Eventually - after about 20 minutes (this is probably my 5 th attempt) I got to talk to a very attentive BT chap., we struck a deal and I have renewed (and cancelled my landline - end of scam calls!!!!) . the whole process took in excess of 30 minutes so it is easy to see why all their operators are occupied. Hopefully with a bit of AI helping out with reading out the terms of conditions the service might improve in the future.