Trying to upgrade to 1.6Gbps EE from out-of-contract 900Mbps BT - not possible

[mike63uk]

I have just spent ages on a call trying to upgrade my broadband from BT 900Mbps to EE Premium 1.6Gbps with the Smart Hub 7 Pro Router to be told that this is not possible for existing customers.  I was told I need to cancel my current BT contract and take out a new EE contract, I don't want to do this as I would lose my BT email and also cannot be without service as I work from home.  The only offer I could get was an offer of EE 900Mbps Ulimate including the Pro router for £1 less than the price of 1.6Gbps Premium, I don't need or require the Home Visist included in the Premium package.  Does anybody know if this limitation is going to be removed soon?  I can get faster and cheaper broadbad from our local altnet, but as I have been a BT customer for 40 years I would like to stay with them if they can sort out their ordering systems.

[XRaySpeX]

Nobody here knows. You'll only know when BT/EE allows it. It's a diff ordering system.

[mike63uk]

But I cannot see why they can switch me to 900Mbps EE but not 1.6Gbps EE, I know they BT and EE would be different ordering systems but you would expect all the EE products to be on one system.

[XRaySpeX]

No, they are not! It's a diff provisioning system for the EE 1.6 Gig plans from all the other EE 900 Meg & below plans.

[Matt_124]

BT and EE ordering systems are similar and link together to allow migrations.

It is the 1.6Gb packages which have a different system to the other BT&EE products, meaning migrations from BT and regrades on EE cannot currently be made to these packages. This affects BT and EE existing customers looking to move to the EE 1.6Gb packages.

[Rae-7]

I have this EXACT same issue too, and the sales team could not explain it to me. I am an existing EE Fibre 500 essentials customer and out of contract, I saw the deal for 1.6 Gbps with WiFi 7 Pro hub and WiFi extender for a really great price, but they refused and said the same thing- as an existing customer this deal is not available to me, only for new customers. And said the same thing that you wrote above - the only way to get the 1.6 Gbps deal was to cancel existing broadband and sign on as new customer, and warned me doing this meant I could be without internet for up to 2 weeks (i WFH as well so this option is really no good). 

No really explanation as why. I do feel exceptionally miffed EE is offering better deals and cheaper for the same plan to NEW customers. I did think there was legislation in place now in UK to prevent this. 

I raised a formal complaint, but it was closed with no other communication about it or why it was closed.

[mike63uk]

I have raised a complaint on BT.COM, lets see if I get a sensible answer.

[Rae-7]

Awesome, im going to raise a complaint as well. Hopefully one of us will get an answer on this. 

(All service from EE has been great to date and the Internet speeds meet the guaranteed speeds for us, just a let down and surprise when it came to renewing to find out the super great deal wasn't available to me as an existing customer).

[mike63uk]

Checking on the BT and EE communities, issues around upgrading to 1.6Gbps for customers transferring from BT to EE or upgrades totally within EE have been around since 2024.

[Ewan15]

It is a ridiculous state of affairs, however sooner or later you need to reset your account by moving to another provider for a month? and then coming back as a new customer. 

If you don't reset your account your bill just goes up and up, there should be a ceiling which once reached, your bill stays the same.

I feel sorry for the more vulnerable members of our society, who end up with extortionate broadband / phone bills. I know  a now ex BT customer who was paying close on £100 pcm for a simple phone service that had simply gone up year on year.

Ofcom should really address this.