This topic

Halo 1 or Fibre 1 downgrade

grahamm1 — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 14:05:29 GMT

I'm currently paying £45.49 for Halo 1 and have received the Black Friday deal offering an upgrade to Halo 2 for £42.49. This lead me to looking into whether I need Halo at all – and I don't think I do. I just need basic fibre and pay-as-you-go-calls.

If I enter my details on the orders page of the MyBT website it recognises my address, customer number and telephone number. It suggests Fibre Essential or Fibre 1 at only £26.99.

That’s perfect for me. I don’t need all the extras offered by Halo. I just need basic fibre and pay-as-you-go-calls.

If I proceed through the order process, I get right to the end before being told that Fibre 1 is not available to my address and that I can only have Halo 1 or Halo 2.

If I go about this the other way and try to order Halo for my address I get told that Halo 1 or Halo 2 are not available at my address (even though I currently have Halo 1) and that Fibre Essential or Fibre 1 are they way to go.

Why does BT make it so difficult to downgrade? Do I REALLY have to call and hold on for ages before being pressurised into upgrading to a product I don’t want?

Re: Halo 1 or Fibre 1 downgrade

imjolly — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 14:13:00 GMT

halo 1 and 2 are just add-ons to your broadband package they are not separate packages

to downgrade you would be best talking to options team on 0800800030 and see what you can negotiate remember if you are in fixed term contract and downgrade may result in a fee but see what you can negotiate - especially with deals for Black Friday

Re: Halo 1 or Fibre 1 downgrade

grahamm1 — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 14:46:15 GMT

Thanks for the quick reply. I didn't realise that Halo was an add-on. I don't recall it being sold that way when I agreed to it. I'm sure I was told that Halo was "replacing" the product I used to be on. I am currently out of contract and looking to save money, but really didn't want to have to call the options team. Shame you can't "downgrade" on-line.

Re: Halo 1 or Fibre 1 downgrade

imjolly — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 15:00:40 GMT

this is halo https://www.bt.com/help/broadband/learn-about-broadband/bt-halo/what-is-bt-halo-and-how-can-i-get-it-

phoning options team should be ok as uk based and should be able to negotiate a good deal especially just now

Re: Halo 1 or Fibre 1 downgrade

grahamm1 — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 16:43:09 GMT

I knew it would be difficult!

Called the options team. Got through after 27 minutes (not too bad, considering).

Explained what I needed and that I could see the ideal package on the BT website as a Black Friday Deal.

Adam, the customer support guy told me he had been briefed about the Black Friday deals but they were not on his system so he’d have to transfer me to Sales Support.

Another long wait before Adam’s back on the line informing me that Sales Support cannot access the deal either. They know all about it, but cannot offer it to me.

He suggests I call back tomorrow in the hope that the Black Friday deals are added to the system overnight………

Re: Halo 1 or Fibre 1 downgrade

imjolly — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 16:48:43 GMT

Annoying but promising that if you get through tomorrow you will be able to negotiate a better deal. I suppose the deals are listed as Black Friday deals so not available until Friday

Re: Halo 1 or Fibre 1 downgrade

peterh0001 — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 08:10:08 GMT

The normal BT response is that downgrade from Halo 1 is not possible. Whilst there is no technical reason why not I assume it is a marketing decision to maintain their revenues.

Peter

Re: Halo 1 or Fibre 1 downgrade

grahamm1 — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 10:04:40 GMT

Same story as yesterday - they knew about the Black Friday deal but it wasn't on their system. The lady I spoke to said it was probably only for new customers. I pointed out the Ofcom ruling that says BT has to offer the same deals to out-of-contract customers as it does to new customers. She wasn't aware of that rule.

After putting me on hold, she came back and offered me Halo 1 at £35.99 or Fibre 1 at £27.99. The Black Friday deal is Fibre 1 at £26.99, 3 months free and a £60 rewards card.

I took the £27.99 offer, although it still irritates me that BT can get away with ignoring the Ofcom ruling.

Re: Halo 1 or Fibre 1 downgrade

imjolly — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 10:15:25 GMT

@grahamm1

worth the phone call to options team that is a big saving on what you were paying

Re: Halo 1 or Fibre 1 downgrade

grahamm1 — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 10:35:39 GMT

Yes, happy that I got that big saving, but still irritated that I couldn't get the Black Friday deal. The Black Friday deal was lower monthly price + 3 months free, + £60 BT giftcard, so I've lost out by £160 over the 24 month contract.

Re: Halo 1 or Fibre 1 downgrade

garybs29 — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 13:02:19 GMT

@grahamm1wrote:
The Black Friday deal is Fibre 1 at £26.99, 3 months free and a £60 rewards card.

It isn't quite that, the rewards card is only via a 3rd party website.....

Re: Halo 1 or Fibre 1 downgrade

grahamm1 — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 13:56:39 GMT

Yes, I appreciate that. However:

Initially I went through the 3rd party site order process. When it got to the end of the order process it told me the order couldn't be completed and to call the options team.

I then tried doing it from BT's own site, rather than through the 3rd party site (similar offer, minus the gift card) . Same thing. Order cannot be completed, call the options team.

When you call the options team they say the offer is not available - it is only for new customers.

To clarify: the first sales person I spoke to knew all about the offer. He said "ah, that'll be the Black Friday Deal" and read out the offer to me. When he entered my details the offer was not there as an option to order.

He initially said that it was "probably" for new customers only. When I mentioned the Ofcom ruling he back-tracked a little and said that I SHOULD be able to have the deal, but when he entered my details into his system it gave him a series of packages available to me and the Black Friday deal was not one of them. He even got his Sales Support colleagues to try.

From this, I got the impression that if a sales person entered the details of a new customer the Black Friday deal came up as an option, but when the customers details showed them as an existing (out-of-contract) BT customer the Black Friday deal disappeared from the options.

Re: Halo 1 or Fibre 1 downgrade

garybs29 — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 17:03:36 GMT

When you tried it online it will have seen from your details you were an existing customer so wouldn't allow you to continue. I can't advise on what happened when calling though I'm afraid

Re: Halo 1 or Fibre 1 downgrade

grahamm1 — Fri, 08 Jan 2021 13:47:24 GMT

Update: On 29th December, after chasing BT several times, I took a call from Laura at BT Enniskillen. She apologised for the long delay responding. After looking into the history, she could see that I SHOULD have been able to sign up for the deal I wanted (as some of the sales staff said) and that I was prevented from doing so by a "system glitch". She has refunded me the difference, so I'm back (almost) to the point I would have been had the issue not occurred in the first place.

Still think BT should give it's sales staff a bit of refresher training about who is (and is not) eligible for it's different tariffs as I got completely different responses from the staff I spoke to.