Bt broadband rip off .........

brotherjackson

Hi,
I have been with BT (apart from a short period) for 22+ years and have usually had good service from them. The other day my router suddenly wouldn't work (the power went from it)-so I duly called BT (india of course!) to ask if I could get another power adapter. The upshot was I couldn't get an adapter or a replacement and I would have to buy another router at a cost of £88. This was because my modem was over 2 years old ( note-: as soon as your modem is reaching 2 years ask for a replacement as you might have to pay for another if its over 2 years old and it breaks-I was told "its a machine and machines break" from the helpful staff at BT India-thanks for those words of wisdom BT!!).
Anyway,after speaking to the usual 5 different 'departments' around the world from scotland to england to india and back (good job BT are footing that bill!!)-I was told the only way to get a new modem is to sign another contract for 18 months-OK I said-what is the price of that.. I am at the moment paying (monthly) £18+ for line rental-£15+ for broadband option 1 and a nice £29 on top of that for excess usage!! TOTAL= £63+ !!- After speaking to 3 different people at BT (with 3 different quotes!) they said I could reduce that to £26 for line rental and broadband, but I would get unlimited usage of broadband rather than the 5 gigs Ive had for the past 3 years!! UNBELIEVABLE!!! It costs LESS to use MORE !!!!!!
If it wasnt for this site where you can expose these companies for the con merchants these companies really are then the world would be a worse place... It seems BT like to charge thousands of pounds for a service which you could only be paying a few hundred for (over a couple of years) UNLESS you spend a few hours phoning and chasing these people, harassing them to give you the REAL price plan which suits you and not giving you stuff you never use or need. Guilty until you prove yourself innocent!! Im off to Virgin!!

robt_2

I don't mean to be rude but if you are paying so much for excess usage why the hell didn't you change your tariff to start with? Why are you blaming BT for offering to save you money?

brotherjackson

I am not blaming BT for offering to save me money.. I am blaming them for giving me different prices depending on who you speak to at BT. IF I say nothing I pay XXX- If I speak to someone at BT I pay YYY and If I speak to someone else at BT I pay ZZZ etc.... The point is that BT should tell you that there are cheaper options than what you are paying already. Like I said before its a case of guilty until you prove your innocence.

robt_2

brotherjackson wrote: »

I am not blaming BT for offering to save me money.. I am blaming them for giving me different prices depending on who you speak to at BT. IF I say nothing I pay XXX- If I speak to someone at BT I pay YYY and If I speak to someone else at BT I pay ZZZ etc.... The point is that BT should tell you that there are cheaper options than what you are paying already. Like I said before its a case of guilty until you prove your innocence.

Why should they tell you that you can get it cheaper? They are a business and there to make a profit. The onus is in the customer to check what options are available to you.

If they did do that, they would have no customers left because you can get it for less than half the price with most providers

I am staggered to think that someone would be paying £63 a month for phone and broadband and think that it is normal.

macman

How can you be paying £18 per month for line rental -BT line rental is £11.25 pm? Do you mean calls and line rental?
On the router, if all that has gone is the mains adapter, why don't you just pop out to a shop (or eBay) and replace it? Or you can buy a perfectly serviceable wireless router (something like a Netgear DG834G) on eBay for less than £25.

1984ReturnsForReal_2

Go & buy another power adapter for the cost of a couple of quid.

brotherjackson

robt wrote: »

Why should they tell you that you can get it cheaper? They are a business and there to make a profit. The onus is in the customer to check what options are available to you.

If they did do that, they would have no customers left because you can get it for less than half the price with most providers

I am staggered to think that someone would be paying £63 a month for phone and broadband and think that it is normal.

why should they NOT tell me I can get it cheaper? That is shady business practice and NOT good customer service I think. I understand they are a business and there to make a profit (thanks for those words of wisdom;) )
I am merely making a point that they didnt tell me all of the available options until I hassled them on the phone for ages , and even then every person I spoke to gave me a different answer and price. Had I not had the time today I wouldnt have been able to do this. If you are staggered to see someone paying £63 for phone and broadband, then maybe you should check some broadband comparison sites and I am sure you will find higher prices than that to stagger you.

brotherjackson

macman wrote: »

How can you be paying £18 per month for line rental -BT line rental is £11.25 pm? Do you mean calls and line rental?
On the router, if all that has gone is the mains adapter, why don't you just pop out to a shop (or eBay) and replace it? Or you can buy a perfectly serviceable wireless router (something like a Netgear DG834G) on eBay for less than £25.

Yes i was on some call package (that I never asked for and never used), thats why it was £18+.
Getting a new router or power adapter is fine but it doesn't reduce the broadband costs does it?

robt_2

brotherjackson wrote: »

why should they NOT tell me I can get it cheaper? That is shady business practice and NOT good customer service I think. I understand they are a business and there to make a profit (thanks for those words of wisdom;) )
I am merely making a point that they didnt tell me all of the available options until I hassled them on the phone for ages , and even then every person I spoke to gave me a different answer and price. Had I not had the time today I wouldnt have been able to do this. If you are staggered to see someone paying £63 for phone and broadband, then maybe you should check some broadband comparison sites and I am sure you will find higher prices than that to stagger you.

Not really. BT line rental is what, £11? You are a light user and are paying £52 a month for your broadband. That is staggering, and broadband comparison websites are not relevant. I'm sorry if you don't like my opinion.

macman

brotherjackson wrote: »

Yes i was on some call package (that I never asked for and never used), thats why it was £18+.
Getting a new router or power adapter is fine but it doesn't reduce the broadband costs does it?

You could have reduced the broadband/phone costs ages ago but you didn't make the effort to do so. You must have been on an totally inappropriate package to run up £29pm in excess calls. I'd like to know which bb+call package costs more than £63pm though? Current maximum you can pay with BT is £40.66 (that's for line rental, bb Option 3 and Unltd Anytime Calls). And BT is one of the more expensive ISP's.

b3nton

£88 for a router? Shocking!!!