BT Price hikes and line rental saver (and connection fee)

So I got the email last week saying my broadband cost is rising by £1.70/month (c. 7%) and my line rental would be rising by £1.00/month (c. 6%).

Now I've been happy with my BT service for the last six months, but I don't use most of the 'free' services I'm paying for (e.g. BT Sport, wifi out and about, calls on my phone line) and these are outrageous increases given current wage inflation of c. 3%.

I thought I would use my right to cancel within 30 days of a price hike and move elsewhere, however I would need to move both the broadband and phone to get any sort of a decent deal (I think only Plusnet will take a broadband only customer without the phone line being with them, and they'll charge a connection fee and an extra £2.50/month for the privilege), so you basically need to move both broadband and line rental. Luckily both were going up in price, so I can cancel right?

Apparently not, since I had bought the line rental saver, the cost of my phone line isn't going up until the saver ends in January, so I can't cancel that. Plus I would lose my remaining 6 months of non-refundable line rental saver (c. £85). I asked to raise a formal complaint via web chat and was quoted all the T&Cs I signed up to, but they still lodged it for me. I argued that I was effectively locked in to staying with BT, paying the higher price due to the loss of line rental I had paid for in advance. I also argued that this wasn't really in the spirit of Ofcom's 30 day rule.

I then spoke with somebody from the BT in the UK who informed me that because I had received free connection initially, and 12 months hasn't passed I would need to pay the connection fee in addition to losing my line rental saver were I to cancel the phone and broadband with BT. Surely this can't be right; if I've already paid the full 12 months line rental they can't add on a £130 connection charge for paying for 12 months of service and then not using 5 months or so of it...

Do I have a leg to stand on here? Is there any way I can get in contact with the regulator directly or do I need to get one of these deadlock letters from BT (I think we're there already based on today's conversation).

I'm thinking of just cancelling the broadband anyway, since I'm probably not going to need it for a few months. I'm hoping they would waive the £30 disconnection charge given they are the ones putting their prices up within my contract term.

I recommend ringing the retentions team on 0800 587 7216 and challenging their stance, seeing as how it's virtually impossible to buy phone and broadband separately from BT and it looks like they're moving the goalposts to suit themselves.

You've a lot in there to do with the getout due to the price rises. I'm too tired right now to go into a lot of detail but the same thing is happening on Plusnet and has been discussed at length. (Plusnet has similar rises due in September).

One person was given the same sort of answer from Plusnet as you have from BT wrt the non-refund of part of the Line Rental Saver, so contacted Ofcom as to whether this fitted in with the rules. Although it isn't explicitly covered, their attitude seems to be it is against the spirit of them, if not the letter. I need to go back to check, but not right now, but I think Ofcom contacted Plusnet. The person got out with an LRS refund, then the same for their parents. I think another person has also managed to get one as well, but most people seem to be giving up.

Re the extra £2.50 on Plusnet if you don't have their phone, I moved mine a week ago from BT to Pulse8broadband. (Click the "Home tab"). £13pm, + £1 for caller display if you want it, free basic 1571. No call setup charges, 1ppm calls for normal landlines. You sound to be like me - I made 12 calls in the quarter to mid-April, and 7 in the quarter to min-July, so the loss of a calling plan is irrelevant. Some of those calls could have been on my mobile - such as 0800 which is now free on those as well.

I didn't have LRS as I don't like being locked in. BT Rental plus E & W was £20.71, then plus caller display and basic 1571 came to £24.31. So I'm saving £10pm. The £2.50pm extra on Plusnet wouldn't be a problem, but I'm leaving them on 13 August anyway.

The changes the ex-BT CEO is putting through are really bad, particularly wrt CS, and some aspects of the broadband itself are suspect. I'm leaving partly on principle as an objection to the way it's going, and partly because if I do have a problem it isn't at all certain the previously good CS will be any use at all.

You say you have a calling plan. Are you sure that doesn't increase, because that counts as far as Ofcom are concerned. If your bill shows it included in the rental, like mine does, then it is costing you the difference between the basic £16.99 (and rising) and whatever it becomes when the prices go up.

Edit: If you click for the details of other price changes in your 30-day email, you get this page. Get out of jail free! All you have to fight about is the LRS refund.

Edited by RobertoS (Tue 04-Aug-15 00:12:26)

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

You say you have a calling plan. Are you sure that doesn't increase, because that counts as far as Ofcom are concerned. If your bill shows it included in the rental, like mine does, then it is costing you the difference between the basic £16.99 (and rising) and whatever it becomes when the prices go up.

Edit: If you click for the details of other price changes in your 30-day email, you get this page. Get out of jail free! All you have to fight about is the LRS refund.

yes BT are increasing their calling plans as well as line rental, as they have done for some time now, twice in any 12mths is taking the pee imo

I do have a calling plan (not that I use my landline to actually make any calls), so can probably argue from that front.

My bigger concern now is they're saying if I cancel the phone line now due to the price rises I will not only lose the remainder of my line rental, but they'll also stick on the full £130 connection charge which I got free when I signed up.

You will also need to pay any connection or activation charges associated with that service – including the full cost of charges that were discounted or advertised as free as a condition of taking the service on the terms that you agreed when we accepted your order.

Can they do this?

I am struggling to find a web page that details just line rental and call costs on the BT web site, or anywhere else for that matter, for business customers. Anyone able to point me to a URL [that actually displays the page] please?

This any use?

http://business.bt.com/voice/phone-lines-and-numbers/

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

One person was given the same sort of answer from Plusnet as you have from BT wrt the non-refund of part of the Line Rental Saver, so contacted Ofcom as to whether this fitted in with the rules. Although it isn't explicitly covered, their attitude seems to be it is against the spirit of them, if not the letter. I need to go back to check, but not right now, but I think Ofcom contacted Plusnet. The person got out with an LRS refund, then the same for their parents.

Maybe not, but is this me you are referring to?

Yes. I hope I have the summary of what happened correct.