Bill higher than expected and price rise query

[besmirched]

There might be an explanation for this but I don't really understand why my bill is higher than expected.

I have upgraded from Full Fibre 500 £39.99 to Full Fibre 900 with Halo 3 £44.99, I did this order via. web chat on 1st March and it went live on 2nd March - it's my understanding that this means the price won't go any higher this year either.

While I did expect this bill to be somewhat different due to transitioning from FF500 to FF900, it doesn't really make sense to me that it would be higher than the package that I upgrade to, in other words I don't understand why this bill exceeds £44.99. I was thinking it would be somewhere in the middle between £39.99 to £44.99, and not exceed that.

Is there a problem with my bill here, or am I just missing something? The thing I am struggling with is that despite upgrading the service part way through the month, I don't really understand why the bill would exceed that of the full monthly price of Full Fibre 900. The broadband bill estimate for the following month looks correct at £44.99, I did think perhaps this might be a little less to compensate for the extra charge this month.

While I hope to have this looked into and clarified for me by a moderator, I'd like to also enquire about my 2x BT Mobile SIM cards.Has upgrading my Broadband package locked the price of everything down, so there won't be any increase on my BT SIM's this year either? Or do I need to get in touch and see if I can lock in the current SIM card pricing too?

Cheers.

[garybs29]

If you've changed package toa higher priced one I'd expect your bill to be higher tbh, you'll likely have part month charges for the change as you're usually charged a month in advance

[VeteranISPUser]

Hi @besmirched   Download your bill, it should give a clear explanation of how your bill is calculated. If you upgraded midway through your billing cycle then the extra will be catching up on your previous advance payment. 

[besmirched]

 

Thanks both, I have downloaded my bill to get a better look at what’s going on. I think I may have found the problem as to why the bill is a little higher than expected - I have marked this with an arrow in the screenshot, as it mentions a recharge of a discount.

I don’t really understand how this works but what doesn’t make sense to me is why I am being charged more. If the billing period is the same and I’ve had part of the month at 500Mb and the other part at 900Mb. It just feels like I am paying above the 900Mb £44.99+ price and I’ve not even had a full month out of it.

My expectation for this changeover month was that the price would be somewhere in the middle between 500Mb £39.99 and 900Mb £44.99, but not exceeding that. Perhaps my logic is flawed, I don’t know.

if a mod could take a look too I would greatly appreciate it.

[VeteranISPUser]

Hi @besmirched   

You are close but no biscuit 😀 Looking at your bill it is exactly what both of us said "If you upgraded midway through your billing cycle then the extra will be catching up on your previous advance payment."

You started paying for your £44.99 package on the 2nd March, but you have already paid this period in advance at £27.14.

So you need to catch up the difference from 2nd March to 20th March which at the new rate is £30.53. Now the calculation is £30.53 - £27.14 = £3.39. So you owe BT £3.39 extra.

For this first bill only, the total is £44.99 (21Mar to 20Apr) plus £3.39 (02Mar to 20Mar) which equals £48.38.

[VeteranISPUser]

Hi @besmirched   

Remembering that you pay a month in advance, another way at looking at it is: 

Previous bill was £39.99 which covered 21 Feb to 20 Mar. But you package increased on 02 Mar so the previous bill should be £43.38 to cover the increase from 02 Mar. So you owe BT £3.39 shortfall from your previous bill.

[besmirched]

I appreciate the breakdown. I feel I understand it a bit better now.

The only real aspect of confusion now is the bit in my screenshot labelled ‘Part Month Credit’. This is referring to my previous 500Mb package as £45.99, this is not accurate as this was actually £39.99.

However, I’m clearly sending myself round in circles so it’s probably best to just leave as is and hope the bill is accurate.

Could anyone comment on the state of BT SIM’s? Are these also affected by the imminent price rise, or was this just a concern for Broadband? While I upgraded and went live with 900Mb on 2nd March, does this lock my price in for my overall BT package?

I’m mainly wondering if I need to get in touch about my BT SIM’s and agree to a new contract term for these too, to lock the price in?

Any additional clarity on the BT SIM’s would be most reassuring. Cheers again.

[tasmanuk]

Impressed you got it for that price. I currently pay £63pm and it is going up to £70. If I was a new customer I would pay £54pm. You got a good deal.

[besmirched]

I believe from reading around that you can lock your existing price in by agreeing to a new contract term, so long as you do that before the end of this month. I did my upgrade via. Web chat on the BT site.

Alternatively if you feel your deal is not satisfactory, if you are near the end of your contract period you might find it more beneficial to let this run its course giving you more options. When you are in a position to switch providers this gives you an opportunity to haggle.

Ironically if you are satisfied with BT, but not the pricing, I believe EE is exactly the same, even with the same Smart Hub 2 as well. Out of contract you could just switch between the two for the best deal as a new customer. Taking advantage also of any Quidco/TCB promotion in the process.

[DanielS]

Hi @besmirched,

I have been reading over your thread and I'm happy to look into the bill for you to make sure that everything is right. You can reply back to my private message if you need me to check it for you.

Thanks
DanielS