catch 22 mum being ripped off

[imjolly]

looking at the adslchecker results your mother is on fibre 2 and has a connection speed of 75mb not 40mb as you posted

[portland555]

Why is that relevant?Are you saying that is worth £80 a month? I ran an ethernet speed test on her router and it was around 40Mbps.

[portland555]

I really just want to know how to get her bill down to around £40 a month, which is what it should be with phone. As far as I can see, that is not possible.

Have been in contact with the Martin Lewis news department and they seem quite interested in possibly running this as a story. After months of banging my head against a wall, seems that may be the only option now.

[iniltous]

£80 for F2 even on an out of contract basis isn’t £80 , perhaps you can give a breakdown of the bill , are there any extras like Halo , a inclusive calling plan , TV , etc….

I’d agree that it seems unfair to push customers towards FTTP when it’s available, but in DIG areas ( that’s what the SNN says ‘partial direct in ground’ to expect customers to pay for the last part of the civils work, understandable a mansion at the end of a 1/2 mile driveway, but not a regular residential address….FWIW , these excess construction rules seem open to interpretation.

[portland555]

All she has is inclusive UK calls, no TV or anything else. Just 13 years of annual price walking. She grew up with 1 choice of the GPO telephone so the concept of switching doesn't really make sense to her. Luckily we discovered what has been going on and have taken a proactive approach to help her now.

[imjolly]

looks like you are stuck being unable to get FTTP so maybe you should try complaining to BT CEO email address is available online and hopefully ELC ( executive level complaints) can help you get a new cheaper contract

[iniltous]

Unlimited calls adds £12-£18 , so  thats £25-£30 more expensive than someone who has a two year deal close to expire ( my 2 year deal F2 with PAYG phone expires in a couple of months ) so to be paying anywhere near £80 they must have been out of contract and on a legacy package for many years , nothing like a 2 year deal just out of minimum term……

FYI , no provider can unilaterally move customers onto a different tariff without consent , even if that would benefit them , so those that don’t check and negotiate or switch can be disadvantaged.

TBH , BT do call customers and offer the latest deals , and for the last few years it’s required to advise customers as they approach the end of a minimum term , obviously it’s not  altruistic they want to re-contract  customers , but that would be beneficial to both , but you can’t make a customer answer the sales call or take what’s on offer ….so although it’s not ideal , no one has been taken advantage of either.

[portland555]

How about a contract that automatically puts people out of contract on a standard rate, say 25% above the best current deals, that would be the moral thing to do. No big profits there though!

[imjolly]

Customers are sent email/letter advising contract ending and date provided and up to customer to decide what to do next whether to ignore/re-negotiate new deal/ move to another ISP

[Crimliar]

Contact your local trading standards office. In this situation, they are probably more useful than a forum such as this, which has an empathy deficit!