Considering changing from Eclipse to BT

After >12 years getting reliable service from Eclipse I'm considering changing my ISP.

Currently paying just over £14/month, 50GB download limit; cost is not a major issue, reliability of service is. Sadly nowadays, with their move away from the domestic market, Eclipse during the working day is getting slower, especially for such things as watching YouTube videos. At the moment rarely use more than 15-20GB/month but would prefer to have unlimited to cope with future activities.

Currently have the telephone with BT, LRS plus, Anytime calls, Caller Id included, and have a very reliable service, we're happy and would prefer to stay with BT. Absolutely NOT interested in BT Sport (or anything similar). I'm well aware, having watched numerous threads on TBB, about other suppliers but am happy to continue to be with BT.

Some data:

Router stats:
D/S
CS = 7887 kbps (seems to have dropped of late)
LA = 42.5 db
NM = 12.0 db (higher than in the past, hence lower CS?)
U/S
CS = 1107 kbps
LA = 24.2 db
NM = 5.8db

Straight line distance to fibre-enable Cab is .77km
Straight line distance Cab to Exchange (MRHUL) is 1.2km

Looking at the BT offerings (and bearing in mind I'm already a BT customer)...
Unlimited Adsl BB is £8/month

Looking at Infinity. Given that BT say that I could get 20-28MB (Estimated download speed range) / 16MB Minimum guaranteed speed there's no point in considering anything other than Infinity 1. So...
Unlimited Infinity 1 (+ weekend calls) is £15/month

As I'm already paying for Anytime calls then any such supplement on these packages would be the same as I'm already paying so can be effectively disregarded.

As far as I can see both these packages are not special offers so not liable to a major price hike after the 12 months minimum term.

It would seem therefore that I could have unlimited Infinity 1 for less than £1 more than currently paying and no other monthly price differences - ignoring any one-off payments or prepaid Master cards. Or have I missed something?

Also would changing to either of these change the free Caller Id I currently have?

Anything I may have missed?

It is probably worth ringing the BT customer options team and they may give you a good deal on moving the broadband.
Check out what costs would be with TalkTalk and the like (even if you don't intend to move to them) so you have a talking point with the BT people.

For me (in Winchester), the BT service (phone and broadband) has been completely reliable, with almost uniformly flat speeds at the top of the Infinity 1 range using the TTB tests at any time of day. However, I know there are others not so lucky who see seriously reduced peak time speeds. I do dread having to call the India customer service team if it becomes necessary; even though I have worked quite a bit with Indians in the past I find the most of the BT service team very polite but almost incomprehensible.

Thanks for that. I've had almost perfect telephone service from BT for 40+ years, including the 13+ years at this address - 1 fault which was quickly fixed by BT; 1 renewal of external and internal wiring which was done FOC.

I know plenty of people who use BT for telephone and quite a few who have BT for broadband, nary a problem.

I've dealt with the India Help Desk when my sister went to BT BB and they were polite, very understandable, and knowledgeable. Maybe I was lucky, maybe the approach I take in such circumstances is a help - I take the view that if I can help them, to help me, we both benefit.

Do you have a number for the BT Options Team?

It seems to be a slight variable number but a recent google search this looks most reliable, Good luck
Below copied from http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2089610

I've always come across this number (0800.800.030 FREE) for the options team on the BT Community forums.

Last month I received a letter from them when my contract for broadband infinity was coming to an end. It was an offer of a reduction in cost of my broadband if I re-contracted infinity for another 12mths, to ring them on (0800 587 8820 FREE). I was happy to do so.
The very nice lady I spoke to went through all my services to see if I could save on anything else.

Still considering...

I'm slightly puzzled by an apparent discrepancy between BT's web site and the info on TBB about BT's offerings.

On BT's broadband packages page it shows Unlimited Infinity 1 + Weekend Calls @ £10/month. The only superscript marker is their standard one warning of possible price changes during the contract, nothing to refer to post-contract period pricing.

On TBB's BT page for that offer it says

In reference to www.thinkbroadband.com/isp/bt/package/1294.html:

Broadband reduced price of £10 per month for the full minimum term, reverting to standard price of £23/month thereafter

There's nothing at all on BT's page that even refers to anything being £23/month, especially not in the footnotes where the post-contract period pricing is shown.

Is this BT being obscure in their web site pricing (I'm aware of a recent thread along these lines) or it is old/out of date information by TBB?

Or is it me missing something?...

Did you click the "order now" link on the TBB page?

Yes, it takes me to the same TBB page.

Just tried it again. Left mouse click takes me to the same TBB page, centre click takes me to the BT page I referred to in my earlier post.

Edited by cheshire_man (Mon 08-Feb-16 19:00:55)

Interesting, it takes me to the BT order page with the special offers.

Hang on, it's a 12-month contract. Are you expecting prices to be shown for after the 12 month contract?

Edited by deleted (Mon 08-Feb-16 19:04:27)

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/jump.html?type=5&url=h...

Unlimited Infinity 1 + Calls

Offer ends 10/02/2016. For new BT Broadband customers that sign up online at bt.com for 12 months and pay BT line rental. You'll pay £10.00 a month. Price from month 13 currently: £25 a month. Current non-offer price: £20 a month. Unlimited BT Infinity 1 includes Unlimited UK* Weekend Calls and a BT Home Hub. You'll need to pay by Direct Debit. There's a £49 activation charge and a £6.95 delivery charge for the Hub. If you leave in the first year, we'll charge you up to £65 towards the cost of your new Hub. Subject to availability, Minimum line speed and computer specification. Terms apply. �

So I have the wrong price after the 12 month contract, should be £25 so changing now. Not sure when it changing, but some offers see this go up/down, i.e. some people recently may have actually got the £23 after 12 months. All providers are very bad at communicating these sorts of changes.

Yep, it's the post-12-month-contract prices that I'm looking for, and they're not in the footnotes on the BT page, nor anywhere else as far as I can see.

Thanks Andrew, where are those words on BT's site?

You have to renegotiate a price at the end of the contract and if it's not acceptable, you migrate away.

In reply to a post by cheshire_man:

Yep, it's the post-12-month-contract prices that I'm looking for, and they're not in the footnotes on the BT page, nor anywhere else as far as I can see.

Scroll to the bottom of the BT products page and click "> Offers"

There is some mention of prices after 12 months on this or maybe when using website:-

http://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/providers/bt/bt-in...

Edit
From BT website:-

http://s11.postimg.org/rc1z0gygj/BT_Infinity_08_Feb2...

Edited by Apprentice (Mon 08-Feb-16 19:33:13)

Scroll down page and just above the blue footer is


> Broadband >TV>BT Sport>Phone>BT Mobile>Offers

Click Offers and you get a list of product offers.

Well you don't have to renegotiate you can just pay whatever the going standard rate is on a monthly basis, but yes the sensible thing if you are happy to sign another 12 month contract is to phone up and see what they will do.

One of the new problems is that BT feel free to change the price at any time, regardless of contract.

Thank you, I'd missed that link.

But if they do change it then you can migrate away from them with no penalty (unless of course you also take a number of their other services which you may still be tied in to because a change in price on one doesn't break all the others).

And if they don't inform existing customers of price changes they are breaking the rules, and doubly so for those that pay by direct debit.

Be interested in seeing the details of the cases where this is said to have actually happened, rather than a theoretical situation.

Not directly related to the thread, but BT will lose the Fox and Fox HD channels next month. As a result, I can leave before my contract ends. They informed me by email. Also, this is my second contract with BT and the second time a change mid-contract change has allowed me to leave.