the £7.50 per month deal added notes on my account in case I wanted to call back and go for that deal. I rang back today - and another adviser I spoke to claimed he couldn't see the notes on my account.



Every adviser I've spoken to has given me contradicting stories: Can't see the notes on my account, or the best they can do is £12.50 per month (which is what I'm paying now), or some deals are only available to certain advisers with long service with the company, or other reasons.



I've called the retentions department on 0800 800 030 each time. I'm getting fed up. Any advice would be appreciated or perhaps a number of a team I can contact directly to sort out a good deal.

Just be prepared to leave BT if they don't offer you the deal you want. Some people seem to get good offers, others get mucked about. Even £12.50 + ALR is less than half what it'll cost when the price reverts to their 'standard' price in a year....