BT Landline & Broadband

jsb1

Dear all,

I have just discovered that my 80-year-old mum has been paying about £80 every month for her BT landline and broadband package. She lives alone, has an ipad which she uses for reading the paper and watches the occasional program on iPlayer but she can hardly be described as a heavy internet user though this didn't stop BT signing her up for their 'Fibre Halo 3' package costing £63.94 per month. She is signed up to their '700min calling plan' for £7.98 per month, even though she has never made more than 100 mins of telephone calls per month. She also has signed up for Voicemail with Call Protect (£4.03pcm) and paper billing (£3.00pcm). Apparently she 'signed this 24 month contract' back in February 2021.

When I spoke with a BT representative today, they apologised and agreed that it did sound somewhat inappropriate and that they would log a complaint. However the only 'remedy' offered was that in two weeks time someone would call my mum to offer her another contract when this one expires next February.

Surely this qualifies as taking advantage of an elderly, vulnerable pensioner. My dad died back in 2018. When he was alive he organised such things but after he died that responsibility fell to my mum who trusted BT, a company who she has trusted and loyally supported throughout her life, to guide her to the most appropriate service. Sadly it would appear on this occasion that trust was misplaced.

Is there anything she can do other than follow the BT advice to pay £400 over the next 5 months which will solve the problem. Not the best in the current cost of living crisis.

QrizB

Is your mum still competent? If so, she's free to enter into whatever contract she chooses. She may have chosen poorly this time, but she will know better next time.

She may find that she can drop the optional extras - the calls bundle, the voicemail, and the paper billing - if she doesn't want or need them. That will save £15 a month.

When he was alive he organised such things but after he died that responsibility fell to my mum who trusted BT, a company who she has trusted and loyally supported throughout her life, to guide her to the most appropriate service.

A couple of important life lessons there.

Neil_Jones

jsb1 said:

Dear all,

I have just discovered that my 80-year-old mum has been paying about £80 every month for her BT landline and broadband package. She lives alone, has an ipad which she uses for reading the paper and watches the occasional program on iPlayer but she can hardly be described as a heavy internet user though this didn't stop BT signing her up for their 'Fibre Halo 3' package costing £63.94 per month. She is signed up to their '700min calling plan' for £7.98 per month, even though she has never made more than 100 mins of telephone calls per month. She also has signed up for Voicemail with Call Protect (£4.03pcm) and paper billing (£3.00pcm). Apparently she 'signed this 24 month contract' back in February 2021.

When I spoke with a BT representative today, they apologised and agreed that it did sound somewhat inappropriate and that they would log a complaint. However the only 'remedy' offered was that in two weeks time someone would call my mum to offer her another contract when this one expires next February.

Surely this qualifies as taking advantage of an elderly, vulnerable pensioner. My dad died back in 2018. When he was alive he organised such things but after he died that responsibility fell to my mum who trusted BT, a company who she has trusted and loyally supported throughout her life, to guide her to the most appropriate service. Sadly it would appear on this occasion that trust was misplaced.

Is there anything she can do other than follow the BT advice to pay £400 over the next 5 months which will solve the problem. Not the best in the current cost of living crisis.

If your mother is sound of mind, fully competent and can make her own decisions, then this is nothing to do with "taking advantage", that's her choice to pay that.

Not the provider's responsibility to check the customer is on the right package for them, its the customer's responsibility to do that.  Maybe you should have become involved sooner, rather than four years down the line.

twopenny

Does she want or need to save money?

If she can afford it there is a reluctance to change when you get older as you lack the information to deal with any problems should they occour.

They are right that you now have to wait for the contract to expire as she has legally signed up for it.

You could look up the other and suitable BT contracts for her and write it down so that she can use that information when they ring through.

See that she has all the relevant bits of info she'll need like account number etc too layed out clear. That will prevent her from being distracted by not knowing or having to find things when they ring out of the blue.

It's only a tiny bit but you should be able to get paper bills for free if BT billing are told she has eyesight problems. I've come across a couple of companies that do. They don't come and test people, they have to take your word for it.

"Alternatively, please phone us on 0800 919 591 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday to arrange for information to be sent in your preferred format, or fill in our online form >"

JohnReese

jsb1 said:

Dear all,

I have just discovered that my 80-year-old mum has been paying about £80 every month for her BT landline and broadband package. She lives alone, has an ipad which she uses for reading the paper and watches the occasional program on iPlayer but she can hardly be described as a heavy internet user though this didn't stop BT signing her up for their 'Fibre Halo 3' package costing £63.94 per month. She is signed up to their '700min calling plan' for £7.98 per month, even though she has never made more than 100 mins of telephone calls per month. She also has signed up for Voicemail with Call Protect (£4.03pcm) and paper billing (£3.00pcm). Apparently she 'signed this 24 month contract' back in February 2021.

When I spoke with a BT representative today, they apologised and agreed that it did sound somewhat inappropriate and that they would log a complaint. However the only 'remedy' offered was that in two weeks time someone would call my mum to offer her another contract when this one expires next February.

Surely this qualifies as taking advantage of an elderly, vulnerable pensioner. My dad died back in 2018. When he was alive he organised such things but after he died that responsibility fell to my mum who trusted BT, a company who she has trusted and loyally supported throughout her life, to guide her to the most appropriate service. Sadly it would appear on this occasion that trust was misplaced.

Is there anything she can do other than follow the BT advice to pay £400 over the next 5 months which will solve the problem. Not the best in the current cost of living crisis.

It might be best to have a strategy for what to do once the contract ends and save money over the longer term from February onwards. That way you may save a lot more and put in place a long term strategy for what is needed.

1. Would she be open to using a Mobile instead of a Landline? If so, check which of the main providers have the best signal in the area (can use the postcode checker on their websites). You can then go for an Unlimited Minutes SIM with anyone who uses that network and possibly get 30 day rolling contracts, or a shorter 12 month contract for better value than a Landline. Tesco Mobile (O2), Lebara (Vodafone), Smarty (Three) for instance all do fixed prices.

2. If not open to a Mobile, sometimes it is worth checking a few others like Sky and Vodafone who offer Landline services to see if they would be cheaper than BT.

3. Check whether the property is able to get a Full Fibre (Ultrafast) service. If so, you may find that she can get a shorter contract, fixed price and more reliable broadband service for a lower price than what is being paid now (e.g. 30 day rolling, or 12 month contracts) which use an Openreach based FTTP line. Even if a faster speed isn't required, it might give you more options regarding contract length and reliability. 

4. If the property cannot get Full Fibre, it might be cheaper to actually get internet access by way of an Unlimited Data SIM in a Mifi device/hotspot (portable and can be carried around with you). Alternatively the Sim can be placed into a compatible SIM router for coverage across the home. A Smart TV, computer, tablet/iPad etc can all connect to a Mifi via Wifi. 

As a very basic example of some of the permutations from above:

1. With a Mobile and Full Fibre:
Unlimited Mins, Texts, Data SIM could be between £12.50 to £25 a month on 30 day rolling contracts. Even a Full Fibre service could be for somewhere in the range of £39 to £55 a month on a 30 day rolling or 12 month contract.
That comes to a total of between £53 to £68 a month and your prices would be fixed and you have maximum flexibility on 30 day rolling for everything. 

2. With a Mobile and Mifi for Internet
Unlimited Mins, Text, and a small amount of Data SIM for your Mobile Phone. Between £6 to £9 a month on 30 day rolling (depends on which network). 
Unlimited Mins, Text and Unlimited Data SIM for the Internet (in a Mifi device). Between £15 to £20 a month for 30 day rolling (depends on which network). [One off cost for Mifi of around £40 from somewhere like Amazon, John Lewis or Currys] 
That comes to a total of between £21 to £29 a month with fixed prices and 30 day rolling flexibility. 

3. There are other options for "FTTC" broadband & landline from providers like NOW, or Vodafone which others mention on this forum with Landline and Broadband otherwise.