BT contract renewal

Infamous786 · 3 Oct 2018 at 08:57

Hello chaps, I am stuck in a dilemma and want some advice. I have been with BT infinity for the past 8 years and it has been solid. I get 75meg and 19 up and 8ms ping and has been stable and no slow down. But my renewal is up and they are charging stupid amounts in my opinion nearly £60 for Fibre and simple phone line.

City Fibre cables are being installed near by but still not available for me, I have tried contacting Vodafone to see if it will be available for me soon or not but they didn't give me any info when. I would love to go with them as the prices are decent for the speed they are offering. I am worried if i renew with BT its another 18 months obviously i will try and negotiate the price, also moving to different company i am worried i will get slower speed. Virgin media is not available on my street.

Thanks

Minstadave · 3 Oct 2018 at 09:17

I just bounce between BT and Plusnet getting cashback/joining reward each renewal. Service is exactly the same, don't even change the Homehub as it works with both.

Infamous786 · 3 Oct 2018 at 09:20

Cool, I was looking at Zen are they owned by BT as well?

DampDog · 3 Oct 2018 at 09:21

I've been with BT for a number of years and despite the reputation for being expensive they always come good when I got on the phone and queried the best deal. I have approximately the same setup as yourself, I see about 65/18meg. Likewise I have a phoneline and anytime talk package. They came in at just shy of £60 but after a quick chat came down to £36.49/18 month (I think it's just increased up a little) That price was actually slightly better than the likes of PlusNet/Sky at the time.

I think this is their customer retention number, which is the one I always ring (0800 0234427)

Infamous786 · 3 Oct 2018 at 09:27

Nice that is a really good price, I will have to call them this morning, Just i cant knock the connection. Just wish i knew if City Fiber would be available that is 900meg down and 900 up at £48. They have been putting the cables down the next street.

DampDog · 3 Oct 2018 at 10:20

@Infamous786.

I've just checked my latest bill and it has increased, the unlimited add-on call's appears to have gone up. So it now rocks in at £39.38. I checked the email they originally sent me an that quoted a £27.50 discount on an 18 month contract.

Hope you can wrangle a deal.

ChrisD. · 3 Oct 2018 at 10:30

Switch to Plusnet.

Infamous786 · 3 Oct 2018 at 10:38

@DampDog Cheers mate going to give them a call now wish me luck haha, i been with them for 8 years now !

iamtheoneneo · 3 Oct 2018 at 10:48

Never underestimate a rock solid connection. Paying a bit extra for that is imo always worth it.
I guess you just have to decide if your paying for quality or actually being shafted.

Also BT last year did 18 month renewal discounts via the online account. Not sure if they are doing it again but have you logged in online to check?

bremen1874 · 3 Oct 2018 at 10:54

There’s no reason why changing isp should make a connection less reliable. The biggest factor is the connection to the street cabinet, and that won’t change.

ChrisD. · 3 Oct 2018 at 10:56

bremen1874 said:
There’s no reason why changing isp should make a connection less reliable. The biggest factor is the connection to the street cabinet, and that won’t change.

Exactly this.

Infamous786 · 3 Oct 2018 at 10:57

i just did £55.99, Yes thats why i stayed with them for 8 years,

ChrisD. · 3 Oct 2018 at 11:07

You could have switched to PlusNet, paid £32.99 a month on an 18 month contract, £25 activation, plus got £85 cashback via Top cashback.

PlusNet over 18 months: £533.82
BT over 18 months: £1006.02

Or a £472.2 saving.

Assuming you've renewed for £55.99

Infamous786 · 3 Oct 2018 at 11:14

Not renewed yet, on the phone to BT right now...... on hold...

Minstadave · 3 Oct 2018 at 11:25

It’s a sad state of affairs that loyal customers aren’t valued but it is what it is.

Swapping back to BT from Plusnet this time netted me almost £250 cashback (prepaid card and Quidco) the monthly cost with that taken into account is sub £20 but I’m only on 54meg max fibre tier.

Infamous786 · 3 Oct 2018 at 11:35

i am off the phone to them, 46.99 for max fibre + BT sport- and Land line. and price promise of no more hikes for the contract. I not agreed to it yet, but might call tomorrow to see if i can haggle a bit more

Steve_bullockuk · 3 Oct 2018 at 13:03

Infamous786 said:
i am off the phone to them, 46.99 for max fibre + BT sport- and Land line. and price promise of no more hikes for the contract. I not agreed to it yet, but might call tomorrow to see if i can haggle a bit more

Really impressed with that 8ms for FTTC. I don't get anywhere near that even when on FastPath.

ChrisD. · 3 Oct 2018 at 15:23

Steve_bullockuk said:
Really impressed with that 8ms for FTTC. I don't get anywhere near that even when on FastPath.

I've always had sub 10 ms with PlusNet, Zen and Sky. I wouldn't touch BT due to their horrendous CS.

Infamous786 · 3 Oct 2018 at 16:34

Yes its been great since i joined them on Infinity 8 years ago, always been similar speeds and ping. I think i will renew as i had no issues and they have reduced it. See what City Fibre have at next renewal

DampDog · 3 Oct 2018 at 16:45

When is your renewal date? One thing I did find with BT was that I got a better deal, the nearer the date I was. For whatever reason their deals do change week to week. In the end, so long as you're happy with the deal, it's all good.

Best deal I've come across was my mate. He was having connection issues with Sky. He rang em, said he was quitting as he'd had enough. They rang him back and offered him 18 months free TV and would sort his connection asap. He's a happy camper. Have to say I've never heard of that sort of thing, ever.