This topic

Why do loyal customers always get ripped off on renewals. And I am not just talking about BT

sceincefreak — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 11:03:39 GMT

I have been informed by BT that the Broadband tariff that I am currently on is not available for renewal, However, the tariff I am on is Fibre 2 with complete wi-fi @£52.79 per month. For the same price I can get Full Fibre 900 Halo3 @£54.99 per month. But to get that they will have to dig up my driveway which has been fully landscaped and key blocks laid. from path to the house is about 15mtrs and I do not trust Openreach to replace the drive as it is.

Anyone have any comments or suggestions on how to proceed.

Then to rub it in the tariff the advisor offered me was £27.99 Full Fibre 100. But I think that was a new customer deal.

I am at a loss what to do, I don't particularly want to change providers because of the email address issue. Nor do I wish to be ripped off.

Re: Why do loyal customers always get ripped off on renewals. And I am not just talking about BT

iniltous — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 11:41:59 GMT

As FTTP is obviously available at your address , you may find switching to anyone will require FTTP to be provided because it’s available , as you have found to get the most competitive BT deal you need to switch to FTTP , the only practical way to remain on what you have, that’s FTTC , is to continue with the ‘out if contract’ you already have, why would Openreach and BT (or any other ISP ) want to keep FTTC alive once FTTP is available…….if to get FTTP needs civils work and the chance of poor quality excavation and reinstatement is too much of a risk , then unless you have Virgin that was provided before your landscaping was done and is currently available but currently dormant , then you are ‘stuck’ on what you currently have and can’t negotiate for any ‘inside a minimum term’ benefits.

You may think this unfair, and you say as a loyal customer you are getting ripped off , but it’s you that doesn’t want a renewal if it means FTTP , you need to appreciate once FTTP is available it’s the default network , not the copper pair , and Openreach understandably want customers off copper and onto FTTP once it’s available, this is why there is preferential pricing on FTTP compared to FTTC if both are available…..you can get what many complain that they want but can’t have , shows you can’t please everyone all the time

Re: Why do loyal customers always get ripped off on renewals. And I am not just talking about BT

WSH — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 12:01:52 GMT

“…preferential pricing on FTTP compared to FTTC if both are available”

Not necessarily true. FTTP has been available here since November but BT insist on trying to charge me £67 to switch to Fibre 100 + phone whereas they currently charge me £68 for Fibre Halo 1. They’re going to have to do a lot better than that if they want to boost take up of FTTP.

Re: Why do loyal customers always get ripped off on renewals. And I am not just talking about BT

gg30340 — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 12:20:58 GMT

@WSHwrote:
“…preferential pricing on FTTP compared to FTTC if both are available”
Not necessarily true. FTTP has been available here since November but BT insist on trying to charge me £67 to switch to Fibre 100 + phone whereas they currently charge me £68 for Fibre Halo 1. They’re going to have to do a lot better than that if they want to boost take up of FTTP.

If you are paying £68 for Fibre Halo 1 you must be made of money. Halo is an unnecessary money making add on.

I presently pay £31 for FTTC Fibre 2 and phone and if I change to FTTP, which I will be doing shortly, I can get BT FTTP Fibre 100 for £30 and FTTP 500 for £31 both broadband only without phone, a phone which I no longer need or want so you can guess which I'll be ordering.

Re: Why do loyal customers always get ripped off on renewals. And I am not just talking about BT

WSH — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 12:29:45 GMT

@gg30340 Well they certainly think I am.

Halo was foisted onto me as a "free" upgrade and I've been out of contract for a few years now...(2 year lock-in, that's another story). I'll jump ship at some point. Sky would be my first choice (£27) but now they offer Cityfibre as well as OR it seems you don't get a choice and the computer picks, (presumably what is cheapest for them). Would be CF here I'm currently led to believe.

Interestingly, I've been looking at 4G/5G this morning, as I'm surrounded by towers. Cat 6 4G is looking very temping price-wise and the signal/speed tests this morning are looking good.

Re: Why do loyal customers always get ripped off on renewals. And I am not just talking about BT

Kodikid — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 12:31:00 GMT

Loyal customers never get ripped off with any company....only fools do

Re: Why do loyal customers always get ripped off on renewals. And I am not just talking about BT

WSH — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 13:49:19 GMT

@Kodikid I’m not sure what I've done to provoke that response? Why post if you can’t post something useful, (or at least something that adds to the conversation)? Mind you, that seems to be you all over.

Not sure what the point is in being rude for the sake of it but I believe in giving as good as I get, so you know what you can do with your opinion mate!

Re: Why do loyal customers always get ripped off on renewals. And I am not just talking about BT

gg30340 — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 14:29:52 GMT

@WSHwrote:
@Kodikid I’m not sure what I've done to provoke that response? Why post if you can’t post something useful, (or at least something that adds to the conversation)? Mind you, that seems to be you all over.
Not sure what the point is in being rude for the sake of it but I believe in giving as good as I get, so you know what you can do with your opinion mate!

Re: Why do loyal customers always get ripped off on renewals. And I am not just talking about BT

iniltous — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 15:21:04 GMT

Preferential pricing a poor choice of language on my part , if FTTP becomes available then it’s entirely possible that FF100 (which is actually 150Mb ) will be offered at the same rate or maybe cheaper than 80Mb FTTC the customer has .. a near doubling of the speed provided for the same price , in that way the FTTP customer gets preferential treatment

way the

Re: Why do loyal customers always get ripped off on renewals. And I am not just talking about BT

pddco — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 15:56:12 GMT

@sceincefreak I’ve got no idea what your front drive or garden is like. But is there any way, other than digging up your drive etc, that the microduct (I’m assuming you’re not overhead fed) could be laid from wherever the fibre duct is, to an external wall of your house where the external Openreach fibre splicing point can be fixed? It doesn’t have to be where the existing copper cable comes in.
Oh, and given the quality of my initial install, I too would be very apprehensive of having OR (well their contractors anyway) digging up my driveway.

Re: Why do loyal customers always get ripped off on renewals. And I am not just talking about BT

gg30340 — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 16:02:16 GMT

@sceincefreakwrote:
But to get that they will have to dig up my driveway which has been fully landscaped and key blocks laid. from path to the house is about 15mtrs and I do not trust Openreach to replace the drive as it is.
Anyone have any comments or suggestions on how to proceed.
I am at a loss what to do, I don't particularly want to change providers because of the email address issue. Nor do I wish to be ripped off.

Order the product that you want and on the day of installation discuss with the installers the best way to go about running the fibre cable. They will have done similar installations many times and will be aware of customers reservations when it comes to digging up driveways. Digging may not be the only route and they will advise on alternative ways if there are any.

If you are not happy with how it is going to proceed you just refuse the install and that will stop the order in its tracks.

However keep in mind that at some point in the future, if you want broadband other than 4g\5g mobile broadband you will have to have a fibre cable run to your property.

Re: Why do loyal customers always get ripped off on renewals. And I am not just talking about BT

sceincefreak — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 17:32:59 GMT

If comments like this is all you can offer, you must be working for BT

Re: Why do loyal customers always get ripped off on renewals. And I am not just talking about BT

gg30340 — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 17:42:25 GMT

@sceincefreakwrote:
If comments like this is all you can offer, you must be working for BT

Which comment are you referring to?

Re: Why do loyal customers always get ripped off on renewals. And I am not just talking about BT

Kimberlin — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 18:53:55 GMT

@sceincefreak Just so you know, I'm no longer a BT customer, not because I considered BT poor on their broadband provision, from that perspective, it was excellent. My issue was and is solely to do with their pricing. I'd point out also, I'm on FTTP because I bought a new build property and I don't have a landline nor will I ever have one again.

So, have you been informed formally by anyone within Openreach that your drive would have to be dug up? As others have stated, there will undoubtedly be other ways of provisioning a new cable for FTTP without having to send in a team to dig up your property, it just requires a site visit and dialogue.

I'll never actually understand this whole loyalty garbage. I'm not loyal to any utility organisation, nor banks etc. I want decent pricing for a decent service. In the last 4 years I was with BT, the actual service provision was never a problem, just one issue with a faulty ONT plug in power supply which between BT and Openreach was sorted in 24 hours. Still, after 4 years, the pricing was no longer competitive, I have no desire to speak to some faceless drone within BT Retentions and beg for a loyalty discount, so I defected. Same excellent service with my new provider, just cheaper.

So if you're out of contract, it seems by your own admission, a stumbling block as well as the other issues you mention, is BT mail. If you can get beyond that and do exactly what I did myself some years ago when I extracted myself from Gmail and move to a far more privacy focussed email provider with zero spam, then you may well get something you don't mind paying for with great service. I genuinely hope you can sort your situation out.

Re: Why do loyal customers always get ripped off on renewals. And I am not just talking about BT

gg30340 — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 08:43:55 GMT

@sceincefreak

Just in case you are not aware, if you were to leave BT Broadband you would still keep all your email accounts.

They would be "downgraded" to BTMail Basic which would mean you can only access them using a web browser and not through an email client or email app.

See link regarding the types of BTMail products available.

https://www.bt.com/help/email/bt-email-products