Unclear Price Communication

[G0gglegran]

Hi, has anyone else found Now communications unclear?  I received an email stating what the new monthly cost would be, it advised me to do nothing, and then offered me other option - I took this to mean that If I agreed with the cost do nothing" and it continues but decided to phone them a couple of weeks ago to confirm, and was told I had run out of time and quoted new price.  Today I phoned again and was told that was not what the email meant, and quoted even higher prices, I told the customer service advisor that I felt the email was misleading.  I then felt I was being pressurised into stating what I wanted to do and said, I would have no option but to leave and look for a new provider. 

[redchiz1 · Accepted solution]

Without seeing what the email said it is hard to judge. Can you copy and paste the relevant paragraphs here, redacting any personal information, of course. 

[Brassinpocket]

Same issue here.

I was out of contract, but I was offered a deal of £33.50 a month, however I could just do nothing and stay with my current deal with an increase from £22.00 a month to £25.50.  I decided to do nothing and  keep my current deal, however next month I was charged £33.50.

Here's some screen shots of the email.  I've removed my name and reference.

[RoyB]

@G0gglegran 

You aren’t the first to report this issue; but then we have had people thinking that the monthly cost of a Now membership was a three month, six month or even an annual price, when its pretty clear it isn’t.

Like @redchiz1, I second that you should paste the email here, with any personal details omitted, so we can give you our informed opinion about it.

[RoyB]

@Brassinpocket 

I think I can see how this works.

The applicable discounts quoted are £21.00 and £13.00. Difference £8.00

So you are expecting to pay £25.50 from 5th July and for this to keep rolling. 

But the kicker is that ‘Your first discount will expire 13/07/2023’. And ‘your first discount’ looks like the £8.00. Though as there doesn’t seem to be any breakdown of these discounts, at least not in the email above, that may just be supposition.

But it fits. And the next bill is £25.50 + £8.00, i.e. the £33.50 you were actually charged.

Coincidence or design?

But even at £33.50, you are still better off with the ‘do nothing’ option, as while you pay the same, and not the more advantageous price you were expecting, you aren’t tied into another 12 months, with its Early Termination charge lock-in.

But i do think Now Broadband could have tried a lot harder to close the gap between what ‘do nothing’ looks like, and what it actually is 😢

[G0gglegran]

##- They are charging me £36.00, I cannot afford it, and the sickening thing is they are offering new customers my old rate! -##

[RoyB]

@G0gglegran 

Go back and haggle it down, you should get it for £25.

If a company does not reward me for my loyalty, then i do not reward them with my custom. Simples.

When are companies going to learn that the current practices incentivise us to move every year, when they should be offering us a loyalty discount, increasing each year, which would make us think twice about leaving them, and thereby losing it?

Now know how to do this with streaming - though you have to threaten to leave to get the discounts - why is broadband different? It must be cheaper to run people on from year to year, rather than lining the pockets of Openreach to expensively acquire a new customer who gets an immediate discount, when actually, keeping an existing customer is cheaper all round?

[G0gglegran]

The customer service member, I spoke to was uncompromising, and said that the price altered every day, she pressurised me into saying what I was going to do, and I said I would have to cancel.  It's ironic, instead of using the internet for enjoyment, it just feels like a tool for communication and broadcasting companies to fleece us.  I am considering cancelling my broadband and using the public library, as I did before, unfortunately I now have my home phone linked to this but a 75% increase is ridiculous.  I think I will have to take a complaint to Ofcom.