Where do they get this nonsense?

[AllyM]

I've received an email today from TalkTalk regarding my contract ending soon.

Included is this statement:

"Now that you’re coming towards the end of your Fast Broadband Extra contract which includes broadband and line rental on 18 March 2023, which costs you £24.01 per month, we want to highlight some of the options available to you going forward."

No idea what "Fast Broadband Extra" is - I've been on Fibre65 for nearly 2 years, and have been paying £24.00 per month (not £24.01) since last April's price increase.

You would think it should be fairly simple for these automated notifications to pull the correct information from my billing account, but apparently not.

[AllyM]

I haven't seen a better deal as such.

[Arne-TalkTalk]

Have you seen a better deal with us?  

[Gliwmaeden2]

I thought that the Fixed Price Plus was supposed to protect you from this April and next's price increases. 

Is it disproportionately expensive?

[AllyM]

Just realised what a bad deal I have signed up to.

[Gliwmaeden2]

What's wrong, @AllyM?

[AllyM]

I'm feeling rather stupid now.

I'll be getting back on to the Loyalty Team ASAP.

[ferguson]

No need to, same price, no difference in performance. Otherwise it's just a name really in your case, isn't it? 

[AllyM]

---

@ferguson wrote:

you were switched up to the best service your line can support. 

---

I'm not disputing that, but Fibre35 would also give me the fastest speed my line can support with TalkTalk so I'm just trying to defend my decision to stay on Fibre65.

[ferguson]

Not really trying to make a point to you, just explaining for the benefit of others.  🙂

As Arne said previously, you were switched up to the best service your line can support. 

[AllyM]

---

@ferguson wrote:

I don't think the FTTC prices differentiate any more. 

---

You are correct. From my own experience of dealing with the Loyalty Team, the prices they are offering on both Fibre35 and Fibre65 contracts seem to have been exactly the same for around 2 years or more now, to the point where I wonder why TalkTalk don't just ditch the Fibre35 package.

---

@ferguson wrote:

as you have said in the past, your distance from the cabinet will limit your speed.

---

I am well aware that my line speed is limited mainly by the distance from the cabinet. I'm not sure what point you are trying to make. I should get the same speed on either Fibre35 or Fibre65 but I thought it was simpler to just renew the Fibre65 package rather than take the (admittedly tiny) risk of them messing up something else by switching on the completely unnecessary Fibre35 speed caps which I am not reaching anyway.

[ferguson]

I don't think the FTTC prices differentiate any more. And as you have said in the past, your distance from the cabinet will limit your speed.

[AllyM]

@Gliwmaeden2 , The best price they could give me for Fibre35 was the same as for Fibre65, so I opted to just stay on Fibre65 even though, as you say, my line is not capable of achieving Fibre65 speeds.

[Gliwmaeden2]

Those speeds don't look great for Fibre65, @AllyM.

Is it actually cheaper than Fibre35?

I can't see that you are able to get the benefit of Fibre65 on your line.

[AllyM]

The package details don't specifically state "fixed price plus" or even "fixed price" but there is a statement in the contract information emailed to me that "Once your contract ends, the monthly price for your Fibre 65 broadband plan will increase each year by the rate of inflation", which, reading between the lines, implies that it won't increase during the contract period.

Another interesting statement in the contract summary information I got by email is this:

You can look forward to an estimated download speed between 31.5 Mbps and 35.0 Mbps with a minimum
guaranteed download speed of 28.3 Mbps and upload speed of 5.8 Mbps

Which kind of implies that they are now guaranteeing upload speeds as well as download.

[Gliwmaeden2]

As long as your package does call itself fixed price plus when you check it, you should be fine, @AllyM.

No knowing what prices will be available in April - one can't second guess, though of course the Fixed Price Plus option would have been available then too, but on top of a week or two of full price contract. On balance you've probably made a wise move. 

That option is not available for those of us stuck with the Fast Broadband package!

[ferguson]

Glad to see that you got a renewal you are happy with. If you have agreed a Fixed Price Plus deal it is assuredly better than the vagaries of the usual April increase, especially with inflation rates currently running so high. 

[AllyM]

@Gliwmaeden2 , please don't be offended or upset with me. I welcome advice from other members here but in this instance I've gone against your suggestion to wait until April. I've done the deal now for Fibre65 on a fixed price of £24.95 for 18 months. Slightly higher than the £24 I'm paying now but they assure me that it is fixed for the 18 months so no increase this April or next April to worry about. Hopefully they are telling the truth. It was a gamble whether to wait to see if better deals come along or grab the price on offer now. Time will tell whether or not I have done the right thing.

[AllyM]

@Gliwmaeden2 ,

You misunderstand. "Fast Broadband Extra" is the package the email says I am currently on, despite the fact that I have been on Fibre65 for nearly 2 years. It offers me to click a link, which I won't be doing, to move to a new 18 month Fibre65 contract.

I will be contacting the Loyalty Team at some point with the intention of seeing what deal they can do on a Fibre35 contract instead.

[Gliwmaeden2]

Well, it's the luck of the draw, @AllyM, as I am sure you are aware, but it is also what has been spelled out in the contract for the past nearly two years.

Up to you whether you sign up to something that adds the definite CPI + 3.7%, or whether an overall good deal from April would work out cheaper despite the few weeks at full price. We all take that gamble.

Looking up the name of the deal you are being offered, it is indeed hard to track down either on a general search or TT's own website. Just use Chat or phone in to pin them down on this.

They are not good with clear naming of packages.... Fibre65 can be the old FTTC or FTTP.... so goodness knows what Fast Broadband Extra is supposed to signify when Talktalk's Fast Broadband is its slowest and copper service!

[AllyM]

@Gliwmaeden2 ,

I understand the point you're making. I do normally try to get these things settled in a timely manner though so it will be a a bit frustrating waiting until April and having an out of contract charge to pay for the intervening period.