This topic

Why does an 80 year old need such expensive Broadband???

thebirds — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 10:24:56 GMT

I am just helping my parents sort through their finances and notice that they are on full fibre halo 3 at a cost of £76.05 with an add on for 700 calls of £9.25.

I understand that they will have agreed to it in a telephone call, but know that they will not have understood a word that was said to them.

My son also finds it interesting that with this all singing all dancing broadband they have a download speed of 45-50 mbps.

i cannot see that this is ethical and whilst this is a business, a business that rips off old people is shameful and little better than the scam artists calling from India.

I am going to citizens advice this afternoon to see what happens next, but wondered if anyone else has experienced this.

Re: Why does an 80 year old need such expensive Broadband???

imjolly — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 12:05:50 GMT

you have not actually said what BT package your parents have - knowing would be helpful. if your parents make say 50 calls a month then it is cheaper with 700minute package then it is paying by the minute on PAYG

I would add as one of a similar generation to your parents many people of our age are more than capable of understanding the terms and negotiating a deal for a fast broadband package

Re: Why does an 80 year old need such expensive Broadband???

thebirds — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 12:09:28 GMT

They have BT Halo Fibre 3 at a cost of £76.04
They made 19 calls on their last bill!!
If they understood what was being offered they would have rejected it. They have 2 smart phones and one tablet. They do not download or stream. I am not here to judge people of a similar age, just to help my parents who are currently facing monthly bills of £90.33 for an unecessary package. On top of all that their download speed for this cost is currently 45 mbps.

Re: Why does an 80 year old need such expensive Broadband???

imjolly — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 12:15:57 GMT

sorry but can you check the actual package BT halo fibre 3 is not a package. actual download speed does not give indication of actual package as download speed is not guaranteed and can vary by device

when did you parents renew their contract? do they also have a TV package included?

Re: Why does an 80 year old need such expensive Broadband???

naylor2006 — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 12:31:12 GMT

If they are on Full Fibre 1 then the package is only 50Mbps, all the Halo stuff is addons which I doubt they need, they might but I doubt and I get it is probably upsold, but it will be upsold to everyone because that will be the direction to the call agents and sadly for folks who dont really know about the different nuances of internet etc these days will likely sign up to something they dont really need.

If we arent judging old people then lets not throw India under the bus also 😕 BT dont set out to manipulate older folks into buying things they dont understand, they are not scammers.

It would be interesting to see more the itemization, Full Fibre 1 is £35 a month, probably more for existing customer sadly, ontop of that would be interesting to see how it gets to £90.33

I do sympathize, my dad's BT bill is crazy and they have copper at around 8Mbps and he pays more than I do for 900Mbps....I dont know how he signed up for it all and he doesnt even have Halo.

Re: Why does an 80 year old need such expensive Broadband???

thebirds — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 12:59:49 GMT

i have the bill in front of me. It says
Broadband package Fibre Halo 3+ - - £76.04
700 minutes calling plan - - - - - - - - £9.25
Vloicemail with call protect - - - - - - - £4.34
Landline useage - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -.70 (which we've established is them pressing 3 to return a call)
Total £90.33
to reiterate, they made 19 calls last month, they do not need voicemail with call protect. and certainly don't need fibre halo 3 and my opinion has not changed, i feel that my parents were scammed. As i stated i appreciate they are a business, but this is blatant mis-selling.
On top of the £90.33, they pay a further £25.23 for TV and Entertainment (this we are not disputing)

Re: Why does an 80 year old need such expensive Broadband???

thebirds — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 13:04:32 GMT

See post below:
I have the bill in front of me: Broadband package reads Fibre Halo 3 (no other detail) £76.04
700 minutes calling plane £9.25 (19 calls made last month)
Voicemail with call protect £4.34 (not needed, not requested)
Landline chages £0.70
Total £90.33
Plus TV & Entertainment: £25.23
Contract is up for renewal in February, needless to say it will be moved on the first available date. I have lodged a complaint and will be contacting the ombudsman.

Re: Why does an 80 year old need such expensive Broadband???

naylor2006 — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 13:15:17 GMT

Looks generally okay aside from the Halo3+, youve posted twice, one says plus one does not.

To me that looks like the broadband is where most of the subjectively unfair pricing comes from, I dont actually know how much Halo3+ would be for your folks there but it seems to be 11 pounds extra a month if i went for it.

So it would be good to know what BB profile/package they are on, but the bill doesnt say anything extra about that, you may have to call an ask.

I guess its largely academic but with a complaint you may be able to strip back some things you dont need without terminating the entire contract, I say may.

Re: Why does an 80 year old need such expensive Broadband???

gspearson — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 13:22:13 GMT

I'm 75 in two weeks. I've just checked: BT/EE offer me "Fibre Halo 3 with Complete Wi-Fi" for £44 per month. I currently pay about £53 including 700 mins calls and voicemail. I don't and won't use BT TV or Sport - perhaps that is the extra cost? My speed is about 61Mbs and I await OR fibre (with none in prospect, in the centre of Edinburgh). I use my own Deco mesh network so don't need "Complete".

Re: Why does an 80 year old need such expensive Broadband???

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 13:16:38 GMT

@thebirds

Are you sure they're in contract?

The reason I ask is that the 700 mins call package has been discontinued, so recontracting would normally require them to either move to unlimited calls or PAYG. If they're out of contract that may go some way to explaining the high charges.

Re: Why does an 80 year old need such expensive Broadband???

thebirds — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 13:50:23 GMT

TBH, this is all very new to me, they have always guarded their finances and i have not wanted to intefere, it was only due to a bit of a problem with their Hotmail account, they my mom let out the issues they're having. I know the broadband is up in Februaray, i just assumed it would all be at the same time. i will have to have a good look to see if the call package is different. I'm just so upset for them, that at their age, they're paying so much money for so little. They are generally very financially astute, but broadband and call charges can be very confusing, (even i have to get my youngest son to check everything before i commit)

Re: Why does an 80 year old need such expensive Broadband???

imjolly — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 13:54:14 GMT

if you are able to login to their MYBT account then you should be able to see the correspondence showing more package details and also renewal of contract

Re: Why does an 80 year old need such expensive Broadband???

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 14:34:34 GMT

If their contract ends in February then bear in mind they were subject to a 14.4% increase just a month after starting it, with a further 7.9% this year. So that would make their bill today 23.4% higher than when the contract started.

Re: Why does an 80 year old need such expensive Broadband???

Crimliar — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 16:04:14 GMT

@thebirds I think you would have a perfectly valid claim that they've been missold the package they are on. I would suggest you initially contact BT regarding the misselling, and if you get nowhere then speak to your local trading standards!

Re: Why does an 80 year old need such expensive Broadband???

naylor2006 — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 16:13:21 GMT

As do most people who have Halo I expect 😜

Re: Why does an 80 year old need such expensive Broadband???

DavidM — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 16:32:08 GMT

Hi @thebirds and welcome.

I'm sorry you're not happy with the charges etc. have you considered our Essentials package? You'll find details at BT Home Essentials Broadband | Universal Credit Broadband.

Cheers

David

Re: Why does an 80 year old need such expensive Broadband???

Crimliar — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 18:07:02 GMT

@naylor2006 I'm sure there are perfectly valid situations where the Halo packages would be advantageous, it's just that this does not appear to be one of them!

Re: Why does an 80 year old need such expensive Broadband???

thebirds — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 11:39:31 GMT

My son tried contacting BT to ask about changing the package, however, he was told there was nothing that could be donel. The best alternative he was offered, which of course mean starting a new package, was still costing £59.99 per month.

It appears the earlier response about Trading Standards is our next option, and since we have a complaint registered we will also go to Ofcom.

Other than that, as soon as February comes, they can leave the shower of rubbish that is BT.

Re: Why does an 80 year old need such expensive Broadband???

naylor2006 — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 11:41:33 GMT

What did that 59.99 include?

Seems more appropriate to me and down from the 90.

Re: Why does an 80 year old need such expensive Broadband???

garybs29 — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 12:51:57 GMT

I'm flabbergasted tbh that trading standards have even been mentioned, fact is despite it probably being not what's required if it has been agreed to it's not a mis-sell as such & probably not much can be done. The whole fact there's a 14 day DSR period is for situations like this to be changed in the 14 days not months later