How do BT sleep at night?

[johnc4]

In February I did some looking around to find a cheaper BB deal. I found one with another company, and put in a request to move.

I then got a call from BT asking why I was leaving (retentions I guess), and they offered me a marginally cheaper deal, but with a 24 month contract (instead of 12). The person I spoke to on the phone was very clear in saying that the price would stay at £24.99 for 24 months, and would then increase. The CPI increases were not mentioned at all. I took this deal, and called the competitor to cancel.

14 days (cooling off) passed, and two days later I got an e-mail to say that my price would be going up, by £5.12 per month! This has effectively locked me in at a far higher price than I would have been paying with BT's competitor.

Surely BT can't do that? I hadn't even been in the contract for a month!

Any ideas?

Thanks in anticipation

John.

[imjolly]

the BT T&C are quite clear that there is a price rise at 31 march of CPI + 3.9% and there is no secret and this type of rise is now quite common with some ISPs,  There has been lots of publicity in the press about the rises so not sure how you missed it

the broadband advertising shows this paragraph so you cannot miss it

The legal stuff

Δ If you sign up to a new contract or renew your contract for a Landline (including call charges, features, add-ons and plans), BT Mobile (including plans, monthly add-ons, call, text, and data charges), BT Broadband (including plans and add-ons), BT TV or BT Sport (including TV and Sport add-ons) the monthly price will increase from March each year. That increase is based on the Consumer Price Index Rate of inflation which is published in January each year plus 3.9%.

[johnc4]

Firstly, I'm aware of the CPI price rises available for operators to enforce if they wish. However when signing up I was told that the price was fixed for the period of the contract. This appears to have been untrue.

Secondly, the price increase is effectively way above inflation. It is an annually calculated figure being applied to a contract that has only been in existence for a few weeks. I'm not sure that's within the rules anyway? (even if the above didn't apply)

[NeilO]

Hi @johnc4 as part of the sales conversation you should have been advised about the CPI plus 3.9% increase every March, I'm really sorry if this wasn't mentioned. We also confirm this in the order confirmation email under the pricing section, it's not hidden within the small print. 

I'll send you a private message in a moment so you can get in touch with the moderation team and we'll be happy to assist with your complaint.

Thanks

Neil

[Crimliar]

I'm a sceptic and at times a bit of a pedant, so I like to at least skim-read the basics of the contract, and it's telling, how easy different companies make this.

So how did BT do on this for me?  So having signed up, the third email I received (on the day I signed up) contained the contract details.  The annual increase is listed right there upfront in the email text pointing me at the contract - so 5 stars!

*I was with my previous broadband provider for 5 years, they'd never managed to send me my contract summary (0 stars!).