BT sales pressure sales or coercion and new Contracts.

[HHGTTG]

This morning, I have been hassled, coerced and bullied by BT CS with a phone call stating that my present contract is soon to end, in fact in March 2024 and that I must have Fibre Broadband and a new Smart Hub 2 in order to get DV.
I told them that I can still have DV with my current ADSL which the guy refuted and continued to tell me that I will be changed to Fibre 2 and that an Engineer will be coming next Monday in the morning (by arrangement). This took me by surprise and I said I'll have a new Smart Hub 2 but don't want Fibre 2.
Anyway, several emails were sent to me confirming the order so I then thought that no, I'm not being pressurised like this out of the blue and phoned BT and cancelled the order which indeed has been confirmed this afternoon.
However it still begs the question whether i can continue as I am at present after March next year when, no doubt this will happen again. I told him that I knew ADSL will eventually be turned off certainly by December 2025 and new all about this as I discuss all this with the BT Community Forum regularly.
The only good that's come out of all this is that I got my recently purchased Smart Hub 2 out of storage and which I had practised on configuring for my current system and that has now replaced an earlier model Smart Hub (6?) and this is working fine and seems to be giving me better speeds.
The BT hassler said that I currently have a HH3 so clearly they just got that information from their records and had not detected that it had not been used since February this year when it no longer worked properly.
Altogether then, not a very pleasant experience although I expect this wont go away and in due course I'll be contacted again.
It is quite plain that any new contract forces one to accept Fibre BB whether you want it or not

[Keith_Beddoe]

@HHGTTG 

ADSL is not being turned off.

Its only the analogue PSTN network which is being closed down by the end of 2025.

If however you renew your contract, and FTTC or FTTP is available, then ADSL will not be available as an option.

CS should not be hassling you, and you were right to cancel the order. I think they were just trying to get a sale.

There is an option on MyBT to stop them calling you on the phone, and only using email or letter.

[HHGTTG]

Thanks Keith for that but obviously my contract will come up for renewal in March. Can i insist on rolling on my current contract? 

[Keith_Beddoe]

No need to insist,  you automatically go onto a rolling contract if you do not renew. I have been on a rolling contract (ADSL) for many years.

[HHGTTG]

I assume then I won't lose my contract 'benefits' by doing that including 700 minutes of calls etc. as new contracts means more expensive Anytime calls which I was persuaded to change from by BT, due to my usage. 

[iniltous]

Although you shouldn’t be ‘forced’ into anything, why the reluctance to be on FTTC ?.

If you want to remain on ADSL , then by December 2025 you would have to be converted to SoTAP , and would need a SH2 to use Digital Voice , you won’t be able to renew an ADSL contract in March 2024  but should be able to continue with ADSL in the short term  , on an outside of a minimum term basis , but that’s likely to be unnecessarily expensive, especially given the low speeds it’s capable of , but that’s your choice .

The choice of call plan is your decision, there is no reason why the call plan changes if you moved to a FTTC from ADSL ,  even if the ‘guide’ suggests a different call plan may be better for you  , there is no obligation change , the only difference is on DV there are no legacy call plans like Evenings, and Evenings and Weekends, but apparently you are not on one of them anyway, so it’s irrelevant.

[Keith_Beddoe]

Call packages are separate to your broadband, but some are not available if you renew your contract.

I have free weekend calls, which are still part of my rolling contract.

If you are happy with the speed, and what you are paying, just do nothing, and you will not be tied to a new 24 month contract.

[chrisjp]

BT's sales methods are, in my view, a little suspect.
Last Summer I received a "renew your contract now for very special offers" letter from BT - to renew a contract that doesn't end until early January 2024. There was no statement that, if I didn't do this, I'd just continue on my existing contract.
Anyway, I didn't do anything in the Summer because it seemed ridiculously early to renew but, having received further letters and emails, I thought I'd better do something this month.
I've now renewed - and my very special offer has resulted in a princely £1/month reduction! It looked better than this when I clicked on it, but I hadn't counted on my existing contract's voice service (recently converted to DV) being excluded if I didn't pay extra.
I'm not unhappy with the new contract - but I wish BT would be more straightforward with its sales methods

[HHGTTG]

Why FTTC and not FTTP though. Im sure it's now available. 

[WSH]

"I've now renewed - and my very special offer has resulted in a princely £1/month reduction!" exactly.  Which is why I've been out of contract for about 4 years now.  (The initial reason was because I was considering moving house and so didn't want to renew.  Then Covid blew up and torpedoed that plan).  Anyway, bottom line is that everything has carried on like clockwork, including the change to DV.  No reason why you have to renew, the existing contract just goes to a monthly rolling one.

Although, I will add that you'll find fttc a lot better than adsl.