It seems that whilst most customers routinely check the small print for credit cards, bank loans, insurance plans and the like, they fail to scan their broadband contracts with the same scrutiny.
The majority of contractual pitfalls involve cancellation fees – a charge levied for customers who terminate their contracts prematurely, or before a specified time. Be Broadband, who we’ve championed on these pages for offering customers more manageable and flexible 3 month contracts, will slap a £50 charge on customers who have the temerity to sign up for less than 12 months.
PlusNet, who are touting bite-sized 1 month contracts, operate a policy where you get a free wireless router for which there are no installation charges – provided that you sign up for at least 12 months. If you don’t, then you are liable to pay for the £65 router and the £47 install fee, which in practical terms amounts to a total cancellation fee of £112.
Customers who fail to make payments will be hit with fines of up to £25 – NamesCo charge this amount plus VAT for each missed monthly payment. BT and Virgin Media charge customers £7.50 and £10 respectively for failed payments.
Other common ‘hidden’ charges apply to home phone call packages which provide free calls to UK landlines – provided that they begin with either the 01 or 02 prefix – calls to 08 numbers and mobiles are not covered by the majority of inclusive call deals. Similarly, calls to technical support and helpdesks are often charged at premium rates, with Virgin charging 25p and minute, and Orange, a massive 50p a min for tech support.
It’s no secret that UK ISPs are operating in a fiercely competitive market, and as such are heavily dependent upon continual revenue from customers, and to be fair, providers cannot be blamed for customer oversight, even if fine details are buried under reams for small print.
Broadband Finder was set up to ensure that all internet packages are as transparent as possible – details of such things as connection and set-up fees, the cost of line rental and the basic terms and conditions of phone plans are clearly listed in the package summaries, which you can access by clicking on the relevant links on the Broadband Comparison page.
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Daniel said on 27 Jun 2007 at 6:20 pm #
I recently posted an entry on this myself
http://broadbandupdate.blogspot.com/2007/06/got-broadband-contract-check-small.html
When this bad press is combined with Ofcom looking into unfair charges and penalties to you have any fears that customers could really lose confidence in the service provider or are people now so reliant on broadband that these big companies will continue to grow?
Dan said on 28 Jun 2007 at 2:35 pm #
I’ve found a lot of these problems start with the broadband provider offering ridiculously low priced service, but not having any decent support or an awful network.
That’s when the customer is trapped in a 12 month contract or is forced to pay the cancellation price.
I’ve been with Virgin (NTL) for the last 5 years and I haven’t had many problems with their network. Their support can be ropey, but on the whole is pretty good, with knowledgeable people. But then again I am a technical person and I tend to know what is going wrong and how they can fix it.
von Richtofen said on 02 Jul 2007 at 4:01 pm #
In the defence of the service providers you can’t blame them, as they do state the so-called ‘hidden’ charges, it’s just that they are buried under reams of smallprint and T&C bollocks.
However, when applying for insurance or a credit card or whatever, you expect people to read everything and understand the terms of the contract before sigining on the dotted line - so why should broadband be any different?
People are always getting stitched on mobile phone contracts because they don’t read the fine details.
One one hand I’m tempted to say if you get caught out by a T&C it’s your own fault, but on the other hand, 50p a minute for tech support is a joke.
Interesting blog post btw Daniel.