Sneaky charges and shocking bills – what’s your story?

Broadband Discussions
1

Let’s be honest - broadband bills have a habit of creeping up when you’re not looking.

Price hikes, hidden fees, mystery “admin charges”… we’ve seen it all.

And they’re not the only culprit for your bank balance looking a bit less healthy than you’d like.

What’s the sneakiest thing a provider has ever done to bump up your bill?

:credit_card: Maybe they quietly ended your discount?
:credit_card: Or sent you a letter saying, “We’re improving your service!” (but really, just charging more)?

Knowledge is power for us consumers - maybe another member can advise you, or you might help someone else to avoid an unexpected bill this week. Share your story below :backhand_index_pointing_down:

2

A couple of stories from the BBG team:

  • “This actually happened to me with my EE phone contract, they quietly moved me from a fixed-term contract onto a rolling one without telling me. No email, no call, no text - just a brand new bill figure. I didn’t notice for about six months and when I finally realised I got straight on the phone. I did manage to get a refund and a credit back onto my account but it definitely taught me to keep an eye on any fixed-term contracts, not just broadband. These sneaky rollovers happen more often than you think!”

  • “I think I wasn’t alone in falling foul of Microsoft’s rush to make everything AI. My Microsoft renewal suddenly went up by about 25% because they were adding that Co-pilot wizardry that I never use - fortunately I saw someone mention it on social media, and was able to check and switch off this “option” in time. I’m not against technological progress. If Big Tech can get its priorities straight I’ll happily throw them another £20 a month if I can have a robot that knows how to do the washing up and laundry…”

  • “Quite a few of my less tech-savvy relatives have got stuck with monthly contracts that technically, they can cancel, but aren’t easy. Audible in particular seemed to have five or six steps where one would do, and one of the mobile phone companies got my MIL on a bells and whistles contract when she has zero mobile reception and only uses a mobile phone for about one text a week to get a taxi home from the supermarket about once every two months. It might have actually been quite a good value package - but it wasn’t right for her, so it was a waste of a lot of money.”