BT Haggling

james_smitha

I've just come off the phone with BT.

They expect me to pay 20% more than last year £170 up to nearly £200 for their line saver rental.

Even Arthur Scargill did not demand that much in the day.

Yes as an x-Tiscali broadband man, Sky that I am now with allow me to have my phone line with BT.

Sky's phone rates are an outrage, though their £2:50 PM for ADSL is very modest.

call 18866 is slightly cheaper than skype, 0.7p v 0.9p per minute
Any ideas please.

Any ideas please?

JJ_Egan

Try the BT haggling thread .

james_smitha

JJ I have done, please don't waste my time

The_Groat_Counter

I don't think there's much if any room for negotiating when it comes to BT's (annual) Line Rental Saver.

Look at what other companies offer for phone & broadband bundles, and take those prices to BT as a basis for negotiation.

Ultimately if you want a cheaper deal you might well be best switching provider. Whilst you might squeeze a better offer out of them, I think there's a limit as to how far BT are currently willing to go in terms of retention deals.

james_smitha

I'd be happy with several months at reduced rate for example but BT did not make any such offer. Since like many, I don't want or need fancy sports channels, so why should I/we subsidize those that do?

macman

Because BT sees no future in just providing legacy services (fixed line and broadband) any more and is determined to carve out a sizeable market share in mobile and TV. Which, should they have to divest themselves of Openreach, is almost certainly the only way they would survive, and so worth subsidising for a few years at the expense of 'loyal' customers like yourself who aren't prepared to switch and just pay the rack rate year after year.
Start by getting a Plusnet price and asking BT to match it.

james_smitha

Macman, I shall have a look at plusnet, however BT where advised that Sky who I have my broadband with could be approached for a phone line quote

The_Groat_Counter

james_smitha wrote: »

I'd be happy with several months at reduced rate for example but BT did not make any such offer. Since like many, I don't want or need fancy sports channels, so why should I/we subsidize those that do?

See macman's answer above. By offering BT Sport, BT have gained customers (and kept others) - beforehand they were losing them. It's a 'value-added proposition' that seems to be working for them.

Ultimately if you don't want it and don't want to pay BT's higher prices (which go towards paying for it), then if BT don't offer you a good enough deal, switch away from them. Plusnet might well be a good choice - it's actually owned by BT though managed as a separate operation, and is in effect BT Group's 'value' brand.

Switching from BT to Plusnet should be pretty seamless, as you're not switching to an LLU provider (when occasional hiccups can happen) but instead your line will stay connected to the same equipment in the telephone exchange. You'll need to either use Plusnet's router or configure your BT Home Hub to use Plusnet for broadband from the switchover date (not too difficult). And if switching, look at what Top Cashback or Quidco are offering.

The_Groat_Counter

james_smitha wrote: »

Macman, I shall have a look at plusnet, however BT where advised that Sky who I have my broadband with could be approached for a phone line quote

Sky should be able to give you a good bundled deal on your phone line + broadband. If you call up threatening to move your broadband elsewhere (I see it's with Sky at the moment) then that should mean they offer you something better... I guess you could even threaten to cancel Sky TV altogether!

With Sky, you can still use 18185 but via their 0808 access number, and the call charges are a bit higher - see here.

(I am pretty sure that you can use 18185 directly on a Plusnet line, the same as a BT line.)

james_smitha

Gents I've looked at plusnet's site, the Landline is much the same as BT.
I have though just come off the phone with Postoffice phone.
Even though it clearly says that Text messaging from suitable phone the cs person belligerently refused to accept the fact.

The challenge with leaving Sky broadband is that it only costs £2:50, and has a long time to run

james_smitha

Gents I've just come off the phone with Sky, they offered me prices clearly intended to scare me off, even less enticing that BT. It's galling that I cant just pay a reduced line rental to not have the phone service