Left BT but came back

[Mattiesmomma]

Hi all

Has anyone left BT because their charges are too high and have gone elsewhere but found the new provider so bad in service and customer service?

[Kimberlin]

I've left BT twice and returned twice but only after being with PN in between both times because I flip flop between the two. I've never had a problem with either BT or PN as far as service is concerned, both have been absolutely excellent. The reason I switch ISP and return after each two year contract, is because I cannot stand Retentions departments and the haggling and BS over whether or not they decide or can be bothered to give me 'new customer' pricing. It's just easier to switch and that way I get that new customer deal without any effort. If BT just renewed me at their lowest new customer pricing package at the end of the contract, I'd happily stay, but still they continue to hike the price every year in the hope existing customers will pay it so they can subsidise new customer business. Rant over!

[imjolly]

Is your contract term complete or are you thinking of moving when still in contract and will have ETC to pay?

[Anonymous]

I've left BT numerous times due to their unwillingness to provide a competitive renewal price. I've never found a competitors network significantly better or worse, it's all Openreach after all.

As for customer service, BT's call centre's have been consistently the worst of all the ISPs I've ever used. Ironically BT/EE pricing is now on a par with that premier ISP, but with a CS that simply isn't worthy of the name. One has been outstanding, at a price that reflected that. The rest have been mediocre, which is to be expected when shopping at the bottom end of the market.

Since they decided to sack the previous forum Moderators, who were excellent at swimming against the tide of lies & incompetence, it seems to have got immeasurably worse. I can't see myself ever returning, but then I don't need to make a decision for another 21 months, so there's time for them to see the error of their ways. But you know what they say about leopards & spots... 

[TimCurtis]

@Anonymous 

Totally agree with you that the previous mods were excellent but now things are not the same now and what with the so called "guides" being deceitful one is fearful of contacting CS about anything these days.

That's part of the reason I've left after being with BT for 50 years.

[iniltous]

No criticism, but there are plenty of ex BT customers on this BT customer forum continuing to contribute after they are no longer BT Customers , seems for some  BT are like the Hotel California , you can checkout anytime you like but you can never leave .

[Kimberlin]

To be fair, if there weren't any ex BT customers on this forum, it would be a pretty dreary place. It's good to have a mix of views even if others who frequent here don't appreciate the input from others. I'm no BT hater, quite the contrary, but I do find it odd when folks come onto the forum, complain about a product, email as the main example, who then find themselves ridiculed being told that there's actually not much wrong with it. Though it would seem by the numerous threads concerning that very product, that all of that spam isn't really an issue, it's the customer who needs to sort the problem out. One wonders why BT actually bother to provide an email service, indeed I wonder why any ISP offers an email service.

[gg30340]

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@Kimberlin wrote:

 One wonders why BT actually bother to provide an email service, indeed I wonder why any ISP offers an email service.

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Given that most ISPs do not provide an email service any more and that BT stopped providing an email service to new customers since 2022 it is very probable that BT will stop their email service at some point in the future.

[Kimberlin]

Well perhaps BT should just get on with it then and pull the email service altogether. This forum is hardly a great advert for the BT email service judging by what everyone can read for themselves and then frequently comment on.

But anyway, I digress and although I am no longer a BT customer, chances are I will return again one day because I've never had any issue with the actual service. It's just a shame that the only time the retentions department were apparently interested in me, was the moment I initiated OTS. They had weeks before my contract expired to offer me a deal worth staying for. But of course that's not the game is it? The game is to hope that the customer is lazy enough to forget that their contract has expired and they will hopefully continue to pay the annual barmy price increase, or that they (the customer) are too worried to switch ISP just in case they don't get the same level of service.

As I touched on contract expiry, it's about time ISP's print the contract expiry date in full plain view on the header of every bill issued. I don't recall ever seeing such a reminder on my bills, or perhaps I'm optically challenged.

[gg30340]

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@Kimberlin wrote:

Well perhaps BT should just get on with it then and pull the email service altogether. This forum is hardly a great advert for the BT email service judging by what everyone can read for themselves and then frequently comment on.  BT have in excess of 8 million broadband customers. There will no doubt be some that do not have a BTMail email address and there will no doubt be many ex BT Broadband customers who still use their BTMail address from when they were a customer so I suspect there will be in excess of 8 million BTMail email accounts in use. If that figure is any where near correct there is a very small number who post on this forum reporting problems. It is normal that users only post on forums such as this when they have a problem or want to have a moan about the service they have received.

As I touched on contract expiry, it's about time ISP's print the contract expiry date in full plain view on the header of every bill issued. I don't recall ever seeing such a reminder on my bills, or perhaps I'm optically challenged. You can view your contract expiry date via your MyBT > Your Products > Broadband > See Your Contract Length.  When you find that, take a note of it and keep it in a safe place and you can then view it when ever you want.

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