Yes, it's one of the tricks that all suppliers seem to use. When my last two deals come to an end they offered me a so-so deal with a lock in period or an outrageously expensive standard variable rate that nobody in their right mind would ever choose. I declined the lock-in deal and after a bit of looking around chose a better fixed deal elsewhere. However the research and transfer process took around 8 weeks and during this time I was forced to take the outrageous variable rate offer. This sounds very much like what happened to you. I think they are basically milking their customers before they leave and it's another example of where the regulator needs to stop this abuse happening