Will BT help an elderly person change their inappropriate contract they can't afford

Weave

Hi

Anyone had any experience and success with reducing the cost of a BT contract?

Quick rundown on the situation:
This is a recently bereaved friend in his 80's and I have just found out he has the following contract with BT:
- Full fibre 100 broadband £65 per month
- 700 inclusive minutes £8
- Now Entertainment and Cinema £25 per month
- BT Mobile 3GB tablet plan £13
- Additional charges for out of plan calls £4
- Contract has been running for at least 3 months and ends in March 2024
Total monthly bill every month is about £115

This guys lives on his own and uses the internet to check his email and energy bills. He does not need full fibre broadband and definitely not at £65 per month and the other stuff I believe has never been used.

I don't think he even knows he has Now TV and I have no idea why he has a tablet sim plan as he does not have a tablet with a sim. His now deceased wife had a wifi only tablet.

He lives on a state pension only so this is costing him £1,400 per year from his £10,000 income which is ridiculous.

He is a proud man and does not know I have seen his BT bill so I am in an awkward position of wanting to help but do not want to offend him. I feel he has been sold a contract that is totally inappropriate and he can not afford with the energy bills he is about to face this winter.

Are BT sympathetic to these situations if I broach it with my friend and then help him contact BT to resolve?

Neil_Jones

Phone them up and ask them?  But the account will be in his name, so BT will probably just tell you to go away.

The problem here is if your friend is sound of mind, capable of making his own decisions and is happy to pay £115 for whatever reason and spend 14% of his income on it, then that's ultimately up to him.  if its the wrong package, that's not up to BT, that's not up to you... that's up to him.

Contrary to popular belief you do not retire from work at the age of 65/6/7/8, go to bed and wake up the following morning having lost all your marbles.  These days you can easily get into your 90s and be fully mentally and physically capable.

If you want to get involved and start haggling on his behalf, that's up to you.  But be prepared to just leave it if that's what he wants.

Neil49

As far as I am aware the Now contracts run on a monthly basis so he should be able to log on to his account and simply cancel them. 

They will probably offer to continue them at a special low rate but he can ignore those offers. 

baser999

I’ve spoken to BT about my mothers contract in the past, although it was nowhere near as messy as the one laid out here. Always found them easy to speak to and deal with, however, they’ve always asked to speak to her to ensure she’s aware of my calling. 

Since you say he’s not aware you know his circumstances could you try and bring it up in conversation? Perhaps just casually mention that your internet costs might be going up “what are you paying for yours?” When he tells you, you express surprise and he might break it down at which point you seize the moment.

in_my_wellies

BT refused to cancel my mothers contract when she moved out of her home to come to live with me. They said it would only end when the flat was sold or the contract came to it's end

HillStreetBlues

Do you know if your friend is on Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit)?
If so can swap to Home Essentials for £15 

lisyloo

I would explain it to him.
if he is able to make his own decisions then it’s up to him.
Phone up bt and say he has hearing difficulties but they can get his permission to speak to you over the phone.

poppasmurf_bewdley

Several years ago, in the course of my work, I came across an old lady who was a BT customers. She told me how she received regular phone calls from BT sales people who were so kind and let her have free trials of lots of different services. I asked her if she would show me her phone bill, and sure enough she was paying for lots of services that she had no use for and would never use in a million years. 

With her permission, I rang BT, asked to be put in touch with a supervisor in the UK (which I was) and I explained the situation.  All the unnecessary services were removed immediately and a full refund offered, which the old dear accepted.  

It's hard to prove that some BT sales people have a suckers list, but I'm a firm believer that it was common in the past.

Weave

Thanks for your advice and input everyone. I will bring broadband costs up in conversation and see if he will tell me what he pays. I’ll post back here if I get as far as contacting BT with his permission to let you know what happens.

Weave

UPDATE: BT DO NOT CARE IF YOU ARE STRUGGLING THEY STILL TRY AND GET MORE OUT OF YOU!

Yesterday I broached the subject of broadband costs with my friend and he was open to discussing his bills and I was able to explain I felt he was being overcharged. We went on to his PC and I logged into his BT account and showed him his bills which he had not seen as he did not know how to login and did not get paper bills.

We started an online chat with BT and explained he was finding the bills difficult to manage and he did not need such a fast connection, the mobile tablet SIM had not been used and the TV package was not needed. The operator was sympathetic but explained he was under contract but could try and reduce the prices for him. The operator offered a £22 discount for which we were grateful and at the end of the conversation I checked this would not affect the contract length to which the operator said ‘‘This is a new contract I am offering starting today for 24 months’. 

At this point I saw red as this BT operator had listened to us telling him we did not need most of the services and could not afford them and proceeded to try and get my friend to enter into an even longer commitment to them even though he had said he did not need them…. AND IT GETS WORSE as I later found out.

After telling the operator he was out of order and asking to speak to his manager he transferred me to another agent and that chat operator never replied. We started another new chat and explained we were not happy and this operator told us to ring BT and speak to the ‘Values Team’ as they will definitely help us with the affordability issue.

We rang the Values Team and they said the broadband was under contract and they can not help as it’s a contract, not remotely sympathetic but factually correct. I’m not sure what the purpose of the Values Team is, presumably to optimise the value BT shareholders receive! They did however tell us the mobile SIM and TV services were out of contract so could be cancelled immediately….. SO WHY DID THE CHAT OPERATOR NOT OFFER TO CANCEL THESE SERVICES INSTEAD OF TRYING TO START A NEW 24 MONTH CONTRACT FOR THEM!

I am still really cross that BT’s response to a plea for help is to try and get more money out of you for longer. If it was for my own account I would be starting a formal complaint and taking it to the ombudsman if they did not apologise and compensate. As this is an elderly gents account he will not want that hassle and there is slight glimmer of hope. My friend is applying for pension credit and if that comes through BT have said he can swap to the Essentials product mentioned by @HillStreetBlues (thanks for mentioning that as BT didn’t when we contacted them until I brought it up).

I personally will have nothing to do with BT from now on as they are all about the money based on this experience. My friend has been loyal to BT all of his life and this is how they treat him. Shame on you BT!

southsidergs

The same could be said of any company, it's not just a BT issue.

Also what would you be demanding compensation for & contacting the ombudsman about? BT gave you options but nobody was forcing them to be taken, they've done nothing wrong but of course you don't want to hear that