For those kind people who have followed my blog over the
years, they will know of the battles I’ve had with British Telecom (BT). It
took them 91 days and 4 hours to provide me with Broadband when we moved house.
At the time, I was probably counting the seconds too!
And once installed, I tried to move to my preferred
provider, Sky (better people on the phone and they don’t read from a script for
starters). It failed of course. I was advised that the servicing company, Openreach (owned by BT), were
not able to find me a Broadband line in my village. The only ones available
were - surprise, surprise - for BT.
So there I was, paying through the nose for a BT phone line
and Broadband. Until I called in to an EE shop.
I went to EE to sort something out on my mobile, but like
all good sales people, the guy used the opportunity to offer Broadband and
phone. At a price that was £53 cheaper per month than BT. Per month! I thought I’d
misheard.
The same deal as BT - just without BT Sport. Now, I know
what some of you will be saying…. nowadays, EE is a subsidiary of BT. Yes,
exactly. That’s the reason I can do it. Otherwise, it’s back to Openreach telling
me the lines are reserved for BT. But - ha! - with EE being a subsidiary of BT,
they can’t play that game. And I get to save £53 a month.
How come BT charges so much? It wasn’t long before they
called. Here is a transcript of the call, as accurately as I can remember….
BT: Hello Mr Turner, we understand you want to leave BT?
Me: Yes.
BT: Sorry to hear that. You are a valued and long term
customer. Is there a particular reason?
Me: Yes. I’m saving £53 a month.
BT: We’d be pleased to match that saving.
Me: Pardon?
BT: Rather than lose you, we’ll match our competitor.
Me: Not really a competitor - you own them. But how come you
can match it?
BT: It’s what we do.
Me: So why didn’t you offer this before?
BT: We only offer at this stage.
Me: I thought I was a valued and long term customer. But you
were willing to charge me an extra £53 a month so long as I didn’t complain?
BT: I wouldn’t put it like that. But the offer is what all
companies do. If you go to Sky or Vodaphone, you’d find they only offer this
sort of deal if you are threatening to leave.
Me: That’s not true. Sky call me regularly to check I’ve got
the right TV deal. That includes reducing costs.
BT: Oh. Maybe it’s different for TV deals.
Me: Is that all?
BT: So you won’t come back to us?
Me: No.
BT: What if I told you that it will cost you £27 a month if
you want BT Sport outside of your current deal?
Me: I’d say that was a threat and it’s not worth that much.
So there we go. At long last, I’m away from the dreaded BT. The
new Broadband went ahead without a problem. And EE have promised to be active
in keeping the costs down.
Now all I need is a future government to decide that this
whale of a company is too big and powerful, and hive off EE into a separate
entity.
I continue to dream….
