Cheapest Home Phones Article Discussion

elektra

deanos wrote: »

Im with Talk Talk and i pay £6.99 for the broadband and free local calls, free weekend/evening calls and £11.49 line rental so total is £17.99 a month , they charge an extra £4 for daytime calls so it sound's correct.

I'm currently with AOL and pay £6.99 for broadband and calls anytime to 01/02/03 numbers and pay line rental to BT.


AOL phoned me recently to offer a £9.99 package. Can't remember exactly what it included but was not worth xtra £3 a month to me.

Jools72

theloft wrote: »

Phone BT, ask for retentions department and tell them you have been offered a better deal by TalkTalk, what can they offer you to stay !!!!!

Thanks!! will phone them when I have 1/2 hr to spare!! :T

simeon

Having reviewed MSE's advice, we decided to switch from BT to Primus for our line rental, and used the homephonechoices.co.uk link to sign up on 1 June. The switch was set for 17 June, on which date our phone line was disconnected completely!

Many (expensive mobile) calls to Primus's Customer Service centre later, we are advised it cannot be reconnected until 13 July - leaving us without a phone line for more than 3 weeks. As you might imagine, we are not happy, particularly as we were promised calls back from Primus staff on no fewer than three occasions, and never once received them.

Even speaking to a supervisor didn't help - he said we needed to send an email in order for them to look into our complaint. We duly emailed, 2 days ago, and (surprise, surprise) have had no response. They have accepted no responsibility for the mistake, and not yet even agreed to redirect calls temporarily to a mobile number, or reimburse us for our calls to their (appalling) service centre.

Has anyone else had similar issues? Can anyone reassure us that once you've managed to switch to Primus, all is OK?

I am a big MSE fan and have followed Martin's advice with satisfaction on many issues, but really would expect better from a MSE recommended supplier.


++++ Update July 2010 ++++++

We eventually got our line reconnected by Primus a few days after posting this - but have still had none of the call-backs, let alone an apology, from the Customer Services team.

arse_neck

Hi there. Can't speak for Primus, I'm afraid, but I had a result with BT yesterday. Recently realised they were charging me a fortune for phone line/evening and weekend calls/broadband, and rang asking for MAC code so I could switch to Sky.

BT instantly offered me phone line + anytime calls + broadband (Option 1) for £17 for first three months, then £22 thereafter if I signed up for 12 months. I wasn't going to get much better from Sky, and having never really had problems with BT's service (just the cost), it seemed churlish not to take it!

EIGHTOF8

TalkTalk has lost me millions in poker tourneys. I get cut off and then lose what was mine. This has happened far to many times. Don't have O2 here, I am sorry to say, I am actually tempted to go back to BT and Sky. I believe MSE should remove TalkTalk from its cheap broadband list of deals as TalkTalk is very very unreliable.

theloft

Jools72 wrote: »

Thanks!! will phone them when I have 1/2 hr to spare!! :T

Judging by comments here you would be better to say SKY have offered you a better deal!

daaave

In case anyone is interested...!

My folks are on talktalk, finished the original contract about a year ago & are on a rolling month by month deal.

£20.48 for landline and internet and anytime fixedline calls.

Average Bill £24 (usually due to 0870/0845 charges)

I called up (assuming my dad's identity..) and tried to cancel, citing o2's homephone/broadband package (12 month contract, £20/month, anytime landline calls, 3 months free, wireless router & £80 cashback). Got through to talktalk's last line of defence and was offered:

Same line rental, but with 3 months free, free wireless router, free 0845/0870 calls and all without renewing the contract. My folks don't like contracts, so this was ideal.

Not quite as good as the o2 deal, but I think it would have been a nightmare to change over, and because of the complexity of changing phoneline provider, I doubt cashback would have been paid.

They are generally happy with talktalk.

As I said, I hope that helps someone!

New_Collier

The helpful article [thanks!] says 'The reason you need a BT line is even if you pay line rental to TalkTalk, Sky or others, behind the scenes the actual line is provided by BT Openreach.'

I have a working land line and pay line rental to Talk Talk. I am trying to move back to BT from Talk Talk and BT are trying to make a charge of £127.99 for 'telephone line reconnection' despite initially saying there would be no charge. [I think it is sharp practice and am trying to challenge it.]
But the MSE article says the lines are BT openreach - so I really cannot understand it. BT staff keep saying they have to make the charge because I need a new line because the lines aren't theirs. Are they misleading me [& sneakily trying to make some extra money out of me] or does the article need updating?
I would be grateful if anyone knows and can clarify.
...and is anyone else having similar experience?

Ypaymore

New_Collier wrote: »

The helpful article [thanks!] says 'The reason you need a BT line is even if you pay line rental to TalkTalk, Sky or others, behind the scenes the actual line is provided by BT Openreach.'

I have a working land line and pay line rental to Talk Talk. I am trying to move back to BT from Talk Talk and BT are trying to make a charge of £127.99 for 'telephone line reconnection' despite initially saying there would be no charge. [I think it is sharp practice and am trying to challenge it.]
But the MSE article says the lines are BT openreach - so I really cannot understand it. BT staff keep saying they have to make the charge because I need a new line because the lines aren't theirs. Are they misleading me [& sneakily trying to make some extra money out of me] or does the article need updating?
I would be grateful if anyone knows and can clarify.
...and is anyone else having similar experience?

If its a Talk Talk unbundled line its got nowt to do with BT or Openreach its a Talk Talk Line.

However if the number originated from BT you normally can return to them Free Of Charge under the return to donor scheme.

Bougainvillea

I have Virgin phone and broadband. The cost of the basic package is about £35 amonth but this includes two different home telephone numbers.

I am looking for a cheaper package but its seems that with the cost of reconnection it may not be worth it. Virgin also offer free call minder. However, the phone calls are expensive and cost more than BT when using override providers

Cam anyone suggest a cheaper package for the two home phone lines and broadband?