[jambutty]

This applies particularly to BT but I should imagine that other ISP’s have a similar system. Freeserve or rather Orange or whatever it is called now has.

BT has and has had 3 different broadband packages the cost of which is based mainly on bandwidth.

BT Broadband Option 1 costs £17.99 per month for up to 5GB of bandwidth. Up to 6GB on the 1st April.
BT Broadband Option 2 costs £22.99 per month for up to 8GB of bandwidth. Up to 10GB on the 1st April.
BT Broadband Option 3 costs £24.99 per month for unlimited bandwidth subject to a fair usage policy.

When I changed to BT from Freeserve on the 23rd March 2006 I had the option of choosing a package and to enable me to choose the right one for me, there was a ‘calculator’ link on their web site. I was required to input certain details of my proposed usage and an estimate of the bandwidth used was revealed. In my case the figure that came back was 6GB thus I had to take up option 2.

If on two consecutive months I exceeded the allowance, BT would write to me to suggest that I take up the next highest option and for the second month I would be charged 30p per excess GB. From 1st April that goes up to 60p.

So what is wrong with all that? Nothing except that the ‘calculator is biased to push the new customer into a higher option. And to add insult to injury had my usage been less than 5GB for 2 consecutive months BT did not write to me to suggest that I take up a cheaper option.

During the month of February I kept a check on my bandwidth usage and it added up to just over 2GB. I had to do the check manually because nowhere on my BT Broadband account page was a facility where I could find out what my bandwidth usage has been in previous months or to date in the current month.

So I rang BT to try and find out what my bandwidth usage has been since March 2006. After more than half an hour of being sent from one official to another and listening to Mozart whilst waiting for someone to answer the phone I was eventually given a phone number of 0800 707 6044 where I got some answers – eventually and after more Mozart.

I made my point about the ‘calculator’ being biased to guide a customer into a higher option than they really need and also about BT not notifying customers when their bandwidth usage falls below their monthly allowance for two or more consecutive months.

Sadly they were unable (or unwilling) to tell me what my monthly bandwidth usage had been since March 2006. They could only quote me the last 6 months, which they did – an average of 3GB.

From the 20th March I will be on Bandwidth Option 1 at £17.99 per month. But, and here is the nice bit, I will only pay £14.99 per month for the next 12 months. There is an admission, if ever there was one, that BT knew all along that I was pushed into selecting a higher option (thus earning them more money) and that BT knew it was at fault for not informing me that my bandwidth usage was well below, not just 8GB but below 5GB. And of course that a customer has no easy way to find out how much bandwidth is being used.

It pays to complain.