Every unlimited offer has a fair usage policy but most don't know about it.

It's all down to be Bt rewriting the dictionary. 'unlimited' actually means 'very limited download and then we cap your connection speed'. Unfortunately i believed BT when they said my connection speed would increase when i upgraded to option 3 and that i could download 'UNLIMITED' amounts. I have since learned that they were in fact lying. I then tried leaving my pc on 24 hours a day (has now been running for 8 months, i even leave it on when away on holiday, obviously a fire risk but i'm trying to get my moneys worth from this rogue company. There next step was to further reduce my downloads by capping me for longer periods at a time...at the moment it is down to between 2kbps and at it's best 17 kbps. YES KBPS SECOND..NOT MBPS. i get all the usual rubbish from BT but at the end of the day i was getting 80 to 110 kbps over a year ago...so they are either incompetent or just plain thieves and liars. I'm away to switch to Sky and Bt broadband and BT phone services won't be seeing me again in my lifetime...i wouldn't use either if they were free.

Hi commonkiller,

Taking on BT would be a problem for my mate :o) and to be honest he is not that bothered, its me that thinks he should be questioning it.

I had enough grief taking on Dell

His main problem is he does not remember any of the conversations or what or why he opted for the 8mb then the 4mb service.

I know he spoke to them today to try and change to another provider and nearly lost the will to live. They (BT) kept telling him that his Broadband was free, so he asked why is there a charge on his bill saying broadband £15. But they kept insisting it was free !!

They also told him that they could give him a new hub and he would only pay £9 a month for his free broadband !! Also the new hub would make it faster even though they agreed he could only get 1.5mb max.

And I thought virgin were a pain !!

Dollarbill - In my opinion your quest to take on BT is poles apart and would not be as successful as the outcome of your case was against Dell in your other thread, the reasons are contrastingly different.

BT terms and conditions are about Ten million miles long and take a lot of eyewatering hard reading. Somewhere embedded deep in their terms and conditions of service they will have more than adequately and legally covered their backs.... in that their failure to deliver the "up to" speed as advertised is conditional and will be dependent on the physical capabilities that they are not responsible for and other factors of the property when they enter into a contract to supply.

He is not computer literate and would not have asked the question, and he does not remember what the conversations were.

Still I think they were missold but I suppose getting anywhere with BT is a waste of time.

I was just shocked he has been paying for this for so long and never questioned it, but I guess if you don't know you just accept what you get told.

I know what you mean but then again did he do any enquirys into what he could actually get? Or was he told he would actually get 8Mb? If he was told he would get the 8 or 4 that is a totally different story and the product was missold.......

Thats not really what I am looking for an answer to, I know what speed he gets less half a mb if he is lucky. The point is BT were charging him for up to 8mb when they know the line is only capable of 1.5mb max.

If he had been sold a package that was up to 2mb there would be no issue.

The speed your friend actually gets depends on how far he is from the exchange. They can technically supply 8Mbs though. If your friend hardly uses his internet ask him to look into the various 'dongles' currently on the market to save him paying for something he hardly uses. You can get dongles that are pay as you go or pay monthly.

I have a problem !!

A mate of mine has had BT Broadband for two years, first he had 8mb and paid say £33 a month, on renewal he asked to down grade to 4mb and paid say £19 (I do not know exact figures)

Anyway he is due to renew again and I told him to shop around but before doing so I checked his line. Its only capable of a maximum of 1.5mb download. !!

So my question is how can BT charge for what they have never and could never supply?

Does he have a case against them, or am I missing a vital point. I know its always a case of "up to" 8mb or 4mb or whatever but if your line is totally incapable of ever getting this I do not see how you can be charged for it.

He has paid out over £600 in two years. Whats worse is he hardly ever uses it.

Help or advice please, need to be armed with info. before contacting BT.