Haggling with BT as an out of contract customer

AndyPK

It's too much hassle to be a BT customer.

All these hoops just to get caller display free.

Also consider EE. They are also part of the BT group.
You get free caller display
Free voice mail.
Call packages from £4.

You need to ring bt and say you are thinking of leaving because of cost.
Don't say you are thinking of going to plusnet or EE. As they are part of the same group they won't try hard to keep you.

Familiarise yourself with talktalk prices and quote these to BT. Say you going to move to TT.

evenasus

loulou41 wrote: »

Thinking of going with plusnet when bt contract ends. Are they any good? I get a terrible speed if 2.5 meg with bt not interested with fibre as low user. When contract ends in Mid August it will jump to almost double of what I am actual paying. Will go with plusnet as would like to be able to use 18185 and watch bt sports discounted.

andy29 wrote: »

The cost part is why I'm looking at leaving too. It's a huge jump.

I arranged this week to switch to Plusnet from BT.

I tried to haggle with two different people at BT. The first person offered £2 reduction. That wouldn't even have cancelled out their latest increase.
The second one offered £4.

I received a call an hour ago from BT asking us why we were leaving and then offering us broadband reduced from the £31 a month we were paying, to £6 a month.
Told them it was too late.

Ignoring line rental we were paying BT £40.79 a month for broadband and anytime calls to UK landlines.

New deal with Plusnet, ignoring line rental we will be paying £13.99 a month for broadband and anytime calls to UK landlines and UK mobiles.

mac.d

evenasus wrote: »

I received a call an hour ago from BT asking us why we were leaving and then offering us broadband reduced from the £31 a month we were paying, to £6 a month.
Told them it was too late.

I stayed with BT when they just matched my previous deal and improved my mobile deal, but I love to see people who get poor discounts offered and then go through with moving to another provider, and tell BT (or any business) to shove it when they phone up at the last minute to offer a proper deal.

Good luck with your move to Plusnet, hope it all goes without a hitch and you're happy with the service once you do switch.

loulou41

Just wondering when the time comes at what stage do you initiate the switch e.g contract ends 16th? Shall I start the switch two weeks before I do not mind overlapping bt a couple of days late rather than early and get slap with penalty. Also if I go through quidco for cash back is there any option to request to keep phone number and give plusnet a date I want them to take over. I have been happy with bt and I am told the 2.5 speed I am getting is good for my phone line.

AndyPK

I don't think you can specify a change over date. That would be too sensible.

The process takes around 2 weeks, so kicking it off 2 weeks prior is a sensible move.

You should get a cheque thru the post for any overlap of charges

andy29_2

I called BT again this evening and said about TalkTalk as suggested. The call was answered very quickly and the lady on the phone was nice and helpful, but sadly that doesn't ease the stress on your wallet. Apparently the offer I was given the other day had gone because "they change every day", which I was not told about, although I do admit that I forgot to check at the time like I should have. Why can't a human just hold it for a few days? So I actually ended up with no offer at all. I would have been happy with the January sale price. I also pointed out that I obviously wouldn't be needing a router or activation, but nope.

So £23.99 per month with PN vs £36.99 with BT... hmm...

Even PN's 76Mb level is cheaper than that offer for BT's 52Mb, even with the PN activation fee. (How come it's the cheaper level that has the free activation rather than the one where you agree to pay them more?)

I do like that you get the free WiFi and cloud storage with BT, but there you go. I wonder if I will get a last offer from BT when they get the message...

AndyPK

Well I guess you need to start the transfer process off.

And if they give you a better offer, and you like them so much you can stay!

I would recommend you go down to the 52Mb package, if you actually get less.

You have seen this I assume?

https://broadband.moneysavingexpert.com/variant/?_ga=2.64018671.1175806185.1516979103-143057119.1450552787&utm_expid=.oqSWBqOhSgO4WNQjS8c7IA.1&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.moneysavingexpert.com%2Fbroadband%2F

andy29_2

Yep. Transfer day is in a couple of weeks. The Plusnet 38Mb package actually changes to 37-40Mb when I put my details in so hopefully I'll be getting exactly the right thing. Yes, I did see the comparison thanks, that's what lead me to Plusnet.

loulou41

Let us know how the transfer goes. I am thinking of switching to plusnet in August if I do not get a decent offer.

andy29_2

Will do, Loulou.