I should also say that I'm not convinced that "BB-only" was actually invisible in each of the cases we saw at the start of the thread.
I appear to be both right and wrong on this front. "BB-only" isn't entirely invisible, but there is a very concerted effort to hide it as an option throughout the website.
I just tried starting Firefox, and created a new profile to give me a fresh cookie-less setup.
With that, I got to one of the split-test varieties with no reference to "Broadband Only" at all. There was no reference from the home page graphic (near the top) nor from the standard header or footer on most pages. When I went to "view packages", there were no tabs at all, so certainly no tab for "broadband only". When you drop down the "packages" menu at the top of the screen, it has disappeared too.
I couldn't find a link or reference in any of the standard navigation mechanisms on the residential sales pages.
But I could find the product in the following ways:
- Type "broadband only" into the site's search box, which gave me a link on the result page
- The same search result gave me a different footer too, that includes "Products" rather than "Packages", and "Broadband Only" is one of the linked products.
- The same search result gives a different header too, with a residential drop-down menu that includes "broadband only"
- Type "gobbledygook" into the search box. The header & footer still gives me the same links
- From Home Page, click "Help & Support". The header & footer gives me the same links
- Click "Business", and it gives the same header & footer with the "broadband only" links back to the residential side
- Click "Member Centre", and it gives me the same header & footer, except the links are on the portal website, rather than the main site.
When reaching the "broadband only" page from one of those locations, on either the main site or the portal, it doesn't appear as a link in its own footer, and there is no tab present to swap to the BB+phone deal.
So it is very much being air-brushed out of normal navigation, but not quite smartly enough.
I also tried the live chat, and asked if they did broadband-only. However, when asked exactly that question, the person there wouldn't answer directly, and needed my landline and address before being able to confirm whether I was "eligible for a standalone deal". I don't know if this is an attempt to hide the package, or over-zealous script-following.