Free Broadband Offer

In the UK at the moment there is a company offering “free broadband….forever” if you sign up to their telephone services. Great, something for nothing. Really? When has anyone ever given you something for nothing? Especially a national company.

This offer is not the pot of honey a lot of people are thinking it is. Yesterday alone I advised three people to forget it. Why?

First things first. Go to their website, read the first bullet point on the top left hand section. You see the mistake? A simple repeated section of text on the opening gambit. This is a company spending huge amounts of money advertising this fabulous freebie and they can’t even get their website text correct.

Some snippets and quotes:

When will I get it?
“We’ll connect you as soon as humanly possible”
I thought that was a cracker

“Up to 8 Megabits per second broadband”
This is very dependant on how far from the local BT exchange you live. I personally stay around a half mile from mine and the highest BT say I can get is 6.5 Megabits per second

Broadband troubleshooting
This link on the website goes to telephone line troubleshooting

Broadband is a doddle to set up
Aiming at the country’s youthful audience i guess

T&C time:
You agree not to use the Broadband Service
for business use;

“Technical Support Helpline”
0906 xxx xxxx Calls to the Technical Support Helpline are charged at premium rate …. except for the first 14 days after the Commencement Date during which time, provided they are routed through Customer Services, they will be free.

“Minimum Period” means the period of twelve (12) months from the Commencement Date.

I think I’ve said enough, don’t you?

If I recommend a broadband or telephone service I always say go with BT. They own the network, it’s easy to have them communicate with themselves than outside companies using their equipment. I have not experienced a problem with BT Broadband since I got it installed in 2001, they have even increased my speed and lowered the price since then. It was £39.99 a month for a 512Mb connection back then plus £250 engineer install fee. Changed days.

As for all that free crap, I don’t buy into it. A guy at a supermarket couldn’t believe I wasn’t interested when he started his bullshit pitch. That’s just me though, if I don’t want it I won’t buy it regardless of hype and headlines. Always do a little digging, you don’t want to be stuck with something for a year just because you thought you were getting something for nothing.