MSE News: How to beat BT's broadband, home phone and TV price hikes

LordM

Looking for advice.

BT wrote to me on 19 May to tell me they were increasing their prices and that there would be **No early termination charge** should I decide to cancel my account. I have been with BT for many years but have been less than happy with the service they have given me - their charges are already a rip-off even without the price increase.

So I called BT and informed them that I would be cancelling my contract and asked for my MAC code so I could switch to a new provider. The BT customer service representative confirmed that there would definitely be no early termination charge as a result of the price increases.

Now I've just received a £140.90 bill from BT charging me for cancelling my contract early! I am extremely annoyed.

What are my rights here and which is the best way to go about contesting this? Or can I just ignore the bill? I'm with Plusnet now and the costs and service are much better but can BT still cut me off if I refuse to pay their bill? Any help appreciated.

Thanks.

jimbo49

not sure how many but BT has upped line rental alone around 6-8 times in the last 4 years, if i remember correctly. it annoyed me when the reason given is that BT has spent a lot of money on various upgrade projects. that means that with the price hikes over the last few years, we pay for the projects etc to be done, then we pay to use the new this or that! double whammy!!
i was also damn cross when John Petter, who heads up BT Consumer wrote in an article i read on ITProPortal how low income households wont be hit. together with a privte pension, my income is so low i dont get anywhere near the tax threshold and haven't done for about 5 years! not only did i never get informed of this, i have never read about it either. even worse, the statement is inaccurate because that low income has to be through certain benefits and if the benefit you're on is different, you dont qualify! still on a low income but segregated again! after 38 years at work, then giving in to chronic illness, i understand why people get cross! i done my bit yet still treated like crap by the government!!

tgroom57

jimbo49 wrote: »

i was also damn cross when John Petter, who heads up BT Consumer wrote in an article i read on ITProPortal how low income households wont be hit.

This is the first I've heard of any low income concessions from BT ! Despite my obvious difficulties a few years back in paying BT bills. For anyone else who missed it here's a link

http://btplc.com/Inclusion/ProductsAndServices/BTBasic/index.htm

Won't do me any good because my landline is just for the internet. I get far better value from my mobile phone for everything else - calls, texts. If govt is so keen to get us all online, how come there isn't a really cheap internet only offering?

kevpc

read the info on the linked pages where it says "BT Basic is a simple, low-cost phone service that is easy to understand and helps you keep in touch". i wonder if the way BT gets round this is by adding extra on if you are gonna use broadband? there has to be a catch somewhere.
i sent a mail to Mr Petter saying his statement was not correct and to update it because only certain people on certain benefits get the option of this. it isn't just related to the low income, so anyone can still be charged as normal regardless of how low their income is! that is very unfair, in my opinion!!

sigel48

Regards BT line Rental and Line Rental Saver. An article in Telegraph from March 2014 showed that when BT line rental was £15.99 per month ( = £191.88 pa) the Line rental saver was £141 - making a substantial saving of nearly £51.
With the new charges the monthly line rental will be £17.99 ( = £215.88 pa) but the Line rental saver charge will be £194.28 - making a saving of only £21!!
Very poor value for money now

tgroom57

kevpc wrote: »

read the info on the linked pages where it says "BT Basic is a simple, low-cost phone service that is easy to understand and helps you keep in touch". i wonder if the way BT gets round this is by adding extra on if you are gonna use broadband? there has to be a catch somewhere.

I'd say the catch is in the quarterly £4.50 call allowance. Presumably calls are charged at ~10p per minute with a ~16p set-up fee per call.

I might look further into the broadband offering with a 10GB monthly allowance. At risk of repeating myself - I needed this years ago. A bit late to find out I've been paying £54 a quarter when all I needed to pay was £30 a quarter.

All things considered - not least BTs damnable lack of advertising their Basic+ options - nothing would persuade me to start a new contract with them.

mikenott

After 4 phone calls, 98 minutes on the phone and many cups of tea, I have NEARLY completed my contract renewal with BT. How can a company make money when it took all that time and effort for a £20/month contract? To be honest, it's like dealing with RyanAir and their proposed charges for "additional services" like toilets which most people consider basic requirements. Why do they want to charge for Caller display and Answerphone? Surely in today's world these are basic requirements?
Without going through all the ins and out, my key points are:

1. You need to threaten to cancel before much is offered.
2. If you get a good deal, sign up there and then. Don't say you will ring back. You never get to speak to the same person, have to start from scratch again and they all seem to have a different understanding of what can/cannot be done by whom and when! This happened to me twice. DO NOT rely on the agent you have been speaking to to fully record the deal you have been offered - at least once his notes were completely different to what we had been speaking about.
3. CHECK YOUR ORDER WHEN YOU RECEIVE IT, BT seem to have some strange ways of laying out your order. For example, I wanted 1571 (answerphone) but it wasn't on my new order when I received it. But the Agent said that only CHANGES were recorded on the order - as I already had 1571 "it would just continue at £1.85 a month". Conversely (and perhaps perversely?) Caller Display which was in a BP Privacy free deal for 12 months expiring 4th August was not listed as a change, and if I had not raised it, it would have expired and I would be charged for it. Simples!?
4. I was offered a Home HUb 5 for £6.85 delivery charge that was not included in my order, the (inevitably new) Agent told me that I wouldn't have been offered it and she couldn't honour it, So I posted a complaint so that they check their recording of my conversation (which incidentally will probably cost them more to do than just send me a new Home Hub 5!) and I am 99.9 per cent certain that was what was said.

So, if you are going in to bat with BT, get your facts right, know what you want, don't be sidetracked by mobile phone/TV deals if you didn't want them, make sure the records of what you are offered are as complete as possible (as far as you can), take plenty of notes, have a steady and regular supply of tea and be prepared to be passed around a lot and put on hold a lot

And good luck!

Michael

Devonian_Rodders

Like all contributors, I too was emailed regarding line rentak increases, but nothing else.

My contract for basic broadband expires in November, so I am unable to partcipate in the widely advertised "giveaway" prices for Infinity costing £10 monthly for a 12 month contract. My BT offers infinity @£23 month.
Although Infinity is supposedly better, once it leaves the junction box and travels on copper wires, speeds dramatically drop, so not worth the change.
Bit puzzled to understand how BT can run their own and inflated prices, and Plusnet at a reduced price.
Finally, I note within BT wording it states prices can be varied during the contract. However, from notes of other contributors, it seems BT insist on a contract being firm.

9411john

1 All providers hike prices whenever they like
2 No other providers provide such a comprehensive free WiFi add on as BT
3 No other provider has an add on like BT Smart Talk (allows me to call daughter in Oz at same prices as if I were at home - free!!)
4 Yes BT TV and Sport have gone up but compare that to Sky where the amount they spent on getting less football than last season is being recovered primarily by non sport viewers. My Sky rental has increased percentage wise far more than my overall BT rental will.

I am no great lover of BT but, for now, I am happy to stay (just paid annual line rental!). I am always looking to save money but, quite honestly, if I were to add on a cost for all the time I spend looking and comparing, I sometimes wonder if it is all worthwhile.

emh_2

I'm tied in for another 6 months and have been paying for BT TV for 12 months for nothing (rubbish - couldn't get Skysports in HD).


Does this now give me a way out? I got an email saying only my line rental is going up but just checked online and infinity, TV and line rental is increasing.