Why do they ask me to renew?

[danielle1]

When I get into my account lately, a notice says "Don't forget Your broadband discount is ending", and gives the option to click to "renew now."

But this contract ends near the end of July, so why are they asking me to renew now?  Is there some difference between the "contract" and the "discount"?

[JohnC2]

Hi @danielle1, thanks for your post, and sorry for the confusion this is causing. 

Unless it was a special offer for the first 3 or 6 months the discount will remain the same for the duration of the contract (Annual price change will apply). So on a 24-month contract, you should only be asked to re- contract when you enter the last 3 months of your current deal.

Cheers

John

[danielle1]

Many thanks for this.  I don't see that there is any "temporary discount"; the contract began in July 2020. They have changed the service once or twice without my request (to my annoyance, as I have to call them to find out what they've done and why), but it seems to be the same running contract.  I guess I'll have to call them again, at least to get the notice removed if it shouldn't be there.

[Les-Gibson]

@JohnC2

If only that were true John but alas it isn't.

My contract was due to expire next month (I've just renewed it) but much to my ire, MY BT started nagging me to renew in September last year.

[GarryJ]

I am having the exact same thing, everytime i log into MYBT, a message appears stating that my broadband discount is ending soon and i need to recontract, my current contract for Broadband/Entertainment TV pack is not up until August, also receiving emails from BT with deals to upgrade from Halo 2 and complete wifi (my current broadband pack) to Halo 3 with Wi fi for a much reduced price, then afterwards another mail saying the price i was sent was an error!   

[danielle1]

I haven't called yet (just to make sure there's no mistake), but is there a way to complain about this? We don't need to be hounded, nudged and nagged.

[Les-Gibson]

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@danielle1wrote:
I haven't called yet (just to make sure there's no mistake), but is there a way to complain about this? We don't need to be hounded, nudged and nagged.

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It's actually a very simple marketing trick, it panics the customer to go online and renew, the renewal then replaces your existing contract and takes effect immediately but online renewals nearly always incur either an increase in price or a reduction in services (e.g. you may lose Complete Wi-Fi) so BT benefit from extra income while you pay more than you need to given that you renewed before your old contract expired. 

My advice is to ignore the nags and ring BT on 0800 800 030 nearer to your contract end date for the best deal.

[danielle1]

So tricking people, basically. Whatever happened to ethics?

[garybs29]

Would you be the first to complain if they didn't tell you it was ending? Hardly seems like a massive issue, if you know there's time & you don't want to do anything just ignore it

Also @Les-Gibson that's simply not true, online offers are never usually downgrades taking away things

[Les-Gibson]

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@garybs29wrote:

Also @Les-Gibson that's simply not true, online offers are never usually downgrades taking away things

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Speaking from my own very recent experience, they are/were.