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The UKs Cheapest Home Phones Solution Article Discussion Area

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  • speedyG_2
    speedyG_2 Posts: 21 Forumite
    This is my first post. Hope it fits in somewhere
    Here's my penny's worth re TT. Having had no joy with countless departments Ive resorted to making a FORMAL COMPLAINT. Here's the letter Ive sent.

    Dear Sirs,

    As this is a formal complaint, it would be appreciated if you dealt with it, as outlined in your code of practice.

    My complaint relates to telephone charges to my account, that have resulted in a restriction being placed on my line.

    The charges were made for International calls, mostly to Colombia, which we did indeed make. (I am unsure of the exact calls, as you are currently unable to produce any form of itemised record to that effect. This has not stopped you from demanding payment to lift the restriction).

    However those calls were made using a One.Tel 1877 prefix, which overrides your system and bills our One.Tel account. One.Tel have confirmed that the prefix is valid over all systems until 01 October. For some reason your software has chosen to ignore the prefix and (without the benefit of a pre-recorded message advising otherwise) billed me direct.

    The issue of the One.Tel 1877 prefix was one of the questions I put to your Customer Services Department, before I signed up for your service. They told me it could be used.

    As a customer of BT for 25 years plus … and a One.Tel user since 2001, it was an important question, as the One.Tel price for a call to Colombia is about 19 pence per minute, considerably cheaper than TalkTalK and BT. To be blunt, only a complete idiot would sign up for a more expensive service.

    I personally believe there has been a genuine error on your part, either by way of a conflict of interest between One.Tel and TalkTalK, or a lack of communication between both providers, both of which I note, are owned by CARPHONE WAREHOUSE.

    I understand from OFCOM that you have 12 weeks in which to make a decision. Until the matter is resolved by either yourselves, or if necessary the Ombudsman, I propose to pay you the basic monthly fee of £20.99. We will not be making any more International calls.

    In the meantime, I hope as a measure of goodwill you will lift the restriction on my line in order that I can use the telephone and broadband service as advertised. A letter or other communication regarding this last issue would be greatly appreciated.


    Yours Faithfully
    etc etc
    Since sending the letter Ive spoken to another dept. No they wont lift the restriction. Fine so Ive now closed my bank account
    My next step is to extract myself from their contract as I consider it nul and void due to the wrong information being given at point of sale.
    Restriction still in place, but have bypassed that by using 1280
  • mobilegossip
    mobilegossip Posts: 1,163 Forumite
    Welcome speedyG.

    Have you moved your line rental to TT/Onetel if so even though the 1280 override may work, they will still bill you as you dont have an account with BT.

    18p is still a lot to pay to call Colombia,alternative provider https://www.0844calls.co.uk only charge 5p.
  • speedyG_2
    speedyG_2 Posts: 21 Forumite
    we have TT line rental and broadband. The 1280 over-rides the TT restriction placed on the line.
    Since we made a FORMAL COMPLAINT to both companies the following has happened.
    From TT ..... nothing
    From One.tel a flurry of desperate calls, and then a call to terminate our contract retrospectively. Yep, thats right. We said lets have that in writing please. 2 days later they called to say they would refund the international calls ...totat £158.79. Currently negotiating the procedure on that.
    Here,s a tip for all TT's unhappy customers. Forget the spotty youths on customer services. Go direct to high level complaints line 0800 049 5743. Better still make a written formal complaint and send it registered to warrington. Both these processes will twist their arm quite severely.

    Thanks for tip on cheaper calls to Colombia.
  • I am using

    Sky TV + Free Sky Broadband + Sky talk + BT line-rental

    The total monthly cost is
    £15.00 + £0.00 + £5.00 +£9.75 = £29.75

    This is a lot cheaper than TalkTalk and I get TV as well included.

    Sky Talk is unlimited UK landline anytime calls.

    I have swicthed from TalkTalk due to poor customer service but also find that this new deal is coming out to be cheaper for me.

    Any comments?
  • Heinz
    Heinz Posts: 11,191 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker Car Insurance Carver!
    I am using

    Sky TV + Free Sky Broadband + Sky talk + BT line-rental

    The total monthly cost is
    £15.00 + £0.00 + £5.00 +£9.75 = £29.75

    This is a lot cheaper than TalkTalk and I get TV as well included.

    Sky Talk is unlimited UK landline anytime calls.

    I have swicthed from TalkTalk due to poor customer service but also find that this new deal is coming out to be cheaper for me.

    Any comments?
    I think you'll find the BT line rental is £11/month (if you pay by DD, otherwise it's £12) but it's still quite a good setup if you make more than 166 weekday daytime UK 01/02 calls every month (Sky Talk is the alternative CPS provider I added last month to my "7-steps" posting for Sky subscribers who do so).

    Just a few comments:

    You may wish to consider signing up for 18185 as well for your calls to mobiles and 0845/0870 numbers (I assume you already have the MSE Callcheckers saved in your favourites so you can quickly find ways to make international calls cheaply).

    Don't forget to make 2 chargeable calls a month with the 1280 prefix to keep free BT Caller Display.

    Lastly, any 0844/0871 calls you make should always be made using a 1280 prefix.
    Time has moved on (much quicker than it used to - or so it seems at my age) and my previous advice on residential telephony has been or is now gradually being overtaken by changes in the retail market. Hence, I have now deleted links to my previous 'pearls of wisdom'. I sincerely hope they helped save some of you money.
  • Hi all

    Apologies if this has already been posted. Don't know if anyone else is still using Call899, I have my phone set up to automatically pre-dial 1899 for 01- and 02- numbers and 18185 for everything else.

    Just had an email from 1899 telling me that their connection fee increases to 4p per call from 23 October. So, not much point in continuing to use them as far as I can see.

    Cheers

    Bob
  • Heinz
    Heinz Posts: 11,191 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker Car Insurance Carver!
    Just had an email from 1899 telling me that their connection fee increases to 4p per call from 23 October. So, not much point in continuing to use them as far as I can see.
    I think you mean 1899 will no longer be cheaper than 18185 for those UK 01/02 calls so there'll be no point in differentiating. If so, you're right - assuming an e-mail from 18185 advising a similar 1p increase is not imminent!
    Time has moved on (much quicker than it used to - or so it seems at my age) and my previous advice on residential telephony has been or is now gradually being overtaken by changes in the retail market. Hence, I have now deleted links to my previous 'pearls of wisdom'. I sincerely hope they helped save some of you money.
  • Hi all

    Apologies if this has already been posted. Don't know if anyone else is still using Call899, I have my phone set up to automatically pre-dial 1899 for 01- and 02- numbers and 18185 for everything else.

    Just had an email from 1899 telling me that their connection fee increases to 4p per call from 23 October. So, not much point in continuing to use them as far as I can see.

    Cheers

    Bob

    Already covered in this thread.;)

    http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=286974


  • Oops! sorry!

    Bob
  • I see from my latest bill that 1899 have increased their connection fee to 4p in line with 18185 (are they part of the same company, the invoice and detail checking facilities are identical?).

    I'm concerned that I wasn't given any warning about the increase in connection fees, so that the first I found out about it was when I saw the increased charges on my bill.

    This is pretty unethical practice, and rather worrying...if they were unscrupulous operators what was to stop them making the connection fee £4 rather that 4p?

    Did any other users of 1899 receive prior notification of the change?

    SORRY, AFTER POSTING THIS I SAW THAT THERE IS ALREADY SOME DISCUSSION ON THE TOPIC OF 1899 FAILING TO E-MAIL CUSTOMERS ABOUT THE PRICE INCREASE.
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