MSE News: How to beat BT's broadband, home phone and TV price hikes

Pitlanepiglet · 30 July 2015 at 10:59AM

I've just had a call from my BT Sports complaint, the outcome being they won't do anything about giving me Sky Sports for the rest of the term (3 months) or allowing me to cancel Broadband/Phone as a result of the Sports changes. That of course has now been changed by the further hikes. I said that I would cancel completely, the agent tried to put me through to the Customer team but despite holding on for 15 minutes I didn't get through and I didn't have time to hang on further, I'll deal with it later in the week.

One of the real irritants in all of this for me is the time that it wastes for customers, I've spent hours dealing with the BT Sport debacle to then get the further increases. I along with most others, do not have time to dance to BT's tune.

Once I can get through to them I'll cancel and either port it all to Sky or to PlusNet - I haven't quite decided which.

emh_2 · 30 July 2015 at 11:34AM

I went looking for alternative fibre packages yesterday in preparation for my cancellation (in case they offer me something better). York is getting ultra fast fibre soon (1Gb) so I registered my interested with talk talk. I got an email from them today saying it's not available yet in my area but I could have 12 months FREE unlimited fibre (36Mb) then 6 months at £15, plus a £50 love to shop voucher!!! while we wait for it to arrive.

That beats sky too for me. You don't have to live in York to register interest, not sure if everyone will get offered this but worth trying? talktalk not the best customer service but since being with BT I realise they are not the worst either!

pearl123 · 30 July 2015 at 1:02PM

Just to get this right if we've got an email with the following we can ask to leave bt without incurring charges. At present I have broadband, telephone, and line rental. (You've no idea how much I like to be free of them!)

"We want to make sure you get the best deal for you. So, if you want to change something, or even leave because of these price changes, and you're within your minimum contract period, you'll need to call us within 30 days of receiving this email to avoid paying a charge for leaving early. You'll need to give us 30 days' notice to leave (or 14 days5 if you're switching provider), starting from the date you ask us. We won't charge you the increased price during that time."

someuser08 · 30 July 2015 at 1:19PM

Had exactly the same conversation with BT as austinjreid just now. Off to SSE...

TheGame21 · 30 July 2015 at 1:26PM

I've just tried to downgrade my BT Sport as I don't really watch it and don't want to pay £5 for it and it says this will re-enter me into a 12 month contract! Anyone had any experience of this?? Why should reducing this service enter me into a 12 month contract???

Feral_Moon · 30 July 2015 at 1:44PM

I took out a 12 month contract with BT in March this year. It involved free new line installation (worth £135) Infinity 2 broadband, line rental, unlimited weekend calls (although I don't actually use landline phone) BT TV entertainment package on HD and free BT Sport.

Am I right in thinking I could now cancel this contract without penalty costs incurred as I've just received the email informing me of the upcoming price increases in September. And if so, who could I go with? Our area has only recently obtained the faster broadband speeds and on checking local exchange it seems BT are the only ones currently supplying it.

And to complicate matters further, I have another phone line at the address which is currently contracted to Primus for line rental and broadband until September this year at which point I can cancel and disconnect the line. That's just an ordinary ADSL 2 connection (12Mb speed) but I believe is run by Talk Talk LLU?

DDYork · 30 July 2015 at 2:36PM

I've just spoken to BT about the price increases on my BT Infinity broadband connection, but they're telling me while I can cancel/move the Broadband I'll have to pay a "deferred" £69 payment for my home hub!

Very different position to what BT have stated in the MSE article.

Feral_Moon · 30 July 2015 at 3:08PM

DDYork wrote: »

I've just spoken to BT about the price increases on my BT Infinity broadband connection, but they're telling me while I can cancel/move the Broadband I'll have to pay a "deferred" £69 payment for my home hub!

Very different position to what BT have stated in the MSE article.

This is something I also wondered about, along with the Youview box they supplied too. Would they charge for that too, I wonder, along with the installation charge.

A_Flock_Of_Sheep · 30 July 2015 at 3:35PM

I went back to BT as a "new customer" having been sick of being fleeced by previous price hikes. I did the Line Rental Saver and got my Fibre Broadband for £8. I also got £90 from TopCashBack and BT sent me a £125 Sainsbury's voucher.

I am not interested in BT Sport so they can lift the price of that to what ever they choose.

I am of course certain the will not match the deal I have just had to stay with them so I will be dumping them and becoming a "new customer" of a different provider that is offering incentives and TopCashBack sweeteners.

I see SSE look quite competitive for BB and Phone and also TopCashBack have a payment for joining that service. Anyone with SSE for telco and internet with good reports?

At the moment with BT I paid an upfront line rental and got a deal of £8 for BB will this now be going up? They said it was £8 for the year.

pearl123 · 30 July 2015 at 5:54PM

pearl123 wrote: »

Just to get this right if we've got an email with the following we can ask to leave bt without incurring charges. At present I have broadband, telephone, and line rental. (You've no idea how much I like to be free of them!)

"We want to make sure you get the best deal for you. So, if you want to change something, or even leave because of these price changes, and you're within your minimum contract period, you'll need to call us within 30 days of receiving this email to avoid paying a charge for leaving early. You'll need to give us 30 days' notice to leave (or 14 days5 if you're switching provider), starting from the date you ask us. We won't charge you the increased price during that time."

Sorry, I found my own answer. I phoned BT and they tried to put up my broadband price. I've moved to PlusNet, as speaking to BT reminded me of how bad they are.

MSE News: How to beat BT's broadband, home phone and TV price hikes

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