Locked into HALO and unable to reduce costs - do BT ever try to retain loyal customers?

[Puma937]

Firstly I have told again that I cannot remove HALO and secondly any new contract has to be with EE.

Background: my contract with BT ended back in March 2023 and through my own fault (due to working overseas a lot) I’ve neglected to negotiate a new contract. I did try last year, but gave up due to not being able to downgrade from Halo and the complete inconsistency with BT's pricing.

I currently pay an embarrassing £72.83 for Fibre 2 (74Mbps) with Halo 3+ and £87.67 for a Full Works (VIP) TV package without access to Netflix. Plus £9.84 for a 700 min call package and £6.73 for a 1GB Sim Only mobile.

No offers were available under My BT as I supposedly had an outstanding order on my account. This turned out to be an automated switch to Digital Voice order that BT had placed without my knowledge in March.

I called the ‘Retentions’ number (0800 7831401) yesterday and I asked if the order could be cancelled, which would enable me to see the personal deals available. The helpful guy took about 10 mins and removed the pending order from my account. He then said he would look at getting me the very best deal, BUT it had to be with EE……there was no way I could stay with BT, unless I processed an upgrade order myself online.

I stated that I wanted to stay with BT and that I no longer wanted Halo (which is pointless) and that I had previously been told that I could not downgrade from a Halo package. He refused to give me any BT prices. After a further 10mins on hold he gave me the following quotes for EE:-

• Full Fibre 900 £61.99 - when the new customer price is £44.99 (£49.99 with BT)
• Full Fibre 500 £50.99 - new customer £39.99 (same with BT)
• Full Fibre 300 £57.99 - new customer £34.99 (£39.99 with BT)
• Full Fibre 900 with Halo (unable to see this package on EE) would be £71.99

Let’s forget the other parts of my current contract for the moment.

I questioned why the prices were so high compared to new customers and he just said that they are treated differently. I then stated that the Halo price promise stated that you would never pay more than a new customer. He stated that this only refers to ‘like for like Halo packages’ and NOT all prices. What a joke.

Retaining a customer should be a simple process, but BT would appear to make it as hard as possible. I've been with BT for decades and have no problem with the service, but they overcomplicate everything when it comes to contracts and renewals.

Time to look elsewhere, unless anyone has managed to get a retentions deal in the last month?

I suppose I could always leave BT and then rejoin as a new customer with EE.

[naylor2006]

To be completely honest, the prices over at EE right now are good and offering 24 month contracts, 44 quid for FTTP 900 and 60 quid for all the channels in the world. Forget about Halo if you dont see any value in it, for some people the backup 4G internet is a decent failover but not for me.

If I was you, Id definitely be going to EE....based on what you posted, the prices over there are the lowest Ive seen them which are similar to the new customer pricing I got with BT when I joined.....never to be seen again for me I expect so ill also have to join EE at some point.

[Puma937]

@naylor2006 - The problem is that as an exiting BT customer, they wont allow to me to simply 'move' to EE as a new customer and take advantage of the new customer prices. I would have to leave BT, have a period of downtime and then join EE.

Which to be honest is a ridiculous way of treating an existing customer.

[chrisjp]

I've become convinced that HALO is a bit of a scam and a device to ensure that new customers pay less then existing ones. I accepted an "upgrade" to HALO some years ago and have seen its prices steadily increase at each contract renewal so they are now around twice what new customers are offered with a non-HALO deal.
BT make it very difficult for existing HALO customers to downgrade to the standard deal - you cannot do it online and it's clearly not straightforward even calling the retentions team.
This is very dubious commercial practice - the sort of thing you might expect from a fly-by-night operator rather than an established large provider like BT.

[naylor2006]

Sorry when you said it was an option right at the end I figured...well it was one of the options.

So is your existing contract up in March 2025 then?

You are right though, the BT line would have to cease then you could sign up with EE and the delay would be there.

Seems no one cares about loyal customer these days, I have experienced the same with O2, I was with them for some 20 years and wouldnt even price match a deal elsewhere, gave me a PAC so quick....

[gg30340]

You can downgrade from Halo if you wish. If they won't budge on that ask to speak to a manager if they still say you can not remove Halo or downgrade I would make a formal complaint and if need be contact the CEO. You will find the email address with a simple google search.

[Puma937]

@naylor2006 - My contract ended March 2023 😂

[Puma937]

@gg30340 - I stated that I was happy to stay with BT, but no longer wanted to pay for the additional Halo extras. I was looking to reduce cost, but would welcome a speed boost.

I was categorically told that I could NOT stay with BT and had to move to EE. The prices though were £10-£17 more than a new customer. A line manager was consulted but would not budge.

Previously I was told that staying with BT and removing Halo would not reduce the price. BUT......now they wont even allow me to stay with BT.

[naylor2006]

Sorry I didnt get this, I figured if you werent in contract now then you would be free to leave.

I'm getting confused by the BT EE thing now, I thought the idea was they were separate and if you are not in contract you can just sign up there as a new customer and part of that new sign up will cease the existing service....obviously I'm wrong.

For example if you went to Sky as a new customer their order process would take care of ceasing your existing service with BT, I thought doing this with EE would be the same these days, IE not a migration to them but a new order with them, which would what be a few hours downtime or maybe a day.

[NigelB72]

@Puma937 don't be scared of moving. If you move to another provider that uses the Openreach network, you'll get a substantial reduction in cost and there shouldn't be any difference in the end product as it's effectively the same product. The only difference will be your router. I moved our TV, broadband and mobile phone contracts and I'm paying £50 per month less and actually have better products and service now. Forum rules prevent me from naming our supplier but they're above all of us 😆