I thought I’d write a quick post about the number of broadband providers offering some rather large incentives to attract new customers. When I first saw the adverts for the new Orange offer I was impressed but it instantly got me thinking – How is this possible, why are they doing it and what do they want in return? I investigated this new offer in a bit more detail and very quickly it became apparent to me that it wasn’t all it was made out to be. Below is a comparison of the new Orange Laptop offer compared to our very own Broadband Your Way Option 1. 
Ok, I know they are offering a free laptop but immediately a few things stand out to me – a 2Mb speed limit and a 24 month contract – and you have to go to PC World or Currys to sign up for the deal. ‘Up to’ 8Mb is now commonplace in the broadband market. Why would someone want to sign up for such a dated package and be tied into it for 2 years? The broadband industry moves at an incredible pace with new and exciting developments all the time. Two years ago 1Mb broadband was standard and the internet was not playing such an important role in peoples lives as it is today. What will the next 2 years bring? Faster speeds, TV and new mobile technologies are just the start. I wouldn’t like to predict what else will be commonplace in 2 years time. So customers on the new Orange deal might not be able to experience these things and may have to sit and wait for the contract to end before they can catch up with the rest of us. What does it cost to cancel?
A simple question you may think, however confirming this information proved to be very difficult indeed. A very helpful young man in the Sheffield branch of Currys informed me that the cancellation charge is £300. Currys phone support opted for ‘the remainder of the contract in full’ and PC World wouldn’t answer the phone. After speaking to 3 people at Orange it was confirmed that you are liable for the remainder of the contract in full if you cancel within the 24 months. What happens if you no longer need the connection? There are quite a few reasons for this – moving into a house with broadband, broadband provided by work or a move abroad to name a few. So, if you need to cancel in month 12 you must pay nearly £180 to do so! Can people really guarantee that they won’t need the flexibility a shorter term contract can offer? The Orange deal offers a 2GB usage limit as standard, compared to the 1GB on the BBYW Option 1.You can however add extra GBs of usage on all our BBYW products for just 75p each. We also offer free overnight usage, so any use between 12-8am won’t count towards your limit. Moving on to support, the recent uSwitch survey investigated a variety of aspects of the broadband market. As you can see Orange support and customer satisfaction was consistently named as some of the worst in the business. Is this why they need to give away a laptop to attract new customers? So, Why PlusNet is right for you? We offer ‘up to’ 8Mb speeds as standard on all of our products and all are available on 1 month contracts. If you need to cancel the service for any reason then we simply require 30 days notice. We have an award winning UK based support team who are available 24/7 every single day of the year on a geographic support number. We’ll also save you £97.50 over the 2 years that you would have been tied into the Orange contract. We don’t use massive advertising campaigns or unreasonable contracts to trap customers into staying with us and have grown over the last 10 years based on the recommendations of our customer base. I hope that this blog has drawn attention to the fact that the grass may not always be greener and fantastic new offers are not always as they seem. These new offers, whilst they may seem great on the surface, are simply a means of tying people into very long contracts. We always aim to make sure that the great service that we offer is enough of a ‘tie’ to make people stay with us. We are so confident that you will be happy with the service we provide you can try us risk free for 90 days! Have a look at this article on The Guardian website for consumer opinion on the Orange Laptop offer. Chris Cotterill
The truth about the Orange Laptop deal!