My broadband contract ends soon. How to renegotiate or switch and avoid the out-of-contract hike?

A_Lert

My broadband contract ends at some point in February. (I found the exact date another day but have lost it again, go figure). As far as I can find out, when it ends Vodafone will hike the price up by £3 (currently paying £25/mth for 45/16 speeds). But if I switch before the contract ends I will be stung with early termination fees. Feels like I'm between a rock and a hard place. What to do?

(On the other hand, might I be better waiting until after the scheduled inflation-linked price rises in April?)

Neil_Jones

Early termination fees are pro-rata to the end of your deal, so by this point it will be one month at the most.

iniltous

Most mainstream providers build in an annual price increase based on an ‘inflation +’  formula, so if you switched to someone else , at an agreed price , chances are the price will go up when that increase is applied, obviously you could try negotiating with VF , but again whatever price you agree will likely increase once their yearly increase is implemented, so unless you have access to a provider that guarantees no yearly increases, you will almost certainly have in term price increases.
As already stated , you are so close to the end of your minimum term , the likely early termination charges will be small, so personally I wouldn’t let that influence my decision to stay or leave.
TBH , there isn’t a perfect answer that will fit everyone’s situation, but if you are ‘happy’ with your provider, it can’t hurt to contact them and say you are thinking of leaving and what can they do price wise to persuade you to stay, but with the caveat that whatever price you agree won’t be fixed , it will go up probably by around 15%.
TBH your current price is probably average, the £3 increase isn’t outrageous for being outside a minimum term ,and in a few months if the VF price inside a minimum term is £28 and outside is £31 ( or more ) that too will probably be industry’average’.

Some have access to Alt Nets , they can have competitive pricing ( or are desperate ) to get punters onto their networks