Hyperoptic Social Tariff prices reduced but existing customer not notified.

tekskin

I applied for Hyperoptic's Social Tariff for 150Mb Fair Fibre March 2022, and had it since then. At the time it was £25 per month on a 30 day rolling contract.
I found out about a week ago that the Social Tariff I am on was reduced to £20 around November last year, but did not receive any notification.

I have been in contact with Hyperoptic's customer service via email 'chat', and initially took 3 days before someone could deal with the enquiry.
I was then told that customers were advised and the website updated as the price had changed for 2023, but I had now had my account changed to show the new price, and so I would only have to pay this in future. OK, so what about the last 8 months I've overpaid? (the price change was actually Nov 2022). They replied 'sorry, there's nothing we can do about that. Oh, and by the way, we didn't contact existing customers, as this is a 'Live Marketing' thing'. 

So I have now had to file a complaint with Hyperoptic, and recorded a complaint with OFCOM.

Anyone on an existing Social Tariff for Broadband &/or Phone, check the price for your tariff has not gone down and you are paying more. Doing this on a Social Tariff is just twice as bad as on a normal tariff that people can afford.

I will update on the progress of this here.

tekskin

Here is the email reply I received from Hyperoptic. They are adding the credit for the extra money I have paid out each month. However I still think that as per their terms and conditions they should have been informing customers of the price drop. They have an obligation to do so when they put the prices up.

<start of email>

Dear XXX,

Thank you for your time and patience whilst waiting to receive an official response to your complaint.  I am sorry to learn about the inconvenience you experienced in this matter.

My name is Ognjen and I am a representative of Hyperoptic's Customer Relations Team, it is my goal to guide you along your Hyperoptic path.

Having investigated the communication you had with our Team I can confirm that we will provide internal feedback, where ever required, so that we can make sure to address each and every customer query.

Please have in mind that Hyperoptic reduced fair fiber pricing at the end of November 2022 and we informed the public through public announcements and through our website.  https://www.hyperoptic.com/press/posts/hyperoptic-cuts-price-of-uks-fastest-social-broadband-tariff/ 

I have applied the new fair fiber promotion as we speak, meaning that future bills will be sent out in the amount of £20.00 for the 150Mps package.  Please keep in mind that this promotion change cannot affect the bill which has already been issued and which is supposed to be collected on the 12th July. Seeing how you do not find it fair that we have not contacted customers directly, I want to do everything I can to turn your experience the other way around.  What I had in mind is to return the price difference of £5.00 for 8 months, total amount of £40.00 by adding credits to your Hyperoptic account.

In case you accept this one time gesture of goodwill the credits will be added and will be used against your following bills until fully spent.  In case you accept my offer you are accepting the amicable resolution of this complaint, I would kindly advise you that we did not need to provide this option, however, I wanted to do everything in my power to show you that I care about your situation and experience. 

Please let me know if you would like to accept my offer so that I can go ahead in adding the mentioned credits to your Hyperoptic account?

I would like to thank you for the input you have provided as it will help us boost customer satisfaction in moving forward.

In case you should have any additional questions I will be happy to help you!

Kindest regards,

Ognjen
Customer Relations Specialist

<end of email>

southsidergs

Technically an excellent outcome as they had no need to give you the credit from the time of the price change.

Tell me do you go back to other shops when prices drop & demand it be changed because why people think broadband should be any different I don't know

tekskin

Well aren't you a little ray of sunshine southsidergs, you little keyboard warrior you!

From the look of your contributions (and I use the term very loosely in your case), it's safe to ignore any future comments from you as completely worthless. 

Meanwhile, for anyone else who happens across this thread, when I queried Hyperoptic they advised me twice that they emailed customer and updated their website. They later said no, we didn't email customers, just updated the website. 

Secondly, it's not a promotion. It's a permanent price change. There's a difference. It's also a rolling 30 day contract, not a 12 or 24 month type which locks you in.

Thirdly, to do this on what is specifically a social tariff, designed for those who are unable to currently afford full price and are in receipt of the requisite benefits, is awful, and needed to be addressed.