Gigaclear, charging existing customers more that twice the cost for new members

snow8128

It may just be my dealing with gigaclear.  I live in rural Gloucestershire and had to use satellite broadband as even the BT copper wire was 0.25 Megabit - so next to useless.  We moved to Gigaclear when it was being installed in our village and it has been good.  My surprise however came when my fixed contract period came to an end and we were informed that as an existing customer we had a price increase while new customers for the same service could get the same service more that half the cost.  I appreciate that treating new customers differently to existing customers has been a contentious issue and has been resolved in the insurance sector but where a provider has a monopoly, is helped install the systems with government money, it seems morally corrupt though perfectly legal I assume.  So the question I have, are all existing Gigaclear customers charged differently?  It may be that as we have no choice on providers so cannot swap we are genuinely treated differently

tallmansix

It is written in the T's and C's clearly that it is an intro price only and the normal price is shown:



They could of course charge full price from day 1 if you prefer them not to offer introductory prices that save money?

douggoo

I'm in the same situation. £49 a month for 300mbps, yet new customers are offered £19 a month for 18 months. Their 'loyalty and retention team' weren't particularly sympathetic. Gigaclear are a monopoly in the area, yet 3 miles down the road is another fibre company installed, so hopefully they will soon link up and provide an alternative, they are offering 450mbps for £40 a month on their rolling contract after their £25/mo. 18 month introductory offer.

DullGreyGuy

Have you spoken to them about signing up to a new fixed term period? 

Despite being in central London our phonelines are copper direct to the exchange and not via a greenbox. Its been a few years when I checked but broadband speeds were about 1Mbps (the agent was shocked when they saw where we were) and no option of FTTC as there is no cabinet (FTTP wasnt an option at the time).  The buildings around here are all pre-wired for Hyperoptic though who give a 50% discount to new customers and offer up to 1Gbps speeds. Thankfully with them existing customers can get the same discounts if they lock into another 12/24 month contract. 

ghosti

Is it possible to finish the current contract and then re-join as a new customer?

bashers2247

We are on a street with only Gigaclear and a (now defunct) BT phone line supplying 49mbps.
I've been paying £32 for a 600mbps connection and The renewal looked to be £66
Having prepared myself for battle and the threat of switching back to the 4G mobile we'd been using reliably for 2 previous years i called them.
I'd planned that i may have to leave Gigaclear to go back to my 150mbps 4G connection. I'd stay on this for EE unlimited PAYG SIM for 30 days, as seemed to be suggested by other providers and then rejoin at a good discount

However a quick chat and a "chat with my supervisor" the rep offered me a renewal of my connection for just £39.
OK so its a 20% hike, but as EE increased my mobile bills by 15% per annum, its not that bad.

So the long and short, prepare for the worst, ask the retention team nicely, and I'm sure they'll sort you out

tasty_snacks

bashers2247 said:

We are on a street with only Gigaclear and a (now defunct) BT phone line supplying 49mbps.
I've been paying £32 for a 600mbps connection and The renewal looked to be £66
Having prepared myself for battle and the threat of switching back to the 4G mobile we'd been using reliably for 2 previous years i called them.
I'd planned that i may have to leave Gigaclear to go back to my 150mbps 4G connection. I'd stay on this for EE unlimited PAYG SIM for 30 days, as seemed to be suggested by other providers and then rejoin at a good discount

However a quick chat and a "chat with my supervisor" the rep offered me a renewal of my connection for just £39.
OK so its a 20% hike, but as EE increased my mobile bills by 15% per annum, its not that bad.

So the long and short, prepare for the worst, ask the retention team nicely, and I'm sure they'll sort you out

Second this. Like many providers, give them a call and ask them (with a broad smile) to see what they can do. I was paying >£50 pcm and this week managed to get quicker speeds, and get the renewal down by £10 pcm. Not introductory levels as available on the website granted, but a bottom line reduction none-the-less and closer to the intro offer than the renewal I was being quoted.

We've been with Gigaclear for nearly three years now and they're the best around here (Gloucestershire) in terms of speeds and service. 

phillw

snow8128 said:

I appreciate that treating new customers differently to existing customers has been a contentious issue and has been resolved in the insurance sector

The regulator meddled with the insurance industry, which saw everyone's prices rise. Fortunately it wasn't totally ruined and people who are lazy and just accept the renewal price still pay more than if you phone up and negotiate.

Either ask them for a lower price, or leave. The alternative will be they charge the full price from the beginning, and because that would put people off even trying the service then they would probably charge even more.

DarrenL124

We are in the same situation and in a rural property.  Gigaclear installed fibre on our lane as part of their rural fibre rollout and as we only had copper, we signed up. Yes, we knew that the cost would change, but they have a monopoly on supply via their cables and you do not have the option of going to someone else, as there isn't anyone. Now paying £52/ month. Definitely  uncompetitive, but they basically have you by the short and curlies.

QrizB

DarrenL124 said:

... they have a monopoly on supply via their cables and you do not have the option of going to someone else, as there isn't anyone.

You could go back to BT/OpenReach? Or use 4G/5G? Or even (depending on exactly how rural) share with a neighbour?

Forthay2

In some parts of Rural Gloucestershire there is no mobile reception and Openreach are not interested in improving their miserable performance so if you want a decent upload speed you have to go with Gigaclear. They have the contracts from Fastershire to provide FTTP to most homes around here. In my opinion Ofcom is totally useless.