BT Halo Warning.

watkins247

I've been caught out by BT and have been paying for Halo for sometime, only to find BT can't actually supply it in my area. Only a weak 2G signal here on BT mobile.
BT Halo main benefit is the stay connected if you lose your landline, unless you are in a BT mobile area with a 4G service they can't fulfil this part of the contract.
The sales team won't tell you this only how great it and sign you up to a 24 month contract at over £50 a month. 
I've had a difficult time getting BT to "downgrade" my service to Fibre 1, saying I had agreed to a 2 year contract to Halo and couldn't do anything, only when I threatened to bring ombudsman in did this change, charging for service they can't supply, false advertising etc and telling them I would be seeking redress for the payments I had made and compensation.

CUBMINDER

watkins247 said:

I've been caught out by BT and have been paying for Halo for sometime, only to find BT can't actually supply it in my area. Only a weak 2G signal here on BT mobile.
BT Halo main benefit is the stay connected if you lose your landline, unless you are in a BT mobile area with a 4G service they can't fulfil this part of the contract.
The sales team won't tell you this only how great it and sign you up to a 24 month contract at over £50 a month. 
I've had a difficult time getting BT to "downgrade" my service to Fibre 1, saying I had agreed to a 2 year contract to Halo and couldn't do anything, only when I threatened to bring ombudsman in did this change, charging for service they can't supply, false advertising etc and telling them I would be seeking redress for the payments I had made and compensation.

So pleased to have found your post.
I am an elderly lady (mid seventies) who has just discovered that something similar was sold to me 2 yrs. ago just as lockdown began. We have a copper line 'phone and prior to this was on BT Plus (and BT TV which I was paying for so hubby could watch Sky sport/BT Sport on odd occasions when his team played Football - we watch TV on Free Sat - so I had to cancel that - without Fee, thanks to Martin - when BT put their prices up. 
Still had 'old' Home Hub 3' when BT put us onto Halo 1 - cost was / is £62.60 per month described as Unlimited Broadband £10 per month for Unlimited Minutes Calling Plan and £11 for 2 x 1 GB mobiles (we had tiny old mobiles so I could ring hubby to collect me from church if he was not at home when I called) - for most of this 2 yrs we have been at home 'self shielding' and using the Broadband mainly for my online food shopping. Not a clue what speeds I receive as BT test cannot tell me as I still have old BT Home Hub 3!!

Contract now ending and have been bombarded with offers I do not understand (incl. Halo 3) now as I rang to leave them I have been offered a pkg where they need to remove my landline for Fibre 1 700 Anytime mins.(50mbps / 10 upload plus 2 x Samsung A12 Mobiles from EE For £62.90 and of course it will be rising by CIP + 3.9% soon - really getting distressed now and looks like the thought of having engineers in would distress hubby more than I could cope with just now. 
Very difficult to find anyone at BT to speak with even after waiting for an age on the line but I have not a clue how I can reduce the cost of this/ avoid increase or is £70 an OK price to pay. Does anyone know if Open Reach would give me a clue as to the deadline I may face for losing my landline please?

Neil_Jones

Openreach are not going to tell you anything because Openreach do not deal with the public.

If your contract ends all that will happen is nothing will change and you'll just pay an out of contract rate aka an expensive one. but the setup will remain the same  You are free to move provider so...

QrizB

CUBMINDER said:

... I have not a clue how I can reduce the cost of this/ avoid increase or is £70 an OK price to pay.

@CUBMINDER £70 per month sounds like quite a lot to me.

Have you looked at the main MSE site and their "Cheap Broadband Deals" page? There are deals there for under £20/month.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/broadband-and-tv/cheap-broadband/

HaroldWren5

watkins247 said:

I've been caught out by BT and have been paying for Halo for sometime, only to find BT can't actually supply it in my area. Only a weak 2G signal here on BT mobile.
BT Halo main benefit is the stay connected if you lose your landline, unless you are in a BT mobile area with a 4G service they can't fulfil this part of the contract.
The sales team won't tell you this only how great it and sign you up to a 24 month contract at over £50 a month. 
I've had a difficult time getting BT to "downgrade" my service to Fibre 1, saying I had agreed to a 2 year contract to Halo and couldn't do anything, only when I threatened to bring ombudsman in did this change, charging for service they can't supply, false advertising etc and telling them I would be seeking redress for the payments I had made and compensation.

Thank goodness you managed to get out. It's really bad if they misled you like that. I cannot quite understand the "Halo" deals they advertise. In most cases, even if you can get a mobile signal with EE, there doesn't seem to be much saving versus buying products separately and they still raise the price anyhow. It's mind boggling

HaroldWren5

CUBMINDER said:

watkins247 said:

I've been caught out by BT and have been paying for Halo for sometime, only to find BT can't actually supply it in my area. Only a weak 2G signal here on BT mobile.
BT Halo main benefit is the stay connected if you lose your landline, unless you are in a BT mobile area with a 4G service they can't fulfil this part of the contract.
The sales team won't tell you this only how great it and sign you up to a 24 month contract at over £50 a month. 
I've had a difficult time getting BT to "downgrade" my service to Fibre 1, saying I had agreed to a 2 year contract to Halo and couldn't do anything, only when I threatened to bring ombudsman in did this change, charging for service they can't supply, false advertising etc and telling them I would be seeking redress for the payments I had made and compensation.

So pleased to have found your post.
I am an elderly lady (mid seventies) who has just discovered that something similar was sold to me 2 yrs. ago just as lockdown began. We have a copper line 'phone and prior to this was on BT Plus (and BT TV which I was paying for so hubby could watch Sky sport/BT Sport on odd occasions when his team played Football - we watch TV on Free Sat - so I had to cancel that - without Fee, thanks to Martin - when BT put their prices up. 
Still had 'old' Home Hub 3' when BT put us onto Halo 1 - cost was / is £62.60 per month described as Unlimited Broadband £10 per month for Unlimited Minutes Calling Plan and £11 for 2 x 1 GB mobiles (we had tiny old mobiles so I could ring hubby to collect me from church if he was not at home when I called) - for most of this 2 yrs we have been at home 'self shielding' and using the Broadband mainly for my online food shopping. Not a clue what speeds I receive as BT test cannot tell me as I still have old BT Home Hub 3!!

Contract now ending and have been bombarded with offers I do not understand (incl. Halo 3) now as I rang to leave them I have been offered a pkg where they need to remove my landline for Fibre 1 700 Anytime mins.(50mbps / 10 upload plus 2 x Samsung A12 Mobiles from EE For £62.90 and of course it will be rising by CIP + 3.9% soon - really getting distressed now and looks like the thought of having engineers in would distress hubby more than I could cope with just now. 
Very difficult to find anyone at BT to speak with even after waiting for an age on the line but I have not a clue how I can reduce the cost of this/ avoid increase or is £70 an OK price to pay. Does anyone know if Open Reach would give me a clue as to the deadline I may face for losing my landline please?

First of all, I sympathise with your situation and stay healthy and safe! I hope that BT or anyone else doesn't mislead people like this, especially those who are shielding. So £70 sounds a little too much. There's a few factors here:

1. Sounds like you are getting TV via Freesat so you wouldn't need a BT box. If you have a Smart TV, or even get a "Firestick" that plugs into your TV, you can access BT sport for £25 a month on a rolling 30 day contract via the BT sports pass. That means in the months you don't need it, you can cancel and subscribe again as and when. Similarly, Sky Sports can be accessed via the same process on a Smart TV/Firestick and you aren't tied to any contract.

2. Do you definitely need a landline? Or can you use a mobile phone to make calls instead? It might be cheaper to use a mobile for phone and just go for Broadband without a phone line. If you need a phone line and you are upgrading to "Full Fibre" (what BT, TalkTalk and Sky etc call "Ultrafast"), then Vodafone, BT and Sky offer broadband from around £20 a month on 18-24 month contracts (price varies with each provider) which include a digital phone line. It would be a digital handset phone with batteries that works so long as there is an electricity supply. 

3. Alternatively, if you could go for a mobile phone, you can do it this way:

You buy a Mobile plan which will give you Unlimited Minutes, Texts (and potentially even Data if you want that). Using the MoneySavingExpert comparison tool here, I can see you can get two SIM cards with Unlimited minutes from Vodafone for around £8 a month (so two phones would be £16 a month). If you wanted Unlimited data as well it would be approx. £20 a month for a SIM card on a 12 month contract. Of course, check the mobile network that gives you best coverage. I think "Three" is cheaper, but I don't think everyone gets a "Three" signal. Tesco Mobile which uses O2's mobile network also gives you reasonable prices for Unlimited minutes and you'll get Clubcard points/offers as well. 

TV would be via the Smart apps and you can subscribe and cancel on a rolling basis throughout the year giving you maximum flexibility. 

Now the broadband. If you are in an Openreach area where Full Fibre/Ultrafast/FTTP is available, you can upgrade which would be beneficial for the medium term. One engineer visit would be required to basically install a wire from the telephone pole/street to your house and put a little new box (called an "ONT") on the wall which plugs into a power socket. Your new internet router would then connect into that. The advantage of Full Fibre would be reliability. It is far superior to the products variably known as "Super fast Fibre" where you have a copper connection to a local cabinet. 

Currently, there are several broadband companies offering these Ultrafast services at varying prices such as BT, Vodafone, Sky, TalkTalk, etc on varying contracts from 12 months to 18 months to 24 months. These ones though will increase the price every March/April - in some cases by up to 10%. There are a few like Zen and Giganet which commit to give you a fixed price without increasing it (which is frankly how it should be!). Cuckoo is another one which do 30 day rolling contracts and a 12 month broadband contract with a guarantee for no price increases during the 12 month period. 

As an example, for your "Broadband" you could get:

1. Sky Ultrafast Fibre (150Mbps) for £35 a month on an 18 month contract (includes digital phone line)

2. Vodafone Ultrafast Fibre (500Mbps) for £32 a month on a 24 months contract (includes digital phone line)

3. TalkTalk Ultrafast Fibre (150Mbps) for £32 a month on an 18 month contract (Without phone line)

4. Cuckoo Broadband "Really Fast" Full Fibre (150Mbps) for £39.99 a month on a 12 month contract (Price is fixed for full 12 months).

5. Cuckoo Broadband Full Fibre Rolling contract (150Mbps) for £60 set up and £39.99 where you can cancel at any time (Price is fixed for full 12 months). 
6. Zen Full Fibre (100Mbps) for £38.99 a month + £30 set up fee on a 12 month contract. 

By comparison, BT Ultrafast Fibre (75Mbps) is £33 a month on a 24 month contract (£5 more with a phone line) and they increase the price every year even if you're in contract. Options 1-3 above also increase their price. Cuckoo and Zen do not and keep you at the same price during your contract. With Zen you stay at that price afterwards and are free to cancel. With Cuckoo, after the contract you are moved to the rolling monthly price of a new customer (so you don't pay more for being a loyal customer). 

Sorry for the long response, but those are your various options I reckon. If you need a landline phone line, then I suppose, go with Vodafone. If you can go for a Mobile phone and separate Broadband without landline, then go for a SIM only deal and then go for Cuckoo Broadband probably, or else Zen in order to get a fixed price broadband package that doesn't go up. And TV you can watch via your Freesat and subscribe to BT or Sky Sports only when you need it via their respective apps. Moving to a Full Fibre line would be beneficial to you in that you would likely have a far more reliable internet connection with virtually no drop outs versus the old copper line. An engineer install should hopefully be a relatively swift process and a one off thing.

P.S. If Full Fibre isn't available yet in your area, then you can still get 

1. Cuckoo "Fast" (up to 80Mbps) for £29.99 a month on a 12 months contract (with no price increase for 12 months)

2. Vodafone "Superfast" Broadband for £18 a month on a 24 months contract which includes a landline phone, 

3. Sky 35Mbps Broadband for £25 a month also on an 18 months contract. 

I hope this helps.

400ixl

Now the Cuckoo advertising is out of the way!

What do you need from your service?

What do you do with your broadband, is it only some browsing and email, or do you use streaming services as well? If you do, how many people will be streaming at the same time? If it is not multiple people then a 10mbps service would suffice, but 34mbps would be better. Only if you have 3 or more people do you really need 72mbps or faster.

On the phone side, do you use your landline and if so how much and when? Do you need inclusive calls, do you need them at peak or off peak times?

Once people know this they can help make recommendations for you.

HaroldWren5

400ixl said:

Now the Cuckoo advertising is out of the way!

What do you need from your service?

What do you do with your broadband, is it only some browsing and email, or do you use streaming services as well? If you do, how many people will be streaming at the same time? If it is not multiple people then a 10mbps service would suffice, but 34mbps would be better. Only if you have 3 or more people do you really need 72mbps or faster.

On the phone side, do you use your landline and if so how much and when? Do you need inclusive calls, do you need them at peak or off peak times?

Once people know this they can help make recommendations for you.

I wasn't advertising Cuckoo. I literally listed out several options including Vodafone and Sky. And asked the same questions you are now. I tried to adjust the bolding for several options and then post it. Ironically my own internet went mid way through. So it didn't apply the new formatting across the whole comment. I originally bolded Cuckoo, or Zen if going with FTTP and Vodafone, or Sky for FTTC as well as the BT Sports Pass and a Vodafone Mobile SIM in either case.

smart01

HaroldWren5 said:

CUBMINDER said:

watkins247 said:

I've been caught out by BT and have been paying for Halo for sometime, only to find BT can't actually supply it in my area. Only a weak 2G signal here on BT mobile.
BT Halo main benefit is the stay connected if you lose your landline, unless you are in a BT mobile area with a 4G service they can't fulfil this part of the contract.
The sales team won't tell you this only how great it and sign you up to a 24 month contract at over £50 a month. 
I've had a difficult time getting BT to "downgrade" my service to Fibre 1, saying I had agreed to a 2 year contract to Halo and couldn't do anything, only when I threatened to bring ombudsman in did this change, charging for service they can't supply, false advertising etc and telling them I would be seeking redress for the payments I had made and compensation.

So pleased to have found your post.
I am an elderly lady (mid seventies) who has just discovered that something similar was sold to me 2 yrs. ago just as lockdown began. We have a copper line 'phone and prior to this was on BT Plus (and BT TV which I was paying for so hubby could watch Sky sport/BT Sport on odd occasions when his team played Football - we watch TV on Free Sat - so I had to cancel that - without Fee, thanks to Martin - when BT put their prices up. 
Still had 'old' Home Hub 3' when BT put us onto Halo 1 - cost was / is £62.60 per month described as Unlimited Broadband £10 per month for Unlimited Minutes Calling Plan and £11 for 2 x 1 GB mobiles (we had tiny old mobiles so I could ring hubby to collect me from church if he was not at home when I called) - for most of this 2 yrs we have been at home 'self shielding' and using the Broadband mainly for my online food shopping. Not a clue what speeds I receive as BT test cannot tell me as I still have old BT Home Hub 3!!

Contract now ending and have been bombarded with offers I do not understand (incl. Halo 3) now as I rang to leave them I have been offered a pkg where they need to remove my landline for Fibre 1 700 Anytime mins.(50mbps / 10 upload plus 2 x Samsung A12 Mobiles from EE For £62.90 and of course it will be rising by CIP + 3.9% soon - really getting distressed now and looks like the thought of having engineers in would distress hubby more than I could cope with just now. 
Very difficult to find anyone at BT to speak with even after waiting for an age on the line but I have not a clue how I can reduce the cost of this/ avoid increase or is £70 an OK price to pay. Does anyone know if Open Reach would give me a clue as to the deadline I may face for losing my landline please?

First of all, I sympathise with your situation and stay healthy and safe! I hope that BT or anyone else doesn't mislead people like this, especially those who are shielding. So £70 sounds a little too much. There's a few factors here:

1. Sounds like you are getting TV via Freesat so you wouldn't need a BT box. If you have a Smart TV, or even get a "Firestick" that plugs into your TV, you can access BT sport for £25 a month on a rolling 30 day contract via the BT sports pass. That means in the months you don't need it, you can cancel and subscribe again as and when. Similarly, Sky Sports can be accessed via the same process on a Smart TV/Firestick and you aren't tied to any contract.

2. Do you definitely need a landline? Or can you use a mobile phone to make calls instead? It might be cheaper to use a mobile for phone and just go for Broadband without a phone line. If you need a phone line and you are upgrading to "Full Fibre" (what BT, TalkTalk and Sky etc call "Ultrafast"), then Vodafone, BT and Sky offer broadband from around £20 a month on 18-24 month contracts (price varies with each provider) which include a digital phone line. It would be a digital handset phone with batteries that works so long as there is an electricity supply. 

3. Alternatively, if you could go for a mobile phone, you can do it this way:

You buy a Mobile plan which will give you Unlimited Minutes, Texts (and potentially even Data if you want that). Using the MoneySavingExpert comparison tool here, I can see you can get two SIM cards with Unlimited minutes from Vodafone for around £8 a month (so two phones would be £16 a month). If you wanted Unlimited data as well it would be approx. £20 a month for a SIM card on a 12 month contract. Of course, check the mobile network that gives you best coverage. I think "Three" is cheaper, but I don't think everyone gets a "Three" signal. Tesco Mobile which uses O2's mobile network also gives you reasonable prices for Unlimited minutes and you'll get Clubcard points/offers as well. 

TV would be via the Smart apps and you can subscribe and cancel on a rolling basis throughout the year giving you maximum flexibility. 

Now the broadband. If you are in an Openreach area where Full Fibre/Ultrafast/FTTP is available, you can upgrade which would be beneficial for the medium term. One engineer visit would be required to basically install a wire from the telephone pole/street to your house and put a little new box (called an "ONT") on the wall which plugs into a power socket. Your new internet router would then connect into that. The advantage of Full Fibre would be reliability. It is far superior to the products variably known as "Super fast Fibre" where you have a copper connection to a local cabinet. 

Currently, there are several broadband companies offering these Ultrafast services at varying prices such as BT, Vodafone, Sky, TalkTalk, etc on varying contracts from 12 months to 18 months to 24 months. These ones though will increase the price every March/April - in some cases by up to 10%. There are a few like Zen and Giganet which commit to give you a fixed price without increasing it (which is frankly how it should be!). Cuckoo is another one which do 30 day rolling contracts and a 12 month broadband contract with a guarantee for no price increases during the 12 month period. 

As an example, for your "Broadband" you could get:

1. Sky Ultrafast Fibre (150Mbps) for £35 a month on an 18 month contract (includes digital phone line)

2. Vodafone Ultrafast Fibre (500Mbps) for £32 a month on a 24 months contract (includes digital phone line)

3. TalkTalk Ultrafast Fibre (150Mbps) for £32 a month on an 18 month contract (Without phone line)

4. Cuckoo Broadband "Really Fast" Full Fibre (150Mbps) for £39.99 a month on a 12 month contract (Price is fixed for full 12 months).

5. Cuckoo Broadband Full Fibre Rolling contract (150Mbps) for £60 set up and £39.99 where you can cancel at any time (Price is fixed for full 12 months). 
6. Zen Full Fibre (100Mbps) for £38.99 a month + £30 set up fee on a 12 month contract. 

By comparison, BT Ultrafast Fibre (75Mbps) is £33 a month on a 24 month contract (£5 more with a phone line) and they increase the price every year even if you're in contract. Options 1-3 above also increase their price. Cuckoo and Zen do not and keep you at the same price during your contract. With Zen you stay at that price afterwards and are free to cancel. With Cuckoo, after the contract you are moved to the rolling monthly price of a new customer (so you don't pay more for being a loyal customer). 

Sorry for the long response, but those are your various options I reckon. If you need a landline phone line, then I suppose, go with Vodafone. If you can go for a Mobile phone and separate Broadband without landline, then go for a SIM only deal and then go for Cuckoo Broadband probably, or else Zen in order to get a fixed price broadband package that doesn't go up. And TV you can watch via your Freesat and subscribe to BT or Sky Sports only when you need it via their respective apps. Moving to a Full Fibre line would be beneficial to you in that you would likely have a far more reliable internet connection with virtually no drop outs versus the old copper line. An engineer install should hopefully be a relatively swift process and a one off thing.

P.S. If Full Fibre isn't available yet in your area, then you can still get 

1. Cuckoo "Fast" (up to 80Mbps) for £29.99 a month on a 12 months contract (with no price increase for 12 months)

2. Vodafone "Superfast" Broadband for £18 a month on a 24 months contract which includes a landline phone, 

3. Sky 35Mbps Broadband for £25 a month also on an 18 months contract. 

I hope this helps.

HaroldWren5: Thank you for this thorough and detailed response to the OP. I found it very helpful to work through the possible options in a very similar situation. My take-away is that the Freesat we already have can take most of the heavy lifting and we can take out short subscriptions as and when needed. Taking a 67Mbs deal with Vodafone will be enough broadband for them as we do no gaming and are happy with HD - no need for UHD or other bandwidth gobblers. We will miss the recording facility we have with Virgin Media's kit but Freesat do a set-top recorder, and a Firestick will make accessing the various on-demand apps quite easy. Between them, those two devices give us flexibility over when we watch our favourite shows. The saving of around £50 per month will handsomely cover the cost of the Freesat box in 3 or 4 months.