Broadband - Are new customers being treated bettter than existing customers?

[drofspin]

I was a BT customer for many years.  I was lucky enough to get full fibre 900 Mbit a few years ago, and it's great, but has always been let down by the lacklustre BT SmartHub.  So I have been waiting and waiting for the EE Wifi 7 router and it has finally arrived.  Furthermore it is cheaper than my BT broadband and it is 1.6 Gbit.  Can I get it?  No, because I am an "existing" customer.  So I phoned 150.  "Yes you can get it by switching to EE.  Oh no, it's not coming up on the system.  Look, switch to EE, get the 900 Mbit package with Wifi 6, and once you are on EE the Wifi 7 will become available.  Once you are set up, I'll phone you on Thursday and we'll get it sorted."  (Oh and by the way it is more expensive than the 1.6 Gbit package available to new customers). 

So I am up and running.  Don't get me wrong, the EE Wifi 6 router is miles better than the BT SmartHub.  But no phone call on Thursday, no option to upgrade to Wifi 7 online, paying more than advertised.  Does this sound a familiar story to other people?  Didn't BT have a promise at one point that existing customers would not be treated worse than new customers?  I guess that's history as soon as it's not convenient.

[Chalkybloke]

I'm in a similar position.  My EE mobile contract is due to end shortly and my BT Broadband is due to end in March of 2026.  Before renewing my mobile contract I had a look at moving my broadband to EE too.  Before it was known that I was an existing BT customer a similar package with EE to my current BT package (costing £70.99 per month) was quoted at £27.99 per month.  Once it was known that my current provider was BT the quote increased to £73.99 per month.  The upshot I that I won't be renewing my mobile contract and once my BT broadband contract ends I won't be moving that to EE either.  BT and EE treat existing customers like Money Cows, but I'm one customer who isn't going to be milked!

[Matt_124]

It is because you are mid-contract with BT and have signed up to pay a certain price for the duration of your minimum term.

The move to recontract from BT to EE, while possible within your minimum term without having to pay any early termination fees, means you must maintain the same or higher cost when switching - they are not just going to write off your current contract that you have committed to.

This is the exact same as if you agreed to a package on BT and halfway through it said you want to cut what you pay in half - it can't be done as you have agreed to the terms.

If you instead waited until the end of your minimum term with BT, you would be able to get the kind of prices you have seen (depending on what is available at that time) as you have served out the agreement and would have a free choice of packages.

Its also likely the packages you are comparing are not exactly like-for-like. There are two aspects to this:

• Speed Tier (such as Fibre 36 up to Full Fibre 900)
• Additional features you may currently have if on a BT Halo package, which are not found on an Essentials package - these are only available on All Rounder or Full Works packages which are what you were likely quoted for. All Rounder would be roughly the BT Halo 3 equivalent, and Full Works the Halo 3+ equivalent.

The comparison of Essentials, All Rounder and Full Works packages can be found here: https://ee.co.uk/content/dam/help/terms-and-conditions/broadband/plans/ee-essentials-all-rounder-and... 

[Irdrial]

I would steer well clear of EE since moving from Sky it’s been horrendous 

didn’t pay the charges for moving my contract , WIFI has never worked properly constant drop outs , shocking customer services and even had them add on extras without my permission and charge me for it , as for the guarantee for Lower speeds I’ve never seen a penny . Almost a year of complaining and still no change. From day one I was given assurances and none were met after calling and explaining this u was told they need to check phone records for call , surprise suprise they couldn’t find it hmmm the customer services is beyond bad and some were downright rude . My WiFi drops daily and often when this happens I check their app on my phone and how amazing that according to app it’s full strength and working fine , overall I can’t advise anyone strongly enough to use any other provider but them , it’s a chive I will always regret and cannot wait to leave EE what a disgrace