Unfair Charges for 83 year old customer of 46 Years.

[Whistler12]

I have recently contacted your call centre to enquire about reducing my elderly mothers BT broadband and Landline charges.
My Mother is 83 and has been a customer of BT for the last 46 years... Prices for the services she subscribes to have steadily increased over the years to £80 per month.
I enquired with the call centre about changing her broadband package to reduce her outgoings... As advertised online there are quite a few BT deals which are substantially lower and fit my Mothers requirements. The call centre Team lead ( Sam) advised that these deals are not available to existing customers and the cheapest would be min 46 per month. My actual complaint is the way low pricing is always targeted at the new customers and loyal (46 years) customers who have been the foundation of BT's growth are not considered or shown any gratitude and respect when they need to cut costs. Please can you do better by your customers. These people built BT. It's about time they were recognised for it. I will await your immediate response.

[Mod edit - removed surname of staff member]

[Kimberlin]

@Whistler12  This is a customer to customer forum and your posts don't go to BT.

Unfortunately, loyalty in the way you perceive it, no longer exists, it's literally something of a bygone age. BT like all ISP's, work to a business model to benefit themselves, their shareholders etc. Being a customer for 46 years literally means little.

You can try and haggle with the call centre to reduce your monthly bill or you can look elsewhere. Switching ISP's these days is fairly easy depending on your circumstances, some of us switch every couple of years because we refuse to pay the hyper inflated costs that some customers seem entrenched in. That way, we get the new customer deals and often pay literally a third of what some existing customers pay depending on what package they are signed up to.

Ultimately, you have to make a decision.

[Whistler12]

Thank you Kimberlin, I am looking into the switch but we just need to call out BT

[imjolly]

I'm sorry but as many will tell you there is no discount for loyalty with BT and many others.  Is your mother in a fixed term contract or is she on a rolling monthly contract as she has not renewed the previous contract?  If rolling contract then all previous discounts no longer apply and she will be paying standard cost for ability to leave at month or less notice.

does you mother qualify here  https://www.bt.com/broadband/home-essentials?s_cid=con_bt_dg-home_awin_aff_vidAJM_110483-Editorial+C...

do you have POA to be able to discuss your mother's contract or better if when you want to discuss your mother is able to confirm that it is ok for you to discuss contract. 

[Whistler12]

Thanks, I really appreciate the reply. Unfortunately my Mother does not qualify. I'm going to switch and remain bitter and twisted about the way BT and customer service in general is falling into the Abyss. Thanks

[imjolly]

if you are going to switch then you need to check that your mother is not in fixed term contract otherwise there will be early termination penalties.

[Kimberlin]

@Whistler12  Please don't feel bitter and twisted over the way you feel your Mother may have been treated in relation to the increased costs because I very much doubt BT will be bothered, it's just business. It's very much every person for themselves these days, one can sit there and do nothing, or take action, and it seems you've decided to do something about it.

[Whistler12]

Thanks

[WSH]

As Kimberlin says, we’re at the stage where you have to play the system because it’s playing you.  So, a little story you might find interesting.

I’ve been a BT customer for over ten years.  For reasons I won’t go into, I was out of contract for about 5 years and the bill had got to the ridiculous stage.  BT weren’t interested in giving me a sensible deal, so I initiated a move to Sky.

Now I required an infrastructure upgrade to get Full Fibre.  Despite telling Sky I needed Openreach infrastructure putting in, they sent out CityFibre.  CityFibre promptly confirmed what I already knew, that their infrastructure is not in the ground, despite what their database says.  Long story short, I ended up cancelling and staying with BT.

To get to the point, however, in the space of about a week MyBT had switched to offering me new customer prices, before the change had even gone through.  The implication is that if you can convince them you actually are leaving they change their tune promptly enough.

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t advocate tactics like this, but as I said, if the system is playing you…

[gg30340]

If you are determined to leave BT this will be of no interest to you but if your mother wants to stay with BT you should call BT Retentions Team 0800 783 1401.

If you are not shown as her account as an account manager you will need to have her with you when you call so that she can authorise you to speak on her behalf.

Tell the Customer Service rep that you want to reduce her costs and that you have been in touch with other providers and they can offer a better deal than you have so far been offered.

Obviously before calling make sure that you have done your research and know what packages you can get and at what price. Ensure you are comparing like for like.

If they are unable to offer you a deal that you feel is reasonable then move to one of the providers that you have researched.