Locked into a HALO equivalent even if I move to EE. WHY?

[naylor2006]

Its okay, I dont mind posting.

Those prices you shared I assume are literally just inclusive of Broadband service right? Everything else you pay is on top of that?

[Puma937]

@naylor2006 - Yes.....broadband (Fibre 2) and phone line. Everything else is on top.

Call package of 700mins added on for an additional £9.84. Then TV and a very basic emergency 1G sim (for an elderly relative). Total monthly bill is an embarrassing £177.07 and BT are rubbing their hands at my stupidity.

The Full Works TV package doesn't even include Netflix, as I took it out before it was an included extra 🙄

My actual main mobile contract is amusingly with EE and has been since the Orange days 😂😂

[chrisjp]

"who proceeded to call me ‘mate’ for the entire 35min call – not a great start."

Well, I suppose it's a bit better than calling you "pal" or "squire" !!
Locking existing customers into Halo 3 (or its EE equivalent) is clearly a BT marketing policy. This allows them to make the "customers renewing will never pay more than new customers" claim, because new customers are offered cheaper non-Halo deals, whereas existing customers are not, without extensive arguments on the telephone with BT agents, and sometimes not even then. Agents are all on commission to upsell you so it's very difficult indeed to get any sort of downgrade out of them.
These are very questionable marketing practices, more suited to a street market than what was once a respectable telecommunications company.

[naylor2006]

Jeeeze louise.....I maintain an earlier comment, time to separate out.

[Puma937]

Being a sucker for punishment, I thought I would give BT one last chance to retain my custom by calling Retentions, prior to raising a formal complaint.

This time the advisor called Jake was adamant he could keep me with BT, remove Halo and move me to Full Fibre - all for a reduced price. He also offered to build like for like packages with BT and with EE as a comparison. Great finally !!

Surprise surprise, 5mins later I was told that ALL packages with BT were more expensive than my current £72.83. There was no option to downgrade with BT, so I was then offered an EE Full Fibre 150 'All Rounder' deal for £46.99 (for info: FF500 was £55.99 and FF900 £64.99).

I queried why I was going to be charged £13 more than a new customer for FF150 and Jake asked where I had got the £33.99 price from. I told him the EE website (which included 3 months free - offer now removed Friday afternoon) and he stated that he had no visibility of online pricing or offers. Bit strange.

He then told me that the reason the online price was only £33.99 was because it was only an 'Essentials' package. As a BT Halo 3+ customer I was not eligible for EE Essentials, only an All Rounder or Full Works package. 

I asked Jake what the All Rounder included and he said it entitled me to one Technical Expert visit a year. I stated that the last time I had phoned, Damian had advised me that it included Smart WiFi Plus (Complete WiFi), the same as Halo. Jake said this was totally incorrect and I had been misinformed. I responded that I only wanted an essentials package and was not willing to pay an extra £13 a month (£156 PA) for an annual expert visit. Jake agreed, but said I was not eligible. This was getting laughable.

I asked Jake to definitely confirm the following:

1. Can I stay with BT, remove Halo and reduce my costs - NO.
2. As I am out of contract, can you price match a new customer price with EE - NO, as you have Halo with BT.

Jake then stated that he had read what Damian had previously advised me, regarding having to stay on a Halo equivalent with EE and this was actually incorrect. It would apply if I was still in contract, but as I was out of contract I did not need keep the extras. Brilliant I said, so I can come off Halo - NO, unfortunately the system wont allow me.

When I then said that I was amazed that I could not stay with BT, Jake said that because I had answered that I didn't have any any 'Telecare' packages linked to my landline, it was an automatic switch to EE. If I did have linked services, then I would have to stay with BT as this functionality was currently unavailable with EE.

• Right OK......so lets start again. Yes, I do have linked 'Telecare' - how do you check? What price can you offer me to stay with BT?
• OK, we don't check. I'll make a dummy account - the price for FF100 with BT, would be £64.99.
• Goodbye Jake - thanks for your help.

I swear that BT/EE are just making up prices as they go. What a complete shambles of a company. Complaint now incoming.

Oh and he couldn't give me the current Halo prices for new customers, so there is no way to check the Halo price promise. He also couldn't give me the different Essentials, All Rounder or Full Works prices with EE. Apparently they must be Top Secret !!! 

[Anonymous]

@Puma937 Just LEAVE!

Why are you rewarding this ineptitude? 

Plenty of Mobile Virtual Network Operators out there that use the EE network if that is important to you, which cost you much less with no contract and no price rises.

Your choice of ISP on the Openreach network is wide and I would argue you do not need Halo3+ on a Full Fibre connection. The “benefits” are more suited to a less reliable ADSL or VDSL copper connection.

Any ISP can offer you a phone package if needed, you can get TV services in numerous ways and your loyalty to BT will not be rewarded.

Do yourself a favour and have a clean break, it’s the only way.

[rbz5416]

Madness

Repeatedly perfoming the same action & expecting a different outcome...