Rip-off Britain - inflation is 5% now?

[FoxEye]

Just had an email from my ISP, saying they now intend to increase all their prices by at least 5% every year, starting April 2021. They say this is OK because BT & PlusNet intend to increase their prices by even more than 5%, every single year, from now on.

The official rate of inflation is ~1.3%, from a quick Google (obvs house price inflation is much higher). Also the govt have frozen my pay (public sector) for the next 5 years, probably more like 10.

That means from a start of £30 pm for basic internet (FTTC), I'll be paying £50 pm in a few years (according to the compound interest calc I've just used).

A relative in Spain pays €20 for 600 MB, for Pete's sake. In a few years time we'll be paying £50 for basic internet at less than 1/10th the speed.

**** this country. How the hell can we just be expected to pony up 5% more each year? That's bloody ridiculous.

 

[FoxEye]

It's nice that you think it's not indefinitely. There will be a couple of half inflation pay rises and then the next crisis will hit causing another 10 years of frozen pay.

To answer your immediate problem. Change ISP?

If BT and TT are both intending this, you can guarantee the others will too.

Whatever you do don't check your utility bill. The cheapest tariff I can find now is £300 a year more expensive than my current one.

That's much more than a 5% increase.

That too

Are we just supposed to pluck the extra money from thin air..

 

[FoxEye]

That the worst you can do Mags? Knock yourself out, lad. If it means that much to you that you'd search through my back catalogue of posts, why not dig out the furry one?

It's still there. I never delete my posts.

You can link it in every thread I post in, if that's what makes you happy.

 

[FoxEye]

The price hike excuses have started just during the 10 years after the "recession". Not sure how such a big rise by ISPs is justified. Such a rip-off.

I told VM I was cancelling at the end of the contract and they immediately dropped the price from £32 to £18, for the next 18 months...

The email is extremely matter-of-fact that there will be an annual increase of at least 5% going forwards.

The language isn't apologetic, there are no references to "needing to invest in our network" or any of the usual niceties to soften the blow (or justify it).

@Uther asked if I was only just realising that I am a milking cow; nope, but price rises were not previously so boldly announced. Not just a price rise for this year, but a price rise of far greater than CPI inflation, of at least 5%, every single year from now on.

It's almost antagonistic.

 

[FoxEye]

I'm with BT and now that the price hike is written into the contract, you can't even switch anymore as you agree to the price hike (CPI + 4% or whatever they said) around April each year.

What's even worse is that BT now only do 2 year contracts, so the best time to get a new one seems to be in April, because then you have to suffer it once, and on the 2nd one you contact them and fix again. Not great but should skip one of the price hikes that way.

I will be contacting them and asking about my options soon because I'm not in contract, and a few £ a month more isn't great for the same service.

Where BT and TT lead, I'm fairly sure all the others will follow.

Which company's shareholders will not want them to increase prices to follow suit? If BT and TT can get away with >5% price hike every single year, then everyone else will want some of that action too.

 

[FoxEye]

No, that's not the worst I can do and I didn't reference the one which you did.

Words have weight to them, or at least they should when we're acting in good faith. It isn't hard to do drama. I wasn't being mean so apologies if that seemed to be the case.

Having said that - the greatest yeah but nah but yeah qualifier - this is sour grapes. It is drama for theatrics, and it's also not fair, naming a relative in Spain for some undescribed service which is a LOL that I won't even get into.

What are you even on about?

You come into a thread and link to some nonsense thread from 2015 which is not even slightly on-topic. You talk about drama and "words having weight," as tho you're making some profound point, but all you actually did is link to an ancient thread you think I'll squirm over.

You didn't come here because you had anything to say. You came here to try to provoke me.

So go on, if that's not the worst you can do, please dial it up to 11. I'm not the squirming type. Bring it on.

 

[FoxEye]

Nothing profound, I promise, I'm not that clever, and not intending to provoke (at least in the way you think I am), but the thing you're describing in your OP is basically MAN SHOUTS AT CLOUDS.

Do you see that as a realistic view or do you not see that?

I suggest if you have nothing to contribute that's even the tiniest bit on-topic, that maybe you direct your energies somewhere else.

Other people have managed - somehow - to discuss the subject presented in the OP. I'm not sure I care what you think my motivation for starting the thread is.

In fact, I'm sure I don't care.

 

[FoxEye]

That's fair to the extent that your OP headliner is [insert potitive word], your diabtribe is [hey what was that positive word, again?], and you're still moaning like you have no choice.

Can you translate that into something I can understand?

 

[FoxEye]

The choice argument only works though if you actually have genuine choice, here the phone lines are rubbish so the only real option for a decent connection is virgin.

Its just tiresome having to cancel or renegotiate all these things each year as existing customers get screwed over.

Apparently they're all doing it anyhow.

 

[FoxEye]

I've given this some thought but no, I can't do that. If your view is that you can't change or modify or fix or make better a problem you see then it's likely that you'll moan about that perceived problem more than you'll put focus on remedying it.

Does that make sense to you?

I'm not in a position to tell the ISPs (collectively) not to raise their prices. Do you think I am?

If all the ISPs raise prices by a similar amount, that being ~5% yearly, then what, pray tell, is the simple solution to avoid paying more..

As you can see by the above graphic, many of the most popular providers are indeed raising prices by ~5% annually. CPI inflation is currently 1.3% annually, so add the values listed above and you can see they're all going to be raising prices by at least 5%. Yearly.

Should I start my own budget ISP? No? Then what, Mags? What's your magic solution?

 

[FoxEye]

Such a crucial part of society under the control of private enterprise was always going to be an exercise in futility.

But state ownership of infrastructure is communism. Unless it's state ownership by proxy, and ze Germans, Dutch, French own all our infrastructure. Then it's totally fine.

 

[FoxEye]

Well, let's put our big boy pants on. Pay for it, compete for it, or do neither.

Moaning, with some backing I agree with you, probably does nothing. What WILL you do? That's the bit I'm more interested in.

Compete for what? You don't half talk some crap.

What I am going to compete for, exactly? Isn't it the other way round, that ISPs should compete for my business? But you're suggesting I need to compete, for what, exactly? Do you mean, "Get a better job?"

So it seems your real answer is, "Pony up or go without. Just stop moaning, because, reasons."

OK, thanks very much. Maybe now you can grace another thread with your vast wisdom.

 

[FoxEye]

Last month I negotiated £22 broadband (fibre 35) with anytime calls boost at £7 (half price). The previous time, 18 months back, I had seen a price for £19.95 BB with free calls boost. I went on chat and was told that was for new customers only so I got it for the £19.95 but paid £5 calls boost.
Absolutely fed up I emailed the CEO pointing out their terms and conditions and received a £90 rebate for the calls boost.
With talktalk and I suppose all of them you need to negotiate hard. This is a pain and frankly wrong. Some people will obtain a cheaper price, I include me, others who let it ride will pay much more for the same service. I always spend at least an hour on chat for me and then for the MIL arranging an 18 month BB contract. It is ridiculous however you have to do it.

Yeah I've haggled in the past, but there is one difference here.

The new contracts (from March 1) include the annual price rise in the T&C's of the contract itself.

Even if you negotiate a deal, from now on, you will always be subject to the price increases every April. TT have essentially ditched all the "fixed price" deals they used to have. They still have "fixed term" deals (24 months now), but you will pay the annual increase twice during the 24 month contract you must accept. And you can no longer use the price increases to leave you contract without paying a penalty.

Really, they have consumers over a barrel now.

 

[FoxEye]

What will you do this time that is different from the other times you've complained about things and have done nothing about?

Can you see a trend here?

When will you stop beating your wife's boyfriend?

 

[FoxEye]

OK.

What do you want from this exchange?

Nothing. Why did you come here? You weren't interested in discussing the topic. You started with a link to an unrelated thread and then seemingly decided to delve into armchair psychology. None of which was invited by me.

So you tell me, why are you here, in this thread?

 

[FoxEye]

I'm curious but hopeful.

You?

I'm wondering why anyone would spend so much time and effort to derail such an innocuous thread.

But derail they did. Well done on that.

 

[FoxEye]

I'm up to renew my broadband and currently pay £18.99 a month for pants ADSL. Three seem to do an unlimited 4G plan for £11 which is tempting. Not sure what the catch is, basic fibre speeds for that price seems pretty good.

Haven't looked into mobile bb recently, but don't they have (low) limits on the data you can use when tethered?

Ie, you can only use that data on your phone. Which is fairly useless for those of us who wfh, or use the internet mostly from their PC.

 

[FoxEye]

I feel your pain, when I moved one of the things that struck me the most was how cheap the utility bills are elsewhere.

1GB internet - £16 a month
Electricity - £23 a month
Water - £2.50 a.month

No gas, no council tax & no bloody tv license. In the UK the monthly.bills were £300+ per month for a flat 1/5th the size of my new house and with crap internet.

Thanks. I see no real reason why this country has to be so expensive. It's not like the UK is some kind of paradise

We just seem to have accepted the milking. And obviously worse is to come.

I wonder when we will reach a point when people have had enough. Constant price hikes are the order of the day, and the hikes are getting bigger, now.

 

[FoxEye]

@HungryHippos Yup, that worked a treat

 

[FoxEye]

@arknor Nope, not me. I've never earned above nat. average wage. These yearly 5% increases will hurt.

It's clear that the people talking about "shouting at clouds" are the high status, Gucci belt wearers.