Cheapest Home Phones Article Discussion

lilypea

Hi

I was thinking of switching my home phone (anytime), line rental and broadband to Plusnet.

The thing that's bothering me is that Plusnet want to charge me £49.99 for a new phone line. I queried this and the response I got from them via email was as follows...

'Unfortunately as Sky have taken your number out of the BT network, you would have to get a new line installed.'

Am I the only one to think this is ridiculous? Sky used the existing BT line. Why would I pay for a new line to be installed when a perfectly good one already exists?! The saving between Sky and Plusnet isn't big enough to warrant a £49.99 connection fee.

Is it likely all providers will want to install a new line because I went to Sky? Sky certainly didn't make me aware they were doing something that would require a new line to have to be installed if I wanted to switch provider. It seems like a very unfair practice if what Plusnet are saying is true.

Any advice/info would be appreciated.

NB: I know I could probably get slightly cheaper if I did it all separately but I like the convenience of having everything with one provider.

Heinz

This appears to be the same old "how can I leave xzyTelecom LLU line rental?" question again with, this time, PlusNet apparently confirming that the only option which does not require a completely new line to be installed is a (free of charge) return to BT on a 'return to donor' basis (which involves a 12 month contract) before moving to any other provider.

I consider this absolutely daft but the same story keeps coming up.

Victor_Delta

Presumably the cost of changing customer's lines over at the (often unmanned) exchange from BT terminating equipment to LLU terminating equipment, and vice versa, is not negligible...?

lilypea

I'm sorry, you seem to know what you are talking about but I don't understand your reply, I just assumed it would be as easy to switch to another provider as it was to switch to Sky :os What is LLU? Is this a common scenario?

I thought opening the telecomms. market up to competition was supposed to make it easier to switch providers. Are you saying Sky have done something to the line that makes it more difficult for me to switch? Surely they should tell you about this upfront? doesn't this breach Ofcom rules?

If anyone can answer in basic terms for someone who isn't familiar with the ins and outs of telephone lines I'd be eternally grateful.

Thanks

Victor_Delta

These articles should help explain the position...
http://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/llu-broadband.html
http://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/llu-broadband-migration-and-switching.html
Google LLU for more!

lilypea

Thanks. That was helpful. I am now enlightened. Cross that I am only learning about this now but enlightened.

Its very confusing for the average consumer. You would think there would be a requirement to explain this to customers upfront.

It would be very useful if the article this thread relates to contained some information about this.

AndysDad

snaffler wrote: »

If for what its worth I will share what I have finally got my phone pack down to.

Unlimited Evening & Weekend Plan BT on a 12 month contract (pay line rental only)

Then I added line rental plan pay up front from BT £120 per year.

Basically I am now covered for £10 per month pre pay for a year.

Its only my partner home in the day with our little one and the 6am - 7pm calls are few are far between and we have used 1899 for this option for about 4 years now.

Been with BT 10+ years never had any issues or grizzles and in 2000 they spent £1200 digging up the footpath, repairing my line and putting in a new one. (not sure if they would now) but since those days all has been A1.

Are you sure you get free calls in he evening as on the BT website it says weekends only underlined.

Ypaymore

AndysDad wrote: »

Are you sure you get free calls in he evening as on the BT website it says weekends only underlined.

The Unlimited UK Evening & Weekend calls at no extra cost plan – 12 month renewable contract deal is still available if you ask for it.

krafty54

katykitten wrote: »

just avoid primus like the plauge if you dont want high blood pressure from eternal frustration from people in the call centre who appear to be unable to deviate from a pre-set script and 'supervisors' who dont call you back! id rather pay a couple of quid more a month and get a local, good quality service from post office home phone
Primus have agreed not to charge me the £95 cancellation fee due to their poor service but i hav yet to see if it appears on a bill somewhere in the next few months, watch this space

I signed up with Primus in February 2010 ..what a mistake!
The contract was for 12 months but the as the bills were getting pricier by the second,I opted for the higher rate with free calls for 01 numbers.
Things didn't improve as the costs were exceeding my old monthly tarriff with Post Office,so contacted Primus in October to terminate the contract.
I was told I could terminate but it would cost me 87 pounds +.
On requesting when my contract ended I was informed that I could terminate in February 2011 otherwise charges would be made.
I stuck this out until late January and did relevent searches for a cheaper Broadband and Phone package and decided on BT.
I received my final monthly bill 2 days ago and it,s huge.

Current Bill Charges - Summary
For Period 15 Dec 2010 - 14 Jan 2011
Charges Amount
Call Charges £5.59

Charges, Credits and Adjustments £53.91:eek:

20% VAT £11.90

Sub Total £71.40

View Details Total for this bill £71.40



Account Summary
Current Bill £71.40

Previous Bill £37.28

We received £37.28
CR
Amount Outstanding £71.40

Total Balance of Account £71.40


Date Due 14 Feb 2011

Total Due £71.40

£53.91 for terminating the contract too early,I called them and was left waiting on the phone for 37 minutes in all until an agent became available.
Foreign female asked details and I queried the huge bill.
She asked if I had transfered to another provider to which I responded "Yes".
She told me that my contract didn't end until June which is totally false as I have bills from Primus beginning March 2010,(monthly this tells me that I signed up in Feb)so as this is a yearly contract how come I have the first bill from March!
This means that I am now in a 15 month contract not 12 as originally made.
As pensioners,we can't afford to fork out over £50 quid because in my eyes the contract was 12 months and I'm damned if I'm going to take this lying down and have contacted Ofcom with my complaint against this shonky company.
So I will also have a bill from BT to fork out for too..avoid Primus at all costs.
They're not even CHEAP!:mad:

oly2c

My existing phone has a facility for storing and dialling the prefix (18185) which I can override for weekend calls via BT.
I would like to replace the old phone with a Cordless one but can't find any reference for such a provision on phone web sites.
Does anyone know if there any cordless phones with this function?