Is there a catch lurking behind the generosity?

If you got carried away with all those offers of free laptops, playstations, free line rental or even free broadband, we don’t blame you. They are all such tempting offers, why wouldn’t anyone want to take advantage of them? All you probably will think is that the offer is pretty generous of the provider. The point is, in business, nothing really comes for free so even if there is the illusion of freebies being given to users, the provider always makes sure that he makes his money later.

Tying you up

It could be a long contract. If you get something free, it’s because you have to give something in return. So you sign up for the package where the freebie is offered and you are stuck with it for two, maybe three years. It’s a gamble actually. You may get good speeds and service and then again, you may not – in which case you just have to grin and bear it because you’re all tied up for that period.

Paying more

The first step might be free but you could just pay a lot more thereafter. You might pay more for the package than competitive ones, you might have to pay more per call if you have a bundle with a land line rental, you might just miss out on a lot of lower priced new entrants simply because you are tied up for a while. Very often, providers make you sign the contract for two years and then reduce their prices on the very bundles and packages that you paid for at the higher price.

Lower speeds

You could be stuck with speeds that are much lower that you expected and because you have paid for it and claimed your freebie, there’s nothing you can do about it. In the normal course of events, you would have just switched providers – now you can’t because you’ve signed a contract with them. The providers have been known to throttle your speeds and slow you down as well – especially of you have an ‘unlimited’ connection.

Charging you to migrate

This happens especially if you have signed up with a provider who has an LLU where the prices can be much lower. However, if you are unhappy with the service for any reason, you will have to pay them before you can move to another provider.

Charging for support and service

Some offer a free support service, many charge. You should ask if they charge anything for technical support and if so, how much. Many of them will just add it to the bill at the end of the month and it could come as a shock if you aren’t expecting it.

There are other things you might need to check as well – like, is the price inclusive of VAT? Will the security software be provided right through the contract? Will extra usage be heavily charged? Will there be charges for activation? Getting taken in by a freebie could just take you to months of paying out more than you should really be doing!