BT Halo and Mobile

I have FTTP and my 18 month contract runs out in January 21. How does it work if I want to add a mobile deal to it? It says £5 discount because I have BT Broadband. I take it if I go for an 18 month mobile contract that I get the £5 discount till Jan 21 and then if I didn't renew with BT that the price would go up?

Also, how soon before the end of my contract will BT Retail give me new offers for an 18/24 month contract? At the moment my deals are higher than what I currently pay, whereas a new customer would get much lower.

The £5 mobile discount for broadband customers is for all broadband customers, both in and out of contract.

It will continue to be £5 cheaper for the duration you have BT Broadband.

No, it is only for "in contract" customers - ie those that have contracted broadband from BT. Out of contract means you no longer take broadband from BT and therefore if you have cancelled broadband or moved to a different provider then the discount would stop. What you are probably talking about is the minimum term but once that is up you are still in contract unless you cancel or move to someone else.

In reply to a post by ian72:

No, it is only for "in contract" customers - ie those that have contracted broadband from BT. Out of contract means you no longer take broadband from BT and therefore if you have cancelled broadband or moved to a different provider then the discount would stop. What you are probably talking about is the minimum term but once that is up you are still in contract unless you cancel or move to someone else.

I meant what I said and I'm happy how I worded it, even if you're not

It will continue to be £5 cheaper for the duration you have BT Broadband.

Unnecessary pedantry.

Edited by j0hn83 (Mon 17-Aug-20 09:55:25)

I believe your wording was misleading. The original question

I take it if I go for an 18 month mobile contract that I get the £5 discount till Jan 21 and then if I didn't renew with BT that the price would go up?

If they don't renew then I take that as they don't continue with BT - if they leave BT they leave the discount. This needs clarification - you have to be "in contract" even if you are outside of the "discount period" offered by minimum term contracts with ISPs. I added what I did to ensure there was no confusion as to what is "in contract", "out of contract" or "no contract because I left the ISP". These are all terms that are easily misunderstood.

Your definition of "in contract" and "out of contract" is fundamentally wrong - all broadband customers are "in contract" but they may no longer be in the "minimum term".

The £5 mobile discount for broadband customers is for all broadband customers, both in and out of contract.

You can't be a BT Broadband customer "without a contract" as you say.
I don't think there's anything unambiguous about that statement.

To say "I'm out of contract" or "I'm still in contract" I would say is common usage when referring to being outwith or within the minimum term on a broadband contract.

BT seem to agree with me

In reference to www.bt.com/help/broadband/manage-service/thinking-of-leaving-bt-:

If you’re still in contract with us, bear in mind you’ll have to pay the remaining charges of contract to cancel early. Most of our contracts are 12 months, but we do have some that are 18 and 24 months.

and

In reference to www.bt.com/help/account-and-billing/information-about-your-bt-contract:

Will I pay more once I am out of contract?
When you come out of any of your BT contracts you may end up paying more, as you lose certain promotions associated with your service. For example, when your TV or broadband contract finishes and you have BT Sport, then you'll start paying £6.75 additional a month (if you have BT Broadband and watch BT Sport on Sky) or £6 additional a month (if you watch BT Sport on BT TV).

In reply to a post by ian72:

they don't renew then I take that as they don't continue with BT

I take that exactly as it is, not renewing continues the broadband "out of contract".

Nothing misleading about it. We'll agree to disagree.

Edited by j0hn83 (Mon 17-Aug-20 16:17:29)

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

The £5 mobile discount for broadband customers is for all broadband customers, both in and out of contract.

You can't be a BT Broadband customer "without a contract" as you say.
I don't think there's anything unambiguous about that statement.

To say "I'm out of contract" or "I'm still in contract" I would say is common usage when referring to being outwith or within the minimum term on a broadband contract.

BT seem to agree with me

In reference to www.bt.com/help/broadband/manage-service/thinking-of-leaving-bt-:

If you’re still in contract with us, bear in mind you’ll have to pay the remaining charges of contract to cancel early. Most of our contracts are 12 months, but we do have some that are 18 and 24 months.

and

In reference to www.bt.com/help/account-and-billing/information-about-your-bt-contract:

Will I pay more once I am out of contract?
When you come out of any of your BT contracts you may end up paying more, as you lose certain promotions associated with your service. For example, when your TV or broadband contract finishes and you have BT Sport, then you'll start paying £6.75 additional a month (if you have BT Broadband and watch BT Sport on Sky) or £6 additional a month (if you watch BT Sport on BT TV).

In reply to a post by ian72:

they don't renew then I take that as they don't continue with BT

I take that exactly as it is, not renewing continues the broadband "out of contract".

Nothing misleading about it. We'll agree to disagree.

After working for many clients in the mobile telecom & broadband ISP’s I would agree that even the companies themselves refer to “out of contract” to mean outside of the minimum term. This is a common industry term and is present across internal and external knowledge bases, website help pages, some of the CRM systems, and across the agents taking the calls.

I’ve never known there to be any confusion over the usage of this turn of phrase in the 20 years I’ve been working in the BPO industry.

I stand corrected.