It is easy to fall foul of dodgy advertising and overpay for your broadband, despitethe intense competition and the lower prices for consumers delivered by that competition.
Millions of us are coughing up for “unlimited” broadband offerings that are actually nothing of the kind and leave us vulnerable to penalty fees and even disconnection.
In addition, an estimated ten million users are paying for higher levels of broadband than they actually need or use. This wastes a staggering £621 million a year, according to Uswitch.
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Good customer service is No.1 for broadband users
It is ironic that as technology’s rampant progression makes ever better product offerings available, customer satisfaction is at a record low – falling 16% last year alone, according to a YouGov poll.
The faultfor this lies squarely at the feet of broadband providers. Almost a third of the UK’s broadband customers switched services last year for this very reason. We wrote about the value of customer service recently and explained
why you should not switch your broadband solely on the basis of price.
But if you feel you are overpaying and the service you are receiving is indifferent or worse, why not
compare some of the other offerings available to you in your area? You could be missing out on a significantly better price – and service. Uswitch believe that consumers could save over £13 million each year by switching to an equivalent broadand package with a cheaper provider.
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Big promises oftenhide with small print horrors
It’s a classic case of what the large print giveth, the small print taketh away. The ‘Broadband Unlimited’ ploy is a good example. As customers, we are promised a lightning fast service that will allow us to download to our heart’s content, and all we have to do in return is sign on the dotted line.
But this is seriously tricksy advertising, as the vast majority of ISPs employ a number of underhanded tricks to curb your “unlimited” access, should they decide you are getting a little too much value for your money.
According to uSwitch, all ISPs admit they will diconnect your service entirely if they feel you are downloading excessively. There are also more subtle restrictions, like putting a restriction, or cap, on the amount you are able to download during “peak hours”. These usually constitute any time between six in the morning and eleven at night, so basically any time you would actually be using the Internet.
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Penalty charging can get expensive
A far more devious tactic, as applied on certain providers like Eclipse and Nildram (others do it too), is to charge a penalty for every gigabyte you download over the cap.
This is usually in the region of £1-£2, but if you consider a two-hour movie is nearly a Gigabyte on its own, you could easily start accumulating costs well above what you had budgeted for.
And the scary thing is that 71% of users believe they have signed up to a truly unlimited service, making them especially vulnerable to all the above marketing cons.
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‘Fair usage’ policies leave the consumer guessing
Service providers insist they are doing nothing wrong, hiding behind their “fair usage policy” excuse, which they say “ensures everyone is able to enjoy the service equally”.
But of course, they can’t quantify what constitutes “unfair” usage, because specifying an amount would mean admitting there was indeed a download cap in place and the service was not unlimited as claimed. This leaves the responsibility up to paying consumers to ensure they don’t cross a line that they can’t see, or face the consequences.
All of this comes at a time where, with the advent of things like YouTube and legal movie downloads, our download levels are rapidly escalating. Not entirely fair, is it? Consumers are responding to this injustice though, with over 3,000 people already having signed a petition calling on the government and the ASA to ban all “unlimited” broadband advertising.
Make your voice heard: Sign up to the “unlimited broadband” campaign here
Be aware of additional costs not initially specified
There are a host of other related costs that first time broadband users in particular need to be aware of.
For example, do you need to purchase anti virus software? And what about a wireless router? Does your computer have a built in modem, or will you need to purchase an external one? All these things can significantly increase the amount you were planning to pay.
And for those already signed up for deals, have a good read through your contract to avoid unintentionally incurring a fine. I was recently offered an upgrade from a 2Mb line to an 8Mb one, with “no strings attatched”. Only later did I discover I will be slapped with a £50 fine should I change addresses in the next 12 months.
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Bundling services: cheaper but risky
One possible way to pull costs in the other direction is by looking into bundling certain services – choosing one provider for a set of services, most commonly internet, landline and satellite TV.
Because the provider has secured your custom on numerous fronts, they offer you incentives, lik a discount on your broadband or free landline calls. It can also makes your bills more manageable, as you will probably only make a single payment each month.
But be warned, you are not guaranteed a better value deal than if you took your services from separate providers, and bundled packages generally come with a fixed period. This means that if you receive bad service you are locked in, plus it is hard to complain about your broadband when your landline doesn’t work.
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Make sure you only sign up for what you need
As I mentioned earlier, many users are paying for a better package than they realistically need.
Consider what your usage patterns are. Obviously higher speeds and download caps are important if you are a heavy user like myself, but there are also millions of people who find themselves at the opposite end of the scale.
If you are not looking to do anything more than surf the Net, send/receive e-mails and watch the occasional YouTube video, then stick with a low download cap and basic bandwidth. Over 90% of broadband users get offered 2Mb as standard, which is more than adequate for these purposes.
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You don’t need big bandwidth unless you download
Buying an 8Mb service is a bit like buying a Ferrari and only using it to drive up the road to the shops. We’re talking a minimal difference in tim
