Features - QOTW: Has free footy convinced you to switch to BT Broadband?

[george1979]

I might consider it once my contract with Virgin is up. Their broadband supply is good but their customer service is absolutely terrible to the point that I actually still get a little annoyed when I think about how bad they are.
If I knew anyone else round here who had BT so I could compare speeds and reliability I would seriously consider it. Even though it would be more expensive than just virgin broadband on its own.

Just really wary of changing and ending up with bad speeds or unreliable connection. I always get a healthy 30-40Mbs with Virgin and its never dropped out in the ten months since I moved here.

[jnutt]

Nope

[Myss_tree]

Have just switched to BT (July 3rd activation date) from Talk Talk ... BUT NOT FOR THE FOOTBALL!!.
Currently monthly charge all in with Talk Talk is around £30. Switching to BT via Quidco gets £80 cashback and there is also a £50 Sainsbury voucher to claim. Pay up line rental 1 year in advance. It works out that it will now cost me around £18 a month for unlimited broadband plus i get the new home hub.
If they were willing to knock of money for not having the football i would take it. Unfortunately they do not.
I have simply swithced because its cheaper than Talk Talk. If they (Talk Talk) had offered me a new cheaper deal then i would have stayed.

[watercooled]

Free footy hasn't even convinced me to watch footy. If BT offered me free Broadband on condition I watch the footy, my answer would be no. I'd rather pay for the broadband and not have to watch the footy.

In fact, if the only way I could get broadband was if I had to watch footy, I'd give up broadband.

About the only thing on TV I like less than footy is adverts, and even that's a close run thing.

In case I'm not clear, not a footy fan.

I'm just wondering why they didn't do something useful with the money e.g. reduce broadband/line rental prices, put it into their network, etc. Now, instead of having a few fans choosing and paying to watch the drivel, it's being subsidised by all of their customers.

[bridges009]

Recently switched to Infinity 2 from BE just before they announced it so it's a nice bonus.

[watercooled]

I'm just wondering why they didn't do something useful with the money e.g. reduce broadband/line rental prices, put it into their network, etc. Now, instead of having a few fans choosing and paying to watch the drivel, it's being subsidised by all of their customers.

Although, I suppose you could look at it another way - they surely must have estimated it will gain enough customers to make a net profit, so unless they squander it, they should have some left over overall for other stuff...

[Top_gun]

I love football, but I rather play it than watch it.

[3dcandy]

Had terrible problems with BT can't see us going back any millenium soon....
Sky for us has been better all round, expensive but a much better experience. Living within sight of the exchange helps, 21mb down 1 meg up and very reliable. Don't have the sports package and can't see the footy changing it either!

[keithwalton]

Nope and there crying to mummy tactic when sky wouldn't show there adverts or share there services hammers the nails into the coffin. There attitude is similar to a certain fruit themed gadget maker

[phili_c51]

I Sell this product. It's not just football, Rugby union fans get ALL Aviva Premiership matches. MOTOROLA GP from 2014 and more. Bundled with infinity 2 with vision essentials extra (18 extra channels) and your onto a winner

[Myss_tree]

I Sell this product. It's not just football, Rugby union fans get ALL Aviva Premiership matches. MOTOROLA GP from 2014 and more. Bundled with infinity 2 with vision essentials extra (18 extra channels) and your onto a winner

Great!!
Except all i want is Broadband.
No Sport. No Vision. No phone either really.
Why cannot BT sell a straightforward unlimited broadband package and nothing else attached for a simple fee of say a tenner a month? (and no frakkin line rental).

[watercooled]

Because you're renting a line. In places where 'line rental' isn't a separate charge, it's just included in other packages, so you'd be saving nothing - it has to be paid for somehow.

[aidanjt]

BT has stopped serving consumers on this side of the sea. But if they hadn't, and this was on offer, it would more likely repel me than attract me. I've no interest in remote spectating football, if I did I'd get it one way or another. But I want my internet bill to be internet, just internet. Not internet, plus phone, plus tv, plus footie, plus other frivolous 'value-added' fluff. Cheap, fast, unlimited (as in actually unlimited, not marketing 'unlimited') internet can handle all of that with choices I make, not some product manager.

[hoggson]

I used to be with BT Residential and received a phone call telling me I used too much internet and I was given my MAC code and told to find another supplier. I have been with Sky ever since, using the internet in exactly the same way, and I've never been restricted by Sky in any way, and they have not called me up telling me to leave. I will never use a BT product every again, they told me unlimited broadband but it was just a lie.

[hoggson]

Also I thought I would point out the last two times I have re-signed with Sky they have given me free line rental, something nobody else seems to offer.

[Myss_tree]

Because you're renting a line. In places where 'line rental' isn't a separate charge, it's just included in other packages, so you'd be saving nothing - it has to be paid for somehow.

Agreed, it should be part of the fee and advertised as such and not be part of the smaller print. If your package is advertised as £20 a month then £20 it should be, not plus line rental. Energy suppliers do not send you a bill then tag on a rental for the gas or water pipeline or a wire rental for your electricity supply.
Essentially ISP's are doing (though not quite as complicated) the same as energy suppliers have been guilty of, unclear tariffs. Working out how much you actually pay should not be necessary, it should be clearly stated.