BT Friends and Family deal found to actually cost consumers more

When a service provider rolls out a special promo or deal, consumers who opt to sign up for the promotion expect that they will be paying less for certain services as compared to those who haven’t chosen to sign up for the deal. In fact, that’s what the whole point of a promotion is. For users, it’s to be able to make use of services while getting more value for their money. For the provider, it’s to encourage patronage and customer loyalty as well as attract new subscribers to sign on to their services.

BT Broadband has been in the business long enough to know what the requirements of a promo are, and how such deals should work. Unfortunately, some BT users have been complaining that they’re paying for a “discounted” package to make calls to mobile phones, when in essence, subscribers who have not signed on for the deal are paying less than they were.

Numerous households signed on to BT’s Friends and Family Mobile deal, which was advertised as a package that will offer consumers the lowest fees to make calls from a BT landline phone to a mobile number. The ad claimed: “We’re always working to give you low-cost call rates, and now you can make even cheaper calls to UK mobiles at any time of the day and night.” Unfortunately, as many subscribers have found, that is no longer the case.

The monthly service fee for the Friends and Family Mobile package is set to increase from £1.50 to £1.55, amounting to £18.60 per year. Those who have availed of the package pay 7p per minute when they make calls to a mobile number, regardless of what time the call is made.

This might have translated to a lot of savings when the promo was first rolled out. But just lay May, BT decreased the standard charges applied to calls that subscribers made as follows: calls made during the day are charged 11.3p per minute, while the cost drops down to 5.3p after 7 in the evening. Users who have signed on to the Friends and Family Mobile package have wondered why they are paying extra for a service that charges them more for calls made after the 7pm mark.

A spokesperson from BT has responded to queries with regards to the package, saying that while it was no longer being made available to new customers, the service provider had no plans to modify or change the terms of the deal: “Friends and Family Mobile gives customers who make a lot of daytime calls to mobiles a much cheaper rate, offering a big saving of more than 4p a minute. BT offers cheaper standard calls to mobiles than Virgin Media, TalkTalk and Sky during the day or the evening, so there’s a great value option for all BT customers.”

Previous offers from BT Broadband were obviously able to provide better terms for subscribers. One thing BT Broadband should take from this is to consider previous promos or ongoing packages to ensure that their customers are getting the most value of their money or what they have been promised previously when the deal was being actively marketed.

Source – The Guardian