BT Basic Line Rental: Get a landline for £4.50/month

Jemma-T

I'm applying for this for my sister and got the leaflet and application form today (2 questions asking your NI number and which benefit (tick box)). Sign it and use the pre-paid envelope

Simple really and I have to say the £13.50 is an excellent deal for her as that includes £4.50 worth of calls. Or at least that's how it reads to me, making 3 months' line rental for £9inc. She makes very very few calls so this will save her £££s.

Heinz

Jemma-T wrote: »

I'm applying for this for my sister and got the leaflet and application form today (2 questions asking your NI number and which benefit (tick box)). Sign it and use the pre-paid envelope

Simple really and I have to say the £13.50 is an excellent deal for her as that includes £4.50 worth of calls. Or at least that's how it reads to me, making 3 months' line rental for £9inc. She makes very very few calls so this will save her £££s.

Bear in mind though that calls are 3p connection + 10p/minute - so £4.50 = less than 15 minutes of calls per month.

Beepster

Kim,

Lets keep the sweet talk to the side and discuss the "rot" as you so elequently put it.

• BT Basic £4.50/Mth billed Qtrly
• Call centre operatives who know little about "the BT Basic" other than repeat pigeon fashion one's current basic line rental tariff when questioned
• Connection charges of
  • £129.99 or maybe
  • £29.99 if you sign a contract of 18 months duration
• Free minutes....subject to a call connection fee

Kim, as the other posters put it, it's all in the small print, and available to the needy.

So, if, and when your parents are in their 70's, 80, 90's ask them to subscribe to BT Basic, and subject to them reading the small print and navigating their way around the call centres of Gujarat in the hope that they may just strike gold. Forgive me if they've already boarded the midnight express, then I fear a toll charge to the otherside on a BT Basic line may be prohibitively expensive.

BT Basic... appears to be aimed at the elderly but subject's them to unclear terms!

Is this more consisive?

Beeps

leadhead

Heinz wrote: »

Bear in mind though that calls are 3p connection + 10p/minute - so £4.50 = less than 15 minutes of calls per month.

I dont think this is correct.....that charge applies after your £4.50 a quarter is used up...I thought I read that the cost of calls up to the £4.50 allowance is per their existing price plans...

but i may be wrong.....please correct me if i am...

Ive gone for it...although he did tell me that if i had had to pay for my last quarters calls(all made on an evening(evening and weekend free), my call charges would have been £514...................

Fortunately that info has been passed on now, and my £10 mobile contract, giving me 600 x mobile minutes, unlimited calls to landlines + 1000 texts a month should do.......

Graham1

leadhead wrote: »

... my £10 mobile contract ...

I presume you are aware that having a contract mobile phone excludes people from BT basic. It's only allowed to have a PAYG mobile with low monthly usage (which they define as £10 or less usage per month). Although "chronically sick and disabled customers" are exempt from the mobile phone exclusions.

Beepster

Have a read from the top right down to the bottom of your screen. I noted down my thoughts regarding BT Basic. You are welcome to note your thoughts down.

Communicating with you in the way may help me earn another yellow star!

Car66

:mad: I am sooo mad with BT telephoned them up yesterday to look into BT BASIC for my parents, they have taken them off their old tariff of which I never asked them too, just asking about this new tariff and put them on a dearer one as its an old tariff they were on and was cheaper for them. But obviously NOT for BT! AND to cap it all they are sending my parents out papers to see if they are elligible for bt basic so not even put on that. DO NOT USE BT BASIC UNLESS YOU RARELY CALL ANYONE. The robbing of the poor as its dearer than a mobile phone to call.
I am waiting for a manager to call me back as I am livid to them changing their old tariff to something no one asked for, if no joy I WILL BE GOING TO THE PAPERS ABOUT THEM RIPPING OF PENSIONERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad:

KimYeovil

Beepster wrote: »

Have a read from the top right down to the bottom of your screen. I noted down my thoughts regarding BT Basic.

As far as I can see from your bulleted list the only concern you have is that some staff can not distinguish between a 'basic' unlimited weekend plan and BT Basic. Nothing else of consequence. (Not that I'd mind but I did not (apparently) reach an Indian call centre when I called the appropriate number.)

The tariff is billed quarterly. So? Surely most people prefer the freedom to pay quarterly without a £4.50 surcharge? Those who want to pay monthly are free to use BACS or their payment cards.

There may be a reconnection fee. So? If you're aware enough to shop around you're aware enough to accept the natural consequences.

There are no 'free' minutes. There is bundled £4.50 per quarter of call charges that have a connection charge that is less than half the standard connection charge. The package is not designed for those who want to make many calls. One complication that may be highlighted is that if you telephone your utility company or doctor etc on an 0845 number you are billed separately at standard rates - but that is sensible as you don't want to spend 10p per minute or waste your entire quarterly bundle listening to muzak.

MattLFC

I have just phoned up to enquire about this service for someone, and was told that it is not compatible with any type of broadband service at present, although BT are looking to enable it in the next 3 months or so...

What a lod of codswallop, not only is it a con for people who don't have much money and will be decieved into thinking lower line rental is better (20p per minute for calls is out of order), but the fact that they can't get broadband running on the service atm is even worse... surely the lines are just the same, only they have a different tariff? I mean !!!!!! is with BT, they can't organise a pi$$ up in a brewery...

Now I remember why I changed to Sky Landline last October and have never looked back since; that and the fact they were charging me £18.00 per month for a basic landline, even though I paid all my calls to Sky Talk!

BT are scum imho, and the UK need's rid of them.

Mackliven

MattLFC wrote: »

I have just phoned up to enquire about this service for someone, and was told that it is not compatible with any type of broadband service at present, although BT are looking to enable it in the next 3 months or so...

What a lod of codswallop, not only is it a con for people who don't have much money and will be decieved into thinking lower line rental is better (20p per minute for calls is out of order), but the fact that they can't get broadband running on the service atm is even worse... surely the lines are just the same, only they have a different tariff? I mean !!!!!! is with BT, they can't organise a pi$$ up in a brewery...

Now I remember why I changed to Sky Landline last October and have never looked back since; that and the fact they were charging me £18.00 per month for a basic landline, even though I paid all my calls to Sky Talk!

BT are scum imho, and the UK need's rid of them.

=======================

As stated earlier in this thread, Broadband - from any supplier - IS allowed with BT Basic but it would appear not all BT staff have been properly briefed on this & continue to wrongly inform customers it isnt.
This said, I have still not recieved their application form to sign and on the two occasions I have chased them, they have informed me this is due to a "glitch" in their system. Hence, I'm hoping this is the case and nothing underhanded such as them making it difficult for me to transfer to this cheaper package whilst retaining my 'third party' broadband!