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BT price hikes discussion

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  • Bogof_Babe
    Bogof_Babe Posts: 10,803 Forumite
    With the forthcoming demise of the Low User Scheme, my quarterly bill will be going from around £25 to £40 minimum, and we hardly use the phone. Not happy :(.
    :D I haven't bogged off yet, and I ain't no babe :D

  • Did everyone who received the BT letter notice how cynical they were? The word "increase" was never used once when referring to prices. They always used the expression "price change". Also totally unimpressive was the letter where the part that trumpeted their "improvements" was in bold black type while that part relating to "Price Changes" was in light grey and hardly readable. This practice should be outlawed.
  • SuzySF
    SuzySF Posts: 118 Forumite
    typica BT, try to temper bill hikes by waving a bit of a carrot a few weeks before....but I did laugh when i read the details of the "free" 084 numbers, the ones I use are mostly government agencies, or a specialist hospital (they use 0845 to be fair to all patients) but these work 9 - 5 and the free calls are at weekends ...uummmm anyone heard of the gove agencies working a weekend ???? Jobcentre Plus, DLA/Benefits etc ???? rofl..come on BT we're not stupid stop insulting us....

    but this has put the cap on it - i'm off to find an alternate provider for my Phones and Broadband.......one with the line rental included :)

    ggrrrrrrr BT (and of course being in the sticks - we're quite limited to alternates here as the local exchange has yet to be "unbundled" to get the advertised cheap offers u c on telly)

    que serah
    well thats my moring taking up
    What goes around - comes around
    give lots and you will always recieve lots
  • KimYeovil
    KimYeovil Posts: 6,156 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    SuzySF wrote: »
    ggrrrrrrr BT (and of course being in the sticks - we're quite limited to alternates here as the local exchange has yet to be "unbundled" to get the advertised cheap offers u c on telly)

    Ha, ha, very droll. That irony was deliberate, yes?
  • Even BT is prepared to haggle, I have been with BT for a considerable time and have been pleased with the service, but I have got frustrated with their non-competitive pricing and this latest hike. However, not really wanting to change I called them first. The result - Line Rental and Broadband package (opt 2) reduced by more than £10/month and a new WiFi router promised.

    In the current climate all suppliers need to maintain their market share, the general wisdom in sales is it costs 8x more to win a new customer than it does to keep one.
  • I didn't even get the letter... I have about six months left of my contract left with BT but I'd been looking to get out anyway. Is it legal to ask to be released from the contract if they change the price?
  • I didn't even get the letter... I have about six months left of my contract left with BT but I'd been looking to get out anyway. Is it legal to ask to be released from the contract if they change the price?

    it is not legal no,u would most likely just be charged the rest of the 12/18 month term
  • ACDeag
    ACDeag Posts: 742 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    hevababy wrote: »
    it is not legal no,u would most likely just be charged the rest of the 12/18 month term

    It is legal to get out of your contract whether you can do it depends upon how much the increase affects you. If you could not get out of a contract then the day after you sign they could double the prices and you would be stuck.

    The normal rule of thumb is that the increases should not be more than inflation. What I cannot find are BT's T&Cs so that I can see what they say about this. Does anyone know where they can be found?
  • System
    System Posts: 178,224 Community Admin
    10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    BT's residential conditions are here:
    http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerProducts/dynamicmodules/pagecontentfooter/pageContentFooterPopup.jsp?pagecontentfooter_popupid=13408

    In particular:
    34. If we have made a change which is to your material disadvantage, you will not have to pay a charge if you decide to end your agreement early, unless the relevant price terms say otherwise. However, once we have told you about such a change, you must let us know that you want to end the agreement within ten days. When we make a change that we reasonably believe is to your material disadvantage we will also let you know that you may end the agreement early without paying a charge for doing so.
    This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com
  • Well, this is all very interesting - I received a call today from "Martin" at BT asking if I would "upgrade" from my free Weekend-only call package to a free Evenings/Weekend call package at no additional charge. Just had to sign up to a 12 month contract at £11.50 per month with call rates of 3.91p per min (+ 8p connection charge) - he said that was NO CHANGE from my existing rates.

    I said yes anyway as I'm not thinking of moving and could do with free evening calls. I use 18185 for most calls at chargeable times of day anyway.

    It sounds like this will protect me somewhat from the April price hikes.

    Too good to be true?
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