Email from BT :: We're upgrading you to BT Halo 1, at no extra cost

[spec_d]

Hi Alison, the issue is the wording on the email offer. It states that BT halo 1 copper will be £37.99 for Broadband but if you Opt Out then the price is £29.99.

I have since contacted BT Home on FB and they amazingly responded within minutes. After some head scratching they have confirmed that the £37.99 is BB with line rental while the £29.99 is just the BB element of the old package.

There is a saving of £7.50 per month so we'll accept the Halo 1 contract next month.. 

The email marketing team need  a bit of a kick up the rear for this.

[PeterN1]

BT marketing is as clear as mud. Who can trust them?

When I log in to my account I see that I am paying £33 / month with anytime, unlimited BB, line rental saver, etc.
I click on offers, and I am shown prices from as low as £19 month up to the £37.99 odd for Halo1.
Nowhere are the differences/advantages properly explained.

I will never click on an unsolicited link. Particularly if it's to reject an 'offer' that is free but costs more.
May not be a scam, but looks exactly like one.

[glassman_ds]

I got a completely different answer from a telephone conversation with BT.

I received the same email regarding an automatic upgrade to Halo.

I currently pay 47.49 a month for unlimited broadband and unlimted weekend calls (line rental is rolled into that price).  I'm currently on an ADSL line, with a broadband speed of around 15-18Mbs. 

Recently found out that my Exchange Only line had been rewired to connect it to one of the new fibre cabinets in my village.

No joy getting any answers on BT website, but via twitter, @bt_uk said "If you upgrade to Halo 1 you will be getting a fibre to the cabinet connection. "

I rang 0800 800 150 and spoke to a very helpful chap. 

"Would accepting this upgrade move me to a fibre contract, and hence faster speeds?"

"No."

"with regard to Halo, what are the benefits, other than the 3 outlined in the email?"

"that's all there is"

So for a £9.5 reduction in my price the Halo upgrade would give me:  a guarantee the price won't go up at the end of the contract, A 4g hub if broadband goes down (I'm in a 4g not-spot), and double data on BT Mobile (I'm not with BT Mobile).

Or for a £17.50 reduction in my price (to 29.99) I can stick with my perfectly adequate current service: and remember BT no longer separate line rental out of your bill, so the 29.99 will include line rental

To be fair the BT chap didn't understand the BT logic behind this either.

I did enquire about upgrading to fibre, because when I logged in to "MyBT", the cheapest personalised deal was £59.99 a month: for someone moving to BT it's £27.99 a month.  So I won't be upgrading any time soon.

[Adrir]

So, does the quoted £29.99 per month for opting out include line rental and existing services such as unlimited weekend calls, or not?

Also, is 'free of charge' simply referring to the cost of setup and installation? If the quoted £37.99 only refers to only the broadband element of the bill, then this 'offer' would be significantly more expensive than my existing contract.

I don't get BTPlus or anything like that as I live in a rural area with little to no access to 4G and no fibre.

[glassman_ds · Accepted solution]

Hi Adrir,

I had wondered about line rental price issues, but looking at my last bill, line rental is no longer split out and listed separately.  I pay a single price each month of £47.49 for what my bill refers to as "Broadband & Landline": "Broadband Unlimited" and "Unlimited Weekend Calls".

As the email that was sent to me was addressed to me by name, and quoted my bt account number (the last 4 digits),  I am taking it as being a legal contract and , as I have now opted out of the Halo upgrade, I will be paying £29.99 in total each month from end of June for my "Broadband and Landline" with no change to the current service I receive.

So, if at the end of June, my bill does not drop to £29.99, then BT open a legal can of worms.

BT have shot themselves in the foot with this.  They've sent out an email which has contract changing implications, which has a time limit for deciding (1st May), at a time when they are having to dissuade customers from ringing up to speak to a real person: and their website does not provide answers.  Don't rely on answers from 'anti'-social media.  As I said in my earlier response, a BT Twitter bod told me Halo would upgrade to fibre: untrue.

I would strongly suggest you ring the 0800 800 150 number, and choose the options which take you through to discussing your account.  The chap I spoke to was very helpful, and his view was that opting out of the Halo upgrade would make no difference to my current service, other than a substantial drop in price each month.

Good luck and stay sane out there.

[Chris365]

Many thanks for your, and everyone's, reply. Its safe to say if warrants to check these things further and also make call to BT 0800 800 150 .

thanks

C

[Adrir]

So after talking to them and filling in their online form to opt out, BT have decided that they are going to upgrade me automatically anyway.

Am absolutely livid --- have logged into my account to cancel the "order".

With Regards,
Adrir

[glassman_ds]

Adrir,

BT are currently in the process of moving/upgrading to fibre, any existing copper wired connections where a new fibre cabinet is available in the vicinity: this upgrade does not incur any contractual changes, although you will receive notification of a new "order", which suddenly appears out of the blue.  I received email notification of this upgrade/move to fibre about a month or so after the Halo 1 email and my subsequent declining of that particular "upgrade". 

Note that the automatic changeover to a fibre connection from the exchange to your nearest street cabinet is part of an infrastructure change that BT and Openreach are undertaking. 

To the best of my knowledge it has nothing whatsover to do with the Halo 1 'upgrade'.

To check if fibre is available in your area, go to https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL and enter your phone number.  The resulting screen will then show you if a fibre (VDSL) connection is available on the cabinet that you are connected to.

I'm just a punter like everybody else - nothing to do with BT other than paying them each month.

[Adrir]

"FTTP is not available."

I'm quite sure they'd need to lay cables for fiber in my area, and there is no evidence to suggest that's what they're doing.

With Regards,
Adrir

[glassman_ds]

Hi Adrir

FTTP (Fibre to the premises) is not available for lots of customers.  However what may be available is FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet). 

This is a screenshot of my connection with the FTTC info highlighted.  If there is nothing similar in the results  for your phone number (and don't post a screen shot without blanking out your number 😉 ) then you are definitely unable to get any fibre connection at the moment (and my earlier comment about fibre upgrade rollout does not apply to the "order" that you've just cancelled).  

Regards