#btcare

This month I have been mostly sorting out a problem with my broadband with BT. If you too enjoy having to deal with a customer care department based in another county, repeating yourself in an endless maze of service personnel that are difficult to understand and don’t really understand you, then give them a try.

You too could have your soul sucked from you as you try and get a simple line fault fixed. 5 weeks in and NO change. I mentioned them on twitter and had a response straight away from ‘Paul’ He asked to let him know immediately if the problem wasn’t solved. I did, and I never heard back from him again. 

BT have rang me today, to ask if the fault is fixed, despite having the ability to check their end with their fault finding software!? Useless.

I've been with BT for 2 years in August and other than a few problems related to the BT Home Hub and them blocking the ability to send Tweets with Pictures - which is really bizarre - I've been generally happy.

The BT Home Hub 3 I have is, as I've said, a bit ropey so I was interested when I saw the Home Hub 4 was available. So, I decided to see what broadband options were available.

To my surprise all the broadband options that are available cost less that what I'm paying now. Why haven't I been moved onto a package with the same features but at the lower cost?

So, I decided to go through the upgrade process to see if the real cost (with various additions) would mean the cost was the same.

Nope, it was much cheaper.

I seem to be able to make a @BTCare (BT) order with broadband at no monthly cost. pic.twitter.com/PazQdS2FAT

— Phil Leggetter (@leggetter) July 22, 2013

I can only assume there's some sort of mistake here. Surely broadband can't come in at £0 a month?!

So, I compared to my current bill:

Which is WAY better than my current monthly bill. I believe at present I'm being taken for a ride by @BTCare pic.twitter.com/fNCs00YspU

— Phil Leggetter (@leggetter) July 22, 2013

I'm actually sorry I said "taken for a ride" here. Sorry @BTCare. But that is over 50% cheaper per month.

So, I was compelled to get in touch with BT via email:

I'm presently paying over £50 a month for my phone and broadband.

See: https://twitter.com/leggetter/status/359445288018132993

If I upgrade my account I can get this down to £23 a month. A 50% discount: https://twitter.com/leggetter/status/359444529335656448

Since the BT Total Broadband Option 3 package doesn't appear to be available any more I have to ask how long I've been paying over the odds for the same package I could get at half the cost.

Even if the £23 a month is a mistake - which I can only guess it is - how long has my current package not been available and how much could I have saved by moving on to the current cheaper deals sooner?

I'm generally happy with the service I get from BT, but I can't help but feel I should have been proactively moved onto a more cost effective package.

Hopefully somebody from customer services can call me back on the number I've provided and provide me with appropriate details.

Let's see what they say.

Conclusion

Since I had opted out of marketing emails BT couldn't contact me to let me know I should change plan.

I did sign up for a new deal as as thanks (not as compensation for a complaint) they gave me some credit which went towards a new BT Home Hub 4.