Rip off BT

[stereohaven]

Very few companies reward loyalty, preferring instead to milk those who are inert.

Customers who do not proactively negotiate at renewal or look at the wide range of alternatives when a contract is coming to an end, can only blame themselves for higher costs.

These companies don’t show their customers any loyalty, so unless you can secure pricing that is comparable with their competitors, move.

It is 2024, not 1984, in the vast majority of cases, switching any supplier for a better deal and similar if not identical service, is pretty much pain free and relatively swift.

[garybs29]

Again I don't understand this "loyal customers get ripped off" rubbish. Fact is nowadays as agreed with ofcom at renewal all customers have to be offered the best price for their package that a new customer gets too. Should a customer not accept that it's their choice & coming on ranting about a "rip off" on what they agreed appears to just be buyers remorse

[naylor2006]

What you say is right @stereohaven however when you consider folks like my parents who are 80 and dont have the relevant skill/knowledge level to negotiate or understand what is better for them and are easily convinced by and agent....will end up with 80 quid bills for copper broadband when I am paying half for 10 times the speed.

By the time I am made aware its too late or I just dont know at all, I live a long way away.

Largely I agree though, if you are on Openreach Infra there are tons of ISP's to choose from you can switch around easily, that is if you are broadband only customer, I have all the sports channels with BT for a great price, I hope that at the end of my two years with BT I will be able to shift to EE as a new customer.....depending on how the merge goes. 

[ArtyVark]

£106 here for Big Sport, Fibre (65mb). This was after negotiation as it went upto £124! Tied in till end of 2025 so I cant change provider without exit fees.

I've got the new BT oval box but still use the old Youview UHD box as my second box. Also still use aerial for freeview channels. Would love full fibre but been waiting years for it Fibre 65mb is like ADSL broadband of old now people with Full Fibre dont know how lucky they are!

Only option I have is to move to EE to see if I get cheaper but that has been a waste of time so far.

[stereohaven]

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@naylor2006wrote:

What you say is right @stereohavenhowever when you consider folks like my parents who are 80 and dont have the relevant skill/knowledge level to negotiate or understand what is better for them and are easily convinced by and agent....will end up with 80 quid bills for copper broadband when I am paying half for 10 times the speed.

By the time I am made aware its too late or I just dont know at all, I live a long way away.

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This is why I have my parents (and the Wife's), account logins so I can monitor their deals/packages and then do the negotiation for them at renewal. 

Neither live anywhere near us and both sets would blindly renew or believe what the salesperson told them. 

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@naylor2006wrote:

Largely I agree though, if you are on Openreach Infra there are tons of ISP's to choose from you can switch around easily, that is if you are broadband only customer, I have all the sports channels with BT for a great price...

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There are many ways to get the same channels for a "great price" which do not tie you to an ISP and with the same picture quality.

The singular USP of EE TV is that you can record streamed channels, which when it comes to sport, I believe the majority want to enjoy live, so I don't think it is worth tying myself to them for that.

I acknowledge there a couple of people on here that like to record sport because they are working or whatever, but they are a minority when you look at the trends across demographics. 

A breakdown of UK screen time statistics by age and type of viewing

Source because someone will ask: Uswitch UK online streaming statistics 2024 

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@naylor2006wrote:

I hope that at the end of my two years with BT I will be able to shift to EE as a new customer.....depending on how the merge goes. 

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BT and EE systems were a mess before the consumer strategy change, they have proven to be a mess during the transition and they will continue to be a mess long after it is "completed".

The only saving grace during my time using their products and services has been other customers on this community and a small but dedicated band of mods and product experts that interact with us here, without whom I would have thrown in the towel years ago.

I am 100% leaving when my contract expires in April 2025, I don't care how tempting any offers to stay or move to EE may be. 

[ArtyVark]

The way things are going same here but my contact ends 13 Dec 2025.

Trying to move to EE is like trying to build a house with dry sand. You cant do it online as it fails with something went wrong so then you have to call and be put in a queue that never seems to end.

I am in two minds whether to try snail mail 🙂