Home Telephone Tariff - discussion area

Galstonian

For anyone with broadband there is also the possibility of IP telephony of one form or another. Quality can be quite poor but sometimes cheap is better.

Of course, if you have a mobile phone and a plan with allocated minutes then using them before making any call you pay for is obviously worthwhile.

And I too am surprised at the inclusion of 0870 numbers in TalkTalk's tariff since OneTell charge for them. (I can't get the 80's band out of my head when refering to TalkTalk which is wierd 'cause I can't remember any of their songs - that might be a good thing though)

Garret

I looked into 0870 numbers a while ago. I think they'd pay you a penny or perhaps 2p a minute. Let us assume just 1 p. If you made 6 hours of calls from Talk Talk to your 0870 number a day for a mere 300 days a year you would get 300 x 6 x 60p = £1,080 a year!

A much better deal than the 0% interest credit card one!

Garret

MSE_Martin

This is very interesting. I suspect Talk Talk has a clause of termination for 'unnatural' use though - i will see if i can find out.

love the thinking though!

System

Great Article Martin. Did you consider Skytalk in your comprehensive review as their charges are 3p, 2p and 1p per minute?

MSE_Martin

Skytalk were in the consideration - not that cheap im afraid 3p,2p,1p in itself is quite expensive - before even looking at the mobile costs.

martin

Garret

Erk! Just looked up Ontel's charges for 0845 and 0870 numbers. 0845 is 4p a minute at all times! That means it is 4 times the price of BT at weekends! 0870 is 8p a minute at all times! I nearly fainted dead away - I've just signed up to Ontel for their unlimited calls anytime plan but 0845 and 0870 are still the same price.

I might go back to writing letters. Three minutes of an 0870 call would pay for a first class stamp.

Woe is me!

G

markedgar

Well, there you go: See what I mean about 'being fooled'...

Things are rarely what they seem.

How do you think these companies make their money?  They're not charities.

Somebody, somewhere pays for the 'discounts' and that usually means you, the customer.

The usual method is to tie you in to a deal or load you with a heavy monthly service payment.

I don't pay anything up front before I use the phone - except for the BT line rental - which incidentally, is likely to be absorbed or incorporated by other telephone providers in the near future - and I can't get away with not paying it.

Cheapness costs somebody money, somewhere...

;)Mark E

System

I have recently been canvassed by NTL who are offering an alternative scheme for non cable customers that links in with you using them as an ISP. For a fixed £15 a month they offer £15 worth of calls at a of 3p,2p,1p but also unlimited internet access (http://freedom.ntl.com). Clearly they benefit from the fixed income and that the contract is for 12 months, but are there any other catches?? ???

REVIE

In Martins tips for 'phone charges,he states, if you have a call provider other than BT but use BT line we ought to pay the basic £9.50 line rental.I have SKY as the call provider with a BT line and am being charged £26.80 service charges.Is this correct? Can anyone help?

MSE_Martin

Me thinks this may be a month/quarter difference - it is 9.50 a month including VAT.

Your charge looks suspiciously like the none direct debit quarterly charge before VAT.

is it?

martin