FREE £50 CALL CREDIT means new cheapest phone service for lighter users

phoneman44

mobilegossip wrote:

With BT Customer Service you report the matter to them, thats it they deal with it fullstop.
With any other supplier you report it to your supplier if they can deal with it they do,if not they have to pass it to BT. So the reporting chain is lenghthened.

I agree with you that price should not be the be all and end all.But many Moneysavers are in it for the price and are prepared to accept cheaper prices for lesser Customer Service EG JDS, 18866 etc.

This is not correct. BT Retail have to 'book' engineers in exactly the same way as any WLR service provider. I.E. BT Retail report network and line faults to BT Wholesale.

The BT Wholesale service level requirement is the same regardless of customer of which BT Retail is one.

Also, there is no evidence to suggest that WLR suppliers will bar access to other networks via ID access e.g. 18866.

Remember it costs the WLR supplier £0.40 per line per month to initiate ID access barring, which is why most (if not all) providers do not prevent you from using these services.

mobilegossip

Irrespective of how BT deal with fault request.They will give me a full update of progress at one point of contact. If i use another network they can say and do," sorry we are waiting for BT to comeback.".I know i have experienced this situation.Hence my point.

I cant see landline suppliers letting valuable revenue drift away to other providers for ever.The option is their and i guess they will use it sooner or later.

phoneman44

BT Retail and WLR service providers use the same portal for fault reporting and status updates, therefore the information available to both groups and lead times involved is the same.

The fact is that it is simply not true to say you will receive a better level of service from BT Retail than you will TalkTalk, PO, OneTel etc due to industry process as the process is the same for all (although this cannot be said for day to day customer service for which BT is not famed for).

As part of Ofcom's Strategic Review of Telecommunications in September, a new operationally independent company within the BT Group has been created called Openreach. This company has been set up to provide equality between providers on precisely this issue see https://www.openreach.co.uk/about.html.

Secondly, WLR providers cannot report specifically on traffic being directed to other service providers via ID access, therefore making it very difficult for suppliers to even identify customers using other access networks. I think it is very unlikely that any provider will apply a blanket bar on this access type due to cost and as they cannot identify who is and isn't using IDA it is unlikely that they would apply on a line by line basis.

mobilegossip

phoneman44 wrote:

BT Retail and WLR service providers use the same portal for fault reporting and status updates, therefore the information available to both groups and lead times involved is the same.

" When i phoned a alternative landline supplier Onetel they said its with Bt we will have to check and come back to you."

" When i phoned BT about a fault on one of their landlines they were able to answer my query straight away."

(although this cannot be said for day to day customer service for which BT is not famed for).

"I have personally found BT Customer Service to be better then these other outfits,you mention.
I read somewhere that Openreach is known as No Cheaper (anagram of Openreach). Which somes up the charges of these so called cheaper line rental suppliers."

I think it is very unlikely that any provider will apply a blanket bar on this access type due to cost

"I thought it very unlikely that an alternative supplier would charge for a basic service that BT provided free " But they proved me wrong Talk Talk 1571 Basic Voicemail now 50p a month.

At the end of the day you pays your money and you takes your choice.

Discogod

can someone confirm that i can't convert from an NTL line please? thanks

if only working from a BT line, does anyone know how much i can expect to pay to get one put in?

Heinz

If there have NEVER been a BT line at your house, BT's new installation charge of about £75 will apply. If, however, a BT line existed there at some time in the past, installation should be free.

The easist way to find out (they keep records) is to phone 0800 800 150 and ask.

mobilegossip

Heres an interesting view of the service taken from a recent BBC News Bulletin.

(Even so, the Post Office may find its fixed-line phone venture is very hard going, analysts said.

"It will enter a very competitive segment that is red-hot already, and where prices continue to fall," said Mike Cansfield, research director at London-based research consultancy Ovum.

"The HomePhone offer is not compelling, the Post Office has credibility problems with its existing business," he said. "It has entered the wrong market sector." )

mobilegossip

Discogod wrote:

can someone confirm that i can't convert from an NTL line please? thanks

if only working from a BT line, does anyone know how much i can expect to pay to get one put in?

Yes as Heinz points you must have a BT line,or a line with another line rental supplier like OneTel/Talk Talk .(Not a Cable Company).

If you get a BT line bear in mind that you sign a contract for 3 months min term if wiring exists,and 12 months if its a new installation so you would not qualify for promotion which ends on 31/3/06,as your still be in contract to BT either way.

jo_b_2

phil999 wrote:

i might have got this wrong but if you signup with quidco you get an £30 cashback making this a very good deal?

Yes. I've just checked on quidco and they offer £30 cashback. Well worth changing with that extra incentive.

jimclark1967

Does anyone know what happens to any BT line rental you've already paid for if you switch to the Post Office? Will this be refunded or is it "lost"?

For example, my last BT bill dated 20th December covers line rental from 1st December to 28th February. The £31.50 was taken from my bank account on 3rd January. If there was no refund then it would be best to wait till nearer the end of February before switching.... but how near

JC