Avoiding price hike; renew contract in March or April

[#1]

My 18 month Broadband + anytime call contract finishes on 8th March 2023.

If I renew my contract then (as I understand it) the contract would renew on the next billing date - which would be 8th March. Would I then get clobbered with the 'CPI+3.9%' in April? If so, then could I take the month (8-Mar-23 to 8-Apr-23) out of contract, then renew my contract on 8th April 2023?

Guessing if that a renewal on 8th April wouldn't then be subject to the 2023  CPI+3.9 price rise?

Thanks!

[#2]

@knobbly 

Be aware that Plusnet are inconsistent regarding the start dates of recontracts. I used to think that as long as you were renewing the existing product (e.g. Unlimited Broadband recontracting to Unlimited Broadband) then the new contract started on the next billing date as you suggest. Only if you recontracted to a different product would that recontract start on another date.

However, I renewed my Unlimited Broadband on 30 January and the Member Centre says my contract started on 31 January and runs for 18 months from then whereas my billing date will be 7 February when I would have expected it to start and when the COT staffer I negotiated the deal with suggested it would too. I wait to see exactly what my next bill shows. It looks as if it will be a mass of debits and credits to adjust for a recontract that is not on my billing date....ugh!

The last similar recontract did start on my next billing date. The wonders of Plusnet's billing systems!

However, I think you are correct in that to avoid the CPI+3.9% increase you need to recontract on or after 1 April to ensure that the recontract start date is after the increase. Of course, it is anybody's guess what the deals will be at that time, but possibly less than the current prices + the increase...or maybe not.

[#3]

Yes, it's a nightmare isn't it.

I had a few discussions last year about this, but it seems you're screwed really. Whether you jump ship, or wait, or just go with a contract renewal, it is impossible to pick the best solution.

My contract was up in May, but as you say, I wasn't sure whether waiting would produce any better deals, or indeed if they could become worse deals. Or even if I paid the early leaving penalty and migrated away, nothing really made any difference, as all ISPs have this CPI increase clause in their terms (Sky and NowTV are the exception, but are more expensive anyway, unless you want a TV bundle).

In the end I decided to go with the 'Special Offer' on my account to sign up for another 24 months. Knowing that the price will increase on 31st March (just had the email for a £3.31 increase here), but also aware that it's still cheaper than my old contract price, and won't exceed it until next years increase.

I think you have to ignore the posted '£xx.xx for xx months' rubbish that is displayed on your screen, it's not going to be that. You have to try and work out what it is going to cost you over the contract period, including the obligatory annual price increases, and then decide if that's acceptable. You'll have to do the same whatever you do, and whoever you migrate to.

On that note, I also noted a news article a couple of weeks ago that some ISPs (Plusnet included) are being investigated by Ofcom for misrepresenting their prices, or not being clear about them (as I've complained about for some time, so it's not just me). Even my recent email explaining my pice increase does not detail the percentage increase for the CPI part of it, why? What are you hiding?

But, in the end, I stuck with them anyway. If you read enough forums, and reviews, you'll find that no ISP is really much better than any other, unless you pay for for someone like Zen to get really good service, or go cheaper, like TalkTalk, and get even worse service.

You probably just get what you pay for.

Cheers.