BT introduces 'Total Broadband Anywhere' with <sarcasm>awesome 10MB usage cap</sarcasm>

[Guest Confucious]

At least that's a bit better but 120Mb is hardly 'Unlimited'.

It certainly makes sense for you compared to your Orange plan but that's more to do with O being so bad!

[Guest Simply Gray]

At least that's a bit better but 120Mb is hardly 'Unlimited'.

It certainly makes sense for you compared to your Orange plan but that's more to do with O being so bad!

I agree entirely about Orange and the "unlimited" 120MB. I must admit though that I have never used more than 10MB on my current Orange contract - I anticipate that I will get nearer the 30MB mark over time. The fact that I already have Opt 3 with BT also makes it more attractive.

[Guest Montala]

With BT I already have Option 3, so (as I understand it) I could have the following:

Two Phones (£5 each), 600 minutes, 300 texts & 120MB - £45 per month

Are you 100% sure that you would actually get a second phone for your 'Additional User'?

If so that probably makes it (for you anyway) quite a good deal!

Edited May 14, 2008 by Montala

[Guest Simply Gray]

Are you 100% sure that you would actually get a second phone for your 'Additional User'?

If so that probably makes it (for you anyway) quite a good deal!

There is a one off charge of £29.99 for each phone - see Post 12 above from Metoo - "...option to add up to 5 extra handests to the same contract at £5/m + £29.99 one off each..”

[Guest Montala]

There is a one off charge of £29.99 for each phone - see Post 12 above from Metoo - "...option to add up to 5 extra handests to the same contract at £5/m + £29.99 one off each..”

That's still not too bad then isn't it... over a 12 month period each additional user is paying £89.99 for their phone, and is of course getting all the useage benefits etc.

Edited May 14, 2008 by Montala

[Guest iFingers]

I wish I had read the small print. I signed up for one of these phones, which was described as a "BlackBerry" by the salesperson. Anyway the HTC smartphone turned up a couple of months ago. I gave it to my daughter, and for two months we were getting bills in the region of £5 a month. Great.

However, I have just received my latest bill which is £135! All for data use. What a con. Yes, I should have looked carefully at the terms, but really don't think I should have to. This is BT, I am already an existing customer, why deliberately mislead us? Why tout the phone as a "cheap" bargain? For your lead to believe your being offered this for being such a good and loyal customer! But then they pull the wool over your eyes by offering 2 months free data, then sting you with totally outrageous data usage charges when this expires. My daughter only ever uses it to check her emails btw, this is not for surfing.

I am just letting you all know my experience, and would advise people not to be drawn into, what is from my point of view - a scam by BT.

Be warned!

[Guest Confucious]

How much data did she actually use? That is really awful!

[Guest Metoo]

I wish I had read the small print. I signed up for one of these phones, which was described as a "BlackBerry" by the salesperson. Anyway the HTC smartphone

turned up a couple of months ago. I gave it to my daughter, and for two months we were getting bills in the region of £5 a month. Great.

However, I have just received my latest bill which is £135! All for data use. What a con. Yes, I should have looked carefully at the terms, but really don't think I should have to. This is BT, I am already an existing customer, why deliberately mislead us? Why tout the phone as a "cheap" bargain? For your lead to believe your being offered this for being such a good and loyal customer! But then they pull the wool over your eyes by offering 2 months free data, then sting you with totally outrageous data usage charges when this expires. My daughter only ever uses it to check her emails btw, this is not for surfing.

I am just letting you all know my experience, and would advise people not to be drawn into, what is from my point of view - a scam by BT.

Be warned!

Appreciate the bill may have come a bit of a shock, but it's hardly BT's fault if you sign a contract without first bothering to reading the T&C or check the tariffs is it? Would you do that with any other mobile contract?

It's not as if they kept the data policy a secret - it was openly published on the web site and in the Press Release - see the top post in this thread for example:

"As a launch promotion, all BT Total Broadband Anywhere customers receive unlimited GPRS usage for no additional cost until 31 July 2008. After that date, customers will be able to choose whether they wish to continue with unlimited GPRS (at additional charge) or retain the 10MB inclusive allowance."

The potential to rack up charges with the basic contract was also in headlines all over the web (IMO unjustifiably, as the "pundits" totally ignored the availability of the free, and then cheap, unlimited option. Again, see the start of this thread). But then big corporates like BT are always the bad guy, aren't they?

Fact is, BT kept extending the promotional deadline for another three months past the original July deadline. Surely you didn't expect that to carry on for ever?

BT also sent out letters stating the unlimited data promotion was to finish at the end of October and the data service become chargeable. With, as promised, an option for a flat rate data service for a mere £5/month. Cheaper, AFAIK, than any other network's ""Bolt-on".

Com? Deliberately mislead? Scam? Totally outrageous data charges? Not as far as I can see - all the information and tariffs were (and are) openly published and available. I know I was fully expecting to have to pay for data after July, saw the extra months as a bonus, knew it was coming to an end from the letter, and knew I could avoid costly data charges by switching to an unlimited plan.

In fact, if you already have Total Broadband Opt3, and don't need many voice minutes or texts, I still think BB Anywhere is a billy bargain.[1]

Where else can you get a free Windows Qwerty Smartphone, unlimited WiFi on FON, 500 minutes WiFI on BT Openzone, a 50min+50text voice plan, and full Broadband Talk VOIP integration, for just a fiver a month, or all that plus 500MB GPRS data for a tenner?

Just thank yourself lucky the BT phone doesn't do 3G, and your daughter didn't start downloading videos or using the phone as a modem. Some other people who didn't read their T&C came off far worse (and not with BT):

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/20...89520-20265079/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/07/mo...ing_overpriced/

[1] The extra minutes and text add-ons, OTOH, are not.

Edited December 16, 2008 by Metoo

[Guest iFingers]

How much data did she actually use? That is really awful!

138557 KB, which I work out to be 139 MB.

It's not as if they kept the data policy a secret - it was openly published on the web site and in the Press Release - see the top post in this thread for example:

"As a launch promotion, all BT Total Broadband Anywhere customers receive unlimited GPRS usage for no additional cost until 31 July 2008. After that date, customers will be able to choose whether they wish to continue with unlimited GPRS (at additional charge) or retain the 10MB inclusive allowance."

The potential to rack up charges with the basic contract was also in headlines all over the web (IMO unjustifiably, as the "pundits" totally ignored the availability of the free, and then cheap, unlimited option. Again, see the start of this thread). But then big corporates like BT are always the bad guy, aren't they?

I live on the internet, but never came across any mention of this - it's a big place! I only was fortunate to stumble upon this fine place when I was searching for people posting about BT's HTC phone plan - after I got the huge bill.

In our circumstances, we were introduced to the HTC deal over the telephone. My wife rang BT to ask why our phone and internet package was not switched on yet as we had moved into a new house. The previous tenant was also a web designer and used BT which she was happy with. So we decided to go with BT too, after looking at all the other ISP's available, BT would be the quickest to install, as all other ISP's had to wait for BT anyway. All other companies had to quote 6 weeks for a new install because of their dependance of BT, but they all said unofficially it should only take 2 weeks. As time was of the essence we went with BT. 3 weeks later, and remember there was already a fully functioning, tried and tested broadband capable phone line here. We phoned BT to chase the install up and were sold the phone. I remember my wife repeating "so this is a BlackBerry phone?" to the salesperson, at least six times. On each time she got an affirmative from the salesperson "Yes, it is a BlackBerry". No mention of the totally useless 10MB allotment was made. A couple of days later the HTC phone arrived, which was a bit of a shock, as it was obviously no BlackBerry.

Anyway, we gave it to our daughter and up until this last bill were very happy. Neither my wife and I can recall any letter from BT explaining that this 10 MB "broadband" allowance would be introduced at some point. When I rang up to complain about the huge bill, ok this is no £27k charge like the Vodafone customer in your link, but still very unexpected, and not exactly ideal just before Christmas.

I totally accept I was wrong to not read the finer details of this offer. I didn't think I would need to though, now I know I should do and will in future. The title of this thread says it all really. 10 MB is not a huge allowance by any stretch of the imagination. When I rang up to complain the lady said I could receive 300 emails with that allowance. But this is the real world, if these were html emails you might only receive 30 and burst through the 10 MB usage. BT sell products to the ordinary user. My mum, for example would not know the difference between 10 MB and 500 MB. She would probably not understand what data was anyway. BT should not be allowed to tempt dumb asses like me to signing up to a contract that is completely unrealistic or inappropriate for the average day to day user. It is a poor example of marketing, a way to get the foot in the door, followed by a trojan horse carrying a rather hefty bill.

The £10 BT deal seems a lot more reasonable and realistic with 500 MB available, most people including my daughter could live with that. Again, I only found out this was available after I got this bill and after reading your post! BT should not as standard be allowed to sell this £5, 10 MB deal imho. It's like saying here have our new fantastic TV package, it's only £5 a month, but be careful not to watch more than half an hour of TV in any 1 month!

To be fair to BT, our BT phone and internet service has been faultless and fast - after the protracted delay of the installation.