Not only that, but the former state-owned company felt this was completely fair at a time when millions of families were really struggling to make ends meet.
It was not enough punishment for BT bosses that energy bills had risen beyond the reach of many families, or that food prices had reached their highest level in 50 years.
Nor has someone like Phil, an Icelandic supermarket worker from Warrington, seen his mortgage rise by £1,000 a month, as Sir Keir Starmer repeatedly reminded Rishi Sunak at Prime Minister’s Questions this week.
With inflation reaching a devastating 10% level, came a 14% price hike for millions of broadband and mobile customers, a move explained by the long-standing policy of holding annual price rises against inflation plus another 3.9 percentage points, as if that would make… It’s acceptable one way or another. .
However, it has at least confirmed that BT’s “We Connect for Good” goal, coupled with the priceless “We go the extra mile for our customers” is as empty as it sounds.
Maybe such naked exploitation wouldn’t be so hard to stomach if BT provided such a great service. But it is nowhere near, nor even near, an end – something I can say with confidence from my miserable experience.
Trying to switch to BT during lockdown was so painful and complicated that I eventually gave up even though it meant having to suffer more misery and frustration at the hands of the equally cynical Virgin Media.
However, despite widespread condemnation of BT’s cynical stunt by charities and consumer groups, not to mention this column, customers can look forward to the joy of seeing their monthly bills rise by almost 8 per cent in the spring – twice the current inflation rate. .