No more broadband haggles please

Price rises in phone and broadband contracts – thanks to companies adding a bit on to the retail prices index (RPI) – are one of life’s rather significant annoyances. Thankfully, there are moves afoot to curb them as they’re currently the subject of an Ofcom enquiry.

But I have a far more irritating gripe with my broadband supplier. Every time my contract comes up for renewal they try to hike the price, usually quite dramatically. This time it was by more than a third, or by well over a half compared to a year ago, before the RPI-plus bit had been added on.

Instead of rewarding me for my ‘loyalty’, I have to call their horribly noisy call centre and endure a tiresome conversation. In it, I typically threaten to leave, and they offer some optional extras before we eventually settle on a figure that’s similar to what I’m paying for very slightly improved services. It’s a pantomime I have to endure every year or two. But my broadband company is the only one to offer fast connections to my address, so the haggling seems to be unavoidable.

It was therefore with a heavy heart that I embarked on the tedious process yet again the other week. How successful you are with the haggling depends in part on who you get through to when you make the call. This time it was JaJa in the Philippines and I tried a polite but firm approach, pointing out that I was very disappointed by the proposed increase.

Her response seemed calculated to exhaust and distract me. There followed a lengthy Q and A session about my TV watching and connected devices, repeated requests to confirm my phone number and email and assurances that theirs was the fastest and most reliable internet service in the UK. Irritatingly, she seemed confused about what services I currently had, which made the conversation really quite difficult.

After a lengthy trip to discuss things with her supervisor, and taking into account her ‘employee personal discount’, she made what appeared to be a final offer. As usual, it was a package close to what I have and at a similar price to what I’m currently paying, though I would still be subject to those ongoing inflationary RPI-plus increases. At that point, we were well over 25 minutes into the call and I’m ashamed to admit my resolve to negotiate a further discount deserted me.

Whether it was fatigue at concentrating over the appalling line, or a need to get on with other pressing matters, I gave in and accepted it. I really should have held out for more – something approaching the price offered to new subscribers.

Similar inflationary behaviour in the car insurance business has been outlawed recently. Rule changes administered by the Financial Conduct Authority mean that, at least in theory, when customers renew their policy, the price cannot be more than that charged to an equivalent new customer for the equivalent policy.

The whole rigmarole of charging more and more and forcing you to haggle is very tiresome, especially when you feel you haven’t really got a good deal. How can a broadband company make you feel so miserable? I’m not necessarily a fan of extra regulations but I do wish there was a law against this particular money-sucking practice.