Have I been gullible or have I got a good deal???????

[MrChristopher]

After reading other community posts about renewal of contracts and the apparent reluctance of BT to agree a contract for less than I pay currently I was not confident when I rang a sales representative.

My current Fibre Halo 3 costs £49.35 and was offered to me again for the next 2 years for the same price. It gives me a maximum 74Mbps which is fine.

I checked 'deals' and saw Full Fibre 100 with maximum 150Mbps was being offered for £33.99 plus you got the first 3 months free.  I tried to buy it online but soon found out it was not available to me and the system would not allow me to order it.

So, I made the call to see what deal I could get. Surprise, surprise the sales person said I could have the Full Fibre 100 for 24 months at  £33.99 and with 3 months free.  

Somewhat stunned and confused, I agreed.  I'm now thinking have I been 'done'.  I know I've lost the Halo bit but that isn't a problem I don't think?  What I do appear to have is more speed for £15.35 less per month and 3 months for free. 

Why then do I feel as though I'm missing something or have I got a good deal?

[iniltous]

Halo ‘benefits’ have a cost , so removing then should save money, in many cases Halo3+ can add 50-70% to the cost , ( typically £30 without , £45 with ) , obviously for some , the Halo benefits are useful and worth the extra expense , extending WiFi coverage in the home , providing a seamless backup in cases where the ‘landline’ fails , as well as the data increases on BT mobile etc , but for others it’s an unnecessary expense.
As far as your situation, if I were offered the same , I would say it’s a good result and wouldn’t be thinking that I had been gullible.

[MrChristopher]

Thanks iniltous. Your comment is reassuring because I was thinking I'd missed something. Having just the single device requiring broadband and a cheap Tesco mobile deal I don't think I need Halo. It was sold to me a couple of years ago not really knowing what I was buying.

[chrisjp]

I think you've done very well indeed, and you seem to be a bit of an exception.
A lot of people on this forum who have phoned BT to try to get a better renewal deal than their Halo one have ended up migrated to EE at a higher price, without their consent.
It seems it all depends on which agent you get connected to when you phone. Some are so focussed in their commission that they say anything to get your agreement to deals that will pay them the highest amount.
I think you may have been lucky in getting a genuinely helpful agent who was focussed on getting the best deal for you.
One possible note of caution though: have you actually received full confirmation of your new deal setting out in writing (probably email) what your're going to be charged?
It's not unknown for people who have been assured of a good deal over the phone not actually getting it, once it's confirmed.

[MrChristopher]

Yes, received email shortly afterwards. Thanks for reassuring message.

[WSH]

Unless I’m mistaken, what you have agreed to is an upgrade from FTTC fibre to FTTP full fibre.

The former was fibre optic to the street cabinet and then the existing copper wire to your door.  Full Fibre is fibre optic right to your door, so I assume there will be an engineer appointment soon to do the upgrade.

This will involve a small box being fitted to the wall, known as an ONT or Optical Network Terminal.  It will effectively be the new “Master socket”.  While it needs to be within reach of a power point, it does not need to be next to the old master socket, so some thought into where you want them to put it beforehand might be useful.  Providing it’s doable, I’m told they will put it where you want.

This is usually accompanied by a switch to the Digital Voice phone system, unless you are on that already.

[MrChristopher]

I already have FTTP but no Digital Voice yet. They tried to connect DV last year and I was without a phone for over a month.

[WSH]

Ah, right.  You said you were on Fibre Halo 3 at 74Mbps.  That's FTTC but I may have misread you.

Edit:  I take it you already ahve an ONT then?  (Small wall mounted box with lights on it)

[MrChristopher]

Yes, I do.

[iniltous]

Having FTTP doesn’t mean you have to have higher speeds than FTTC , Essential, F1 and F2 are available on FTTP same as FTTC , the somewhat redundant thing is using the same average speed levels as FTTC , with FTTC being rate adaptive the headline speed isn’t available to all , with FTTP , pay for 80Mb , that’s the port speed at the ONT , you get 80Mb ( minus Ethernet overheads ) .