BT Broadband increase whilst still in contract

iris

We have recently received our broadband monthly bill, which has increased, even though we are still in contract:cool:


We took out a year's contract for broadband last May and I thought that was fixed until May 2014. We pay for our phone line yearly.


I know there have been price increases, but as we took out a year's fixed contract for 12 months I thought that the price couldn't increase.


I have phoned BT, but have been told that they can do this as it is in their T&C.


There seems no point in taking out a 12/18 month contract if BT can increase the agreed cost.


Anybody had the same problem?

kwikbreaks

I'm pretty sure that they should have notified you in advance and given you the option to leave penalty free. I know there was some new legislation in that area but it may just have been for mobile phones.

If nobody gives you a definitive answer here try the consumer rights board as this one is more concerned with the technical side of things.

Quentin

The price increases were announced in September:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4777477

They gave us 10 days to leave without penalty if we weren't happy.

(Maybe you can still get out if they never advised you.)

iris

Thank you for your replies.


No, we never received notification. When I phoned BT I was told a letter had been sent out in December, but we never received it. I don't understand why they can't send out emails advising of the increase, just the same as they do our monthly bill.


I just thought the increase was for 157l and caller display, which we don't have.


What is the point of taking out a 12 months contract if BT can put the price up!

Quentin

iris wrote: »

.....What is the point of taking out a 12 months contract if BT can put the price up!

As they have told you, it was all in the ts + cs.

(It wasn't a "fixed price contract").

They did send emails - maybe yours went into spam/junk folder?

If you weren't informed, try complaining this is the first you have heard and want to cancel (without penalty), if that's what you want to do, and escalate it if you are unhappy with their reply to the complaint.

macman

iris wrote: »

Thank you for your replies.


No, we never received notification. When I phoned BT I was told a letter had been sent out in December, but we never received it. I don't understand why they can't send out emails advising of the increase, just the same as they do our monthly bill.


I just thought the increase was for 157l and caller display, which we don't have.


What is the point of taking out a 12 months contract if BT can put the price up!

Same would apply to all your other utility contracts: gas, electricity, mobile, TV: none of them are fixed price unless they say so. A minimum term does not equate to a fixed price.

System

The price increases were buried in links I could click to from an email. BT do indeed assert that their terms and conditions allow them to increase prices, provided they also allow the customer to leave without penalty. Since switching is in practice a great hassle, I think that customers have a good argument that these clauses of the terms and conditions are Unfair, and therefore void under the Unfair Terms Regulations.
http://www.oft.gov.uk/about-the-oft/legal-powers/legal/unfair-terms/
A possible approach is to inform BT that you are paying the unfairly increased prices only Under Protest, and that you will demand a refund at the end of your minimum contract period, and if necessary make a Money Claim in the County Court (small claims track).
If Ofcom was any use, they would insist that prices in a period contract cannot be changed (except for external reasons, eg an increase in the VAT rate).