This topic

Recontracting to avoid the March 31st 2023 Price rise?

GARRY_AND_SUSIE — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 16:01:38 GMT

Currently out of contract, - If I re-contract in the next few days will I avoid the March 31st 2023 Price rise?

Also how would paying my line rental for a year in advance on "Line Rental Saver" now work? As all the packages seem to be a single price for line & broadband bundled together?

I tried calling and speaking to BT but the guy I spoke too tied himself in knots with numbers, even at one point quoting me a price that was less than half my current contract, & finally finished the conversation as confused as I am!

Anybody able to advise / confirm? (Preferably a Mod?) @NeilO ?

The guy on the phone said the price rise "wouldn't apply for me for this year" as by renewing now I'll be "locked in", but Page 5 of the the current Residential Tarrif guide https://www.bt.com/assets/pdf/BT_PhoneTariff_Residential.pdf seems to contradict that, because it still states:-

"Changes to Broadband Prices from 31st March 2023
We are changing some of our BT Broadband prices on 31st March 2023 in line with the CPI inflation rate of TBC plus 3.9%. Please see below for an example of price changes to some of our most popular BT Broadband products.
The monthly price will increase every year from March 2023. That increase is based on a percentage comprised of i) the Consumer Price Index (CPI) Rate of inflation which is published in January of each year (ignoring any negative figures) plus ii) 3.9%."

Re: Recontracting to avoid the March 31st 2023 Price rise?

somniac — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 16:14:14 GMT

This is a lie. My rise is £5 on a £15 bb charge as I paid LRS. This is a rise of 30%.

Re: Recontracting to avoid the March 31st 2023 Price rise?

imjolly — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 16:14:18 GMT

if you re-contract now you will not get the current increase but the package prices have increased on 1st march often not as much as the 14.4% so with some negotiation you may be able to get a deal. this has been covered in many posts recently.

LRS is overed again by previous posts

https://community.bt.com/t5/Bills-Packages/Line-rental-saver/m-p/2278341

Re: Recontracting to avoid the March 31st 2023 Price rise?

GARRY_AND_SUSIE — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 16:49:01 GMT

@imjolly Thanks, yeah they all popped up after I posted my thread, I'm working my way through the LRS stuff now,

Just read one including a letter of apology & a refund from BT following the ombudsman's decision on their lack of clarity re. LRS.

The thing I can't understand is, if by re-contracting now I am indeed protected from the 31st March 2023 price increase why on earth the new document, which is only dated 2 days ago, doesn't make that crystal clear?

i.e. Why can't they make it read:- (My bold below)

"Changes to Broadband Prices from 31st March 2024
We are changing some of our BT Broadband prices on 31st March 2024 in line with the CPI inflation rate of TBC plus 3.9%. Please see below for an example of price changes to some of our most popular BT Broadband products"

It clearly needs correcting/updating.

Re: Recontracting to avoid the March 31st 2023 Price rise?

imjolly — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 17:02:00 GMT

The notes attached to the increase email say it is based on your contract at 13 Feb 2023 and if you have changed anything go to tariff guide

Re: Recontracting to avoid the March 31st 2023 Price rise?

stevebrass — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 17:13:39 GMT

To answer your question - because BT are not paying enough attention to managing content on their website.

Re: Recontracting to avoid the March 31st 2023 Price rise?

GARRY_AND_SUSIE — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 18:01:29 GMT

@imjolly

> The notes attached to the increase email say it is based on your contract at 13 Feb 2023 and if you have changed anything go to tariff guide

Yep, and we have changed something (we're dropping an add on), - so we followed the instructions & visited the tariff guide it linked to, which is the one dated 10th February 2023 (available here) :- https://img01.products.bt.co.uk/content/dam/bt/storefront/pdfs/BT_PhoneTariff_Residential_100223.pdf
Once there, we saw it advised us that the current version of the document to use was available at www.bt.com/tariffguide - which displays a new one dated 2 days ago. - "Effective from 1st March 2023"

The wording in this latest 1st March 2023 guide states - "Changes to Broadband Prices from 31st March 2023"
Our package is included in the list of those due to be increased & it has both a pre & post 31st March 2023 price with an increase applied to the latter.

So... either the document is "wrong" - & it needs correcting because "the rise wont apply to us if we re-contract now"
or
You're "wrong" - & we could indeed be liable for - "a price increase of CPI plus 3.9%" because it says so.

As my dad used to say - "You can't have it both ways kiddo!"

Given my further reading I do indeed think that you are correct, & the document is poorly worded & needs updating!
Either with the year changed to 2024, or a clause added to clarify.
Something along the lines of - "for all customers renewing or entering into a new contract between the 1st March 2023 & the 31st March 2023 you will not be liable to the 31st March 2023 scheduled price increase & no price rise will be applied to your contract before 31st March 2024".

Re: Recontracting to avoid the March 31st 2023 Price rise?

imjolly — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 18:08:31 GMT

There a posts from forum mods that confirm if you have re-contracted on or after 1st March that the increases due on 31st March will not apply. I am not sure if dropping an add-on is treated as recontracting

Re: Recontracting to avoid the March 31st 2023 Price rise?

GARRY_AND_SUSIE — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 19:13:05 GMT

@imjolly >There a posts from forum mods that confirm if you have re-contracted on or after 1st March that the increases due on 31st March will not apply.

Ah, thanks, finding that will confirm that the wording of the tariff document is definitely wrong then, & not you.

Unfortunately BT didn't include a link to any such Mod's post in their e-mail to us 😞 Only links to the tariff doc.,
which as we both must now agree is incorrect - at least WRT us folks currently looking to re-contract.

@stevebrass > To answer your question - because BT are not paying enough attention to managing content on their website.

😞 It's a poor doo requiring us customers to dig into a community forum to establish the facts; rather than clearly stating them in the documentation linked to from their e-mails.

Re: Recontracting to avoid the March 31st 2023 Price rise?

allanraymond — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 19:48:05 GMT

somniac

I doubt it is a lie, when you pay your LRS it means you get £19.99 off your broadband package cost for the following 12 months. These days your line is included within the broadband package and the 14.4% increase applies to your broadband package (including the line element).

The term LRS I think is the cause of confusion by many customers and perhaps a better terms could be used by BT?

Re: Recontracting to avoid the March 31st 2023 Price rise?

GARRY_AND_SUSIE — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 20:13:05 GMT

@allanraymond I think I've got my head around the Line Rental Saver by thinking about it as a loan to BT:-

I "lend" BT <> £215 - £219.84 by giving them this amount up front (the price is depending on where you read/hear)
BT then pay the "loan" back to me as a credit on my monthly bill at £19.99 a month for 12 months = £239.88 paid back.

The <> £20 "interest benefit" that I get for providing them the "loan" equates to about an <> 8% return over 12 months.
This is a better percentage return than I can get even from putting it in an ISA, so it's a no brainer.

It's easier if I don't think about it being related to the combined packages/line rental/price increases/add ons or anything else B.T. related at all.

Re: Recontracting to avoid the March 31st 2023 Price rise?

allanraymond — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 20:16:35 GMT

GARRY_AND_SUSIE

Spot on with your thoughts.

Re: Recontracting to avoid the March 31st 2023 Price rise?

imjolly — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 20:18:33 GMT

As said on previous forum posts the sooner BT change the name of LRS or better still scrap it and save all the confusion the better

Re: Recontracting to avoid the March 31st 2023 Price rise?

marco806 — Sat, 04 Mar 2023 09:37:07 GMT

I re contracted yesterday, online at same price....the bumf you get in email says 31 March .......does not mention the year the next cpi increase takes effect from....it says that it increases each year...."charges will change on or after 31 March every year by......"

Also, the re contract process seems to take no account , that, that, is what you are doing even though it was in my offers page online...Im getting an expert visit, Tuesday to set me up, when i am already set up...Im on the full fibre 500 package. I will still be on it.....

Did phone to stop the unnecessary visit but was like speaking to a brick wall....The engineer will phone me days before, "you can tell him"......Well it will have to be today as he is coming on Tuesday....LOL

Re: Recontracting to avoid the March 31st 2023 Price rise?

GARRY_AND_SUSIE — Sat, 04 Mar 2023 17:35:27 GMT

@marco806

I eventually found the post from a moderator confirming that anyone re-contracting after the 1st March 2023 would not be affected by the price rise scheduled for 31st March 2023.

https://community.bt.com/t5/Bills-Packages/Renewed-and-still-showing-a-price-increase-from-31st-March/m-p/2278450#M152093

Might be worth book marking/screen-shotting just in case something goes awry & you get hit. 🙂

Re: Recontracting to avoid the March 31st 2023 Price rise?

marco806 — Sun, 05 Mar 2023 00:50:04 GMT

Phoned a helpful lady on Saturday who cancelled the visit and confirmed that there would no potential price increase until March 2024.

I see no reason why I cannot do this year on year to avoid high inflation increases... albeit bt tie you into ridiculous 2 year contracts..

Re: Recontracting to avoid the March 31st 2023 Price rise?

Forthay — Sun, 05 Mar 2023 09:29:53 GMT

I called the retention team and the only offer was to keep the current price. Im going to hold out and see what deals are around nearer to the end of contract as I have less than a year to run.

Re-contracting doesn’t make sense in my case because BT are currently quoting me £40.99 for Fibre 900 (no digital phone line) if I was a new customer on their web site . A non BT deal for 900 up/down for £35 with a phone line. Not sure if these are regional offers but they’re certainly competitive and a good bit better than I’m paying now,

Re: Recontracting to avoid the March 31st 2023 Price rise?

ney — Sun, 05 Mar 2023 11:41:58 GMT

You may find that the offers you get now and the ones you are offered near the end of your contract may not be as good.

As I found out other week after holding off back in mid January when I was offered a better deal than I was nearer the end of my BT FTTC contract.

So I about to switch to Sky Broadband with there Sky Broadband Boost service in next few days.

Re: Recontracting to avoid the March 31st 2023 Price rise

Forthay — Sun, 05 Mar 2023 12:06:36 GMT

Very true, no one knows and maybe it will be more expensive later on. On balance, in my case, saving the rise just isn’t enough for me to sign up to BT for another 24m when we now have the option of multiple FTTP providers.