BT “Loyalty Penalty Contracts”.

Drumslinger

My partner works in the NHS saving lives. It’s a full on job and she gets very little time to herself especially when you add in her daily 50 mile commute.

The prospect of telephoning insurance, utility companies in the evening when a) they’re often closed or b) she’ll wind up in a 45+ minute queue is frankly too much to bear.

For some time now she has completely forgotten to check on her BT account for basic Broadband and landline and we were horrified on to discover on checking two days ago that she is currently paying £78.50 per month for basic broadband and home telephone! A basic, no frills, bog standard package.

Most people (including myself) are paying under £30pm.

It turns out she has missed a couple of contract reminders and due to her not responding BT has increased her monthly payments massively going back to 2017, possibly even further.

BT customer services said there is nothing they can do as the onus was on her to renew.

While that is probably the case, why on earth ramp the charges up to £78.50 from an already ridiculous £56? Surely BT should cap renewals at either the price the customer was paying prior to expiry, or maybe increase it slightly by £5-10 per month absolute max.

My question is how many people, particularly the elderly and vulnerable, are also paying these ludicrously high monthly payments due to being unaware of expired contracts?

I suspect there may be thousands.

I’ve told BT I am contacting the Money Saving Expert and I think it’s given them a fright but no resolution is forthcoming and we’ve been told to expect a “Deadlock Letter” so we can escalate the issue.

Is anybody else on here in the same boat?

MattMattMattUK

Drumslinger said:

My partner works in the NHS saving lives. It’s a full on job and she gets very little time to herself especially when you add in her daily 50 mile commute.

The prospect of telephoning insurance, utility companies in the evening when a) they’re often closed or b) she’ll wind up in a 45+ minute queue is frankly too much to bear.

For some time now she has completely forgotten to check on her BT account for basic Broadband and landline and we were horrified on to discover on checking two days ago that she is currently paying £78.50 per month for basic broadband and home telephone! A basic, no frills, bog standard package.

Most people (including myself) are paying under £30pm.

It turns out she has missed a couple of contract reminders and due to her not responding BT has increased her monthly payments massively going back to 2017, possibly even further.

BT customer services said there is nothing they can do as the onus was on her to renew.

While that is probably the case, why on earth ramp the charges up to £78.50 from an already ridiculous £56? Surely BT should cap renewals at either the price the customer was paying prior to expiry, or maybe increase it slightly by £5-10 per month absolute max.

My question is how many people, particularly the elderly and vulnerable, are also paying these ludicrously high monthly payments due to being unaware of expired contracts?

I suspect there may be thousands.

I’ve told BT I am contacting the Money Saving Expert and I think it’s given them a fright but no resolution is forthcoming and we’ve been told to expect a “Deadlock Letter” so we can escalate the issue.

Is anybody else on here in the same boat?

It happens to lots of people who are inactive in managing their finances, it is standard across many sectors. You can get a "deadlock letter" and take it to Ofcom, who will reject your complaint because it has no legal standing. 

Unfortunately this is one of those situations where individuals are required to actively manage their finances otherwise they face increased costs. 

la531983

Drumslinger said:

My partner works in the NHS saving lives. It’s a full on job and she gets very little time to herself especially when you add in her daily 50 mile commute.

The prospect of telephoning insurance, utility companies in the evening when a) they’re often closed or b) she’ll wind up in a 45+ minute queue is frankly too much to bear.

She has had no weekdays off, or annual leave, in 6 years?

The above from Matt is essentially accurate.  Pulling the NHS line out with the provider or OFCOM wont get you anywhere either, I know this is what you dont want to hear but it wont.

EssexExile

Drumslinger said:

My partner works in the NHS saving lives. It’s a full on job and she gets very little time to herself especially when you add in her daily 50 mile commute.

The prospect of telephoning insurance, utility companies in the evening when a) they’re often closed or b) she’ll wind up in a 45+ minute queue is frankly too much to bear.

For some time now she has completely forgotten to check on her BT account for basic Broadband and landline and we were horrified on to discover on checking two days ago that she is currently paying £78.50 per month for basic broadband and home telephone! A basic, no frills, bog standard package.

Most people (including myself) are paying under £30pm.

It turns out she has missed a couple of contract reminders and due to her not responding BT has increased her monthly payments massively going back to 2017, possibly even further.

BT customer services said there is nothing they can do as the onus was on her to renew.

While that is probably the case, why on earth ramp the charges up to £78.50 from an already ridiculous £56? Surely BT should cap renewals at either the price the customer was paying prior to expiry, or maybe increase it slightly by £5-10 per month absolute max.

My question is how many people, particularly the elderly and vulnerable, are also paying these ludicrously high monthly payments due to being unaware of expired contracts?

I suspect there may be thousands.

I’ve told BT I am contacting the Money Saving Expert and I think it’s given them a fright but no resolution is forthcoming and we’ve been told to expect a “Deadlock Letter” so we can escalate the issue.

Is anybody else on here in the same boat?

BT are very strange. When my contract expired they continued charging me the same. Every now and then they send emails saying "You are paying £xx (which is always wrong) and for only £y more you can have a new 24 month contract". Why I'd pay more for the same service on a longer contract I can't imagine.

For a communications company their communication performance is dire.

littleboo

I think you anger is misdirected. The answer is maybe to assist your partner with some of their admin. 

Drumslinger

la531983 said:

Drumslinger said:

My partner works in the NHS saving lives. It’s a full on job and she gets very little time to herself especially when you add in her daily 50 mile commute.

The prospect of telephoning insurance, utility companies in the evening when a) they’re often closed or b) she’ll wind up in a 45+ minute queue is frankly too much to bear.

She has had no weekdays off, or annual leave, in 6 years?

The above from Matt is essentially accurate.  Pulling the NHS line out with the provider or OFCOM wont get you anywhere either, I know this is what you dont want to hear but it wont.

She gets very little time off and much of it is spent assisting her 96 year old mother who lives a 150 mile round trip away.
She genuinely thought she was paying around £30 per month. Only last month she checked and discovered it was actually £78.50. She’s been with BT since the 1980s so  why the massive hike for loyal customers who are unaware their contracts have ended. Bump it up by £5 maybe but not £50 surely?

Drumslinger

littleboo said:

I think you anger is misdirected. The answer is maybe to assist your partner with some of their admin. 

I don’t think my anger is misdirected at all. For BT to gradually increase monthly payments of a local customer of 35+ years from £30 to £78.50 is an outrage. 
i will however suggest to her that she quits saving lives in the NHS and takes a simpler, less involved job. One that gives her enough free time to regularly monitor her finances.
She cares too much and gives too much to her fellow human beings. That really needs to stop. 
It’s 2023. Who does she think she is? Florence Nightingale?

Neil_Jones

Drumslinger said:

My partner works in the NHS saving lives. It’s a full on job and she gets very little time to herself especially when you add in her daily 50 mile commute.

The prospect of telephoning insurance, utility companies in the evening when a) they’re often closed or b) she’ll wind up in a 45+ minute queue is frankly too much to bear.

For some time now she has completely forgotten to check on her BT account for basic Broadband and landline and we were horrified on to discover on checking two days ago that she is currently paying £78.50 per month for basic broadband and home telephone! A basic, no frills, bog standard package.

Well I don't know what you're looking at but I can see here: https://www.bt.com/help/contact-bt/account-and-billing/broadband - "[Open for calls] Monday to Friday 8am - 9pm Weekends and bank holidays 8am - 8pm Messaging available 7am-10:30pm seven days a week". - so it doesn't look "closed" in the evening...

But ultimately BT are right its her responsibility to be on the right package that suits her.

Drumslinger

Neil_Jones said:

Drumslinger said:

My partner works in the NHS saving lives. It’s a full on job and she gets very little time to herself especially when you add in her daily 50 mile commute.

The prospect of telephoning insurance, utility companies in the evening when a) they’re often closed or b) she’ll wind up in a 45+ minute queue is frankly too much to bear.

For some time now she has completely forgotten to check on her BT account for basic Broadband and landline and we were horrified on to discover on checking two days ago that she is currently paying £78.50 per month for basic broadband and home telephone! A basic, no frills, bog standard package.

Well I don't know what you're looking at but I can see here: https://www.bt.com/help/contact-bt/account-and-billing/broadband - "[Open for calls] Monday to Friday 8am - 9pm Weekends and bank holidays 8am - 8pm Messaging available 7am-10:30pm seven days a week". - so it doesn't look "closed" in the evening...

But ultimately BT are right it’s her responsibility to be on the right package that suits her.

Be prepared for a 45 minute queue in the evenings (with horrendous “on hold” music) as most of the staff have gone home leaving Big Dave to field calls on his own.

Hoenir

Drumslinger said:

My partner works in the NHS saving lives. It’s a full on job and she gets very little time to herself especially when you add in her daily 50 mile commute.

I have empathy for you as my partner was an on call NHS manager for many years. Many people lead extremely busy lives. Travelling distance to a place of work is a personal choice.  Unfortunately irreverent though in attempting to pass blame onto BT. 

Drumslinger

Hoenir said:

Drumslinger said:

My partner works in the NHS saving lives. It’s a full on job and she gets very little time to herself especially when you add in her daily 50 mile commute.

I have empathy for you as my partner was an on call NHS manager for many years. Many people lead extremely busy lives. Travelling distance to a place of work is a personal choice.  Unfortunately irreverent though in attempting to pass blame onto BT. 

You think it’s acceptable for BT to increase monthly payments to £78.50? Around £50 per month more than others are paying?