What do you think about BT's soon to be enforced 14.4% in-contract price increase?

BT sent me a special offer email saying I could upgrade to 900mb for only £1/mo more. Usually when they've announced the price increases they've already increased the costs to new customers etc. Not this time. They're still selling contracts for 24 months which in just 1 month will go up 14.4%. It's commiting to a £8 increase.

Advisor heavily hinted to wait until April to renew (contract up in May) as a lot of customers will be fighting for new deals due to the price increases so better switch deals will be available, making the whole situation a joke.
 
lsg1r said:
Essentially it's a monopolistic money grab imo, yes they'll argue there are alternatives such as virgin etc but they're nowhere near me and never will be. Not to mention BT has a huge brand awareness.

It's bad enough we have the 'landline tax' even if never use the phone, we need it for the internet (non fibre at least)... yes I could switch to a 'bt landline reseller' at a slightly lower price but they're going to have to put their prices up to cover their fees to BT most likely.

Luckily I'm landline only with BT and using zen on the lifetime price guarantee for my internet. Fibre still isn't a viable option (no fixed ip etc) where I live so I get, relatively speaking, ripped off on 80/20 which costs the same as some gigabit fibre options.....

Also it's always nice how BT likes to 'share the expense' on all customers even those who don't gain anything because they don't use it..... they did it with the bt football stuff, they're now doing it with ee 4G coverage, it would be nice if they just charged the people that use it.
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Do you 100% need the fixed IP address because I’m 99% certain Upp are in KL now and that’s 900/900 for about £35 per month. Sadly it’s £150 for the 1000/1000 “business” service with fixed IP address.
 
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The insurance industry was recently regulated such that they must offer you their best deal why can't ofcom do something similar. If not we need to be able to have 12 month contracts so you can save money each year with a renegotiation/swap even if that is a pain in the rear. I'm lucky in that I have an AltNet that is 12 months with no in contract price rise however that year is coming to and end in 2 months. What will be on offer then, they're doing some pretty decent new customer offers but what about the existing ones?
 
picnic said:
The insurance industry was recently regulated such that they must offer you their best deal why can't ofcom do something similar. If not we need to be able to have 12 month contracts so you can save money each year with a renegotiation/swap even if that is a pain in the rear. I'm lucky in that I have an AltNet that is 12 months with no in contract price rise however that year is coming to and end in 2 months. What will be on offer then, they're doing some pretty decent new customer offers but what about the existing ones?
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99.9% of people are on 12/18/24 month contracts because they want to finance either the install cost or some equipment costs through the duration of the contract. So you find people with £100/month mobile phone contracts because they got the 512Gb iPhone 14 Pro Max over 24 months etc. and even in Openreach installs, someone has to pay for people to run cables into your home or business. Rolling monthly contracts are available but they cost a bit extra or you finance the equipment yourself.

And mobile phone operators do have to tell you when the contract you originally took out at £100 per month comes to an end because you’re not paying for the phone anymore so you should be paying less. That is a legal requirement.

I don’t think it’s as bleak as you make out.
 
WJA96 said:
Do you 100% need the fixed IP address because I’m 99% certain Upp are in KL now and that’s 900/900 for about £35 per month. Sadly it’s £150 for the 1000/1000 “business” service with fixed IP address.
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Not 100% necessary, you can do reverse dns but I've kind of got used to the fixed IP address and it just makes life so much easier for things like ftp, vpn etc (I work from home but don't need a 'business' internet connection)

I'm actually just outside KL, UPP isn't available where I am but lightspeed is and they're using cgnat which is a big no no for me personally.

In all honesty, while I would like faster internet, I don't actually 'need' it.... I would prefer the prices to be adjusted downwards relative to fibre though.

@picnic I thought there already was a rule in place already regarding 'best prices' for isps.... think it might be a case of us needing to ring up over it still which is the real issue.
 
picnic said:
The insurance industry was recently regulated such that they must offer you their best deal why can't ofcom do something similar. If not we need to be able to have 12 month contracts so you can save money each year with a renegotiation/swap even if that is a pain in the rear. I'm lucky in that I have an AltNet that is 12 months with no in contract price rise however that year is coming to and end in 2 months. What will be on offer then, they're doing some pretty decent new customer offers but what about the existing ones?
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Aquiss use the Openreach FTTx network, have 12 month contracts and no CPI/RPI related price rises.
 
My personal preference would be that the install costs for services reflect the actual costs and the contract durations are more sensible (12 months max). I'd hope that this means people would value the installers' time because there is a value associated with it, and also people would feel able to push back against a dog-dirt quality job that took half an hour if they've paid £60 for it.
 
picnic said:
The insurance industry was recently regulated such that they must offer you their best deal why can't ofcom do something similar. If not we need to be able to have 12 month contracts so you can save money each year with a renegotiation/swap even if that is a pain in the rear. I'm lucky in that I have an AltNet that is 12 months with no in contract price rise however that year is coming to and end in 2 months. What will be on offer then, they're doing some pretty decent new customer offers but what about the existing ones?
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Personally ofcom should remove it all together where by contracts can't rise mid contract.
 
GaryTheSnail said:
Once in contract we shouldn’t encourage price rises. It’s damn right disgusting behaviour from companies and they should honour the contract at point of sale with no increases.

It’s a way of stealing and getting a way with it through contracts.
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I don't like them either, but they are honouring the contract at the point of sale as the mechanism and timing of the price increase is in the contract.
 
tangey said:
I don't like them either, but they are honouring the contract at the point of sale as the mechanism and timing of the price increase is in the contract.
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Having a term in the contract doesn't make it legally enforceable. Consumer statutory rights are embedded in the contract and must be upheld. Arguably BT are enforcing unfair in-contract price increase terms for some customers and evidently they are unenforceable when challenged.
 
Just spoken to their cancelation customer services and they suggested renewing for another 24months to avoid the CPI+ increase this year which seems kind of crazy.

Alternative is pay a good chunk of an early cancelation charge and get over to Zen - nets out about equal over the 2 years, but I'm very tempted to do so on principle.
 
StevieP said:
I only signed up to a new 24 month contract a month ago (mainly due to issues with BT's billing system) and while I was aware of the CPI increase each March, I never expected it to be a 14.4% increase!

I contacted BT and complained and they agreed to give me a credit equal to the increase over the first 12 month period!
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I might give that ago, only just signed up to go live on the 13th and it's gone from £30.99 to £35.
 
I saw the Vodafone offer of £30pm (until April 2024) for 500MB fibre today and thought I'd ask BT what my early termination fee would be with 9 months left on my 500MB deal which is going up to £50 next month.

£89 exit fee, and a £20 a month saving before taking into account Quidco extras.

So by saving £20 a month for 9 months, and costing me £89 to leave, that's £90 saving on it's own.

Throw in £37 cashback and a £135 Amazon voucher and it becomes even less.

Seems like a good deal to me unless I'm missing something?
 
Looking at something similar. BB going to be over £63 per month with the increase. 13 Months left on contract so looking at £200 termination fee. Shell BB offering same speed for £45.99, with £175 gift card and £100 through top cash back. So will save £20 per month and cashback and gift card will more than cover termination fee.
 
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