BT Connection Charges (merged threads)

oasisfeverish

OldGreyFox wrote: »

"£30 Connection Offer: Customers who require a new line will benefit from a £100 discount on the standard line connection charge of £130. Customers who are benefiting from this offer are not eligible for Line Rental Saver and must agree to an 18 month contract (applies to the Unlimited Weekend Plan or the Unlimited Anytime Plan). Minimum call commitment also applies – you must make at least 10 chargeable or inclusive calls per month (30 calls per quarter). You'll need to pay a charge of £5.15 for every month (if you are billed monthly) or £15.45 for every quarter (if you're billed quarterly) in which you don't make these calls, as compensation for not making the minimum number of calls required. These charges are not subject to VAT and will appear in the one-off charges section of your bill."


http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerProducts/displayTopic.do?topicId=32331#phone-connection

Thanks OGF.

So if I understand correctly, I can have the £30 discounted price, but tied to BT's unlimited weekend plan ( currently £13.90 and due to go up in Dec) for another 18 months and can't take advantage of paying for the year up front either.

We only use the landline for internet connection and free calls, as our bill is always the bare minimum of the standing charge. We use our inclusive minutes on our mobiles if we need to make a call in the charging hours of 7am - 7pm.

Would that still be the cheapest option for us over the next 18 months, or is the post office connection of £60 worth taking and then finding a provider that offers a similar plan as evenings and weekends but lower line rental? Which could save us the £30 difference over an 18 month period (ie. £30 / 18 = £1.67 cheaper line rental per month )?

oasisfeverish

Oh well BT made up my mind for me tonight. In near 20 years of being with BT I don't think I have even needed to contact them.

Tonight I thought I would call and find out what the procedure is for moving home / cancelling.

After being on hold for 29 minutes waiting for someone to answer on the Moving Home / Cancelling department line. I decided to call again using my mobile......

However this time I went through the automated system and choose the department that could provide more information on their products to a new customer.....Can you guess???

Yes that call was answered within 2 minutes, whilst I was still holding on the other phone! I queried the fact why was this answered and I'm still waiting, no response, I asked that this individual could deal with my questions or put me through to the Moving Home / Cancelling line.....the line went dead!

So BT thank you for making the decision for me. I will be cancelling and moving to a cheaper and hopefully better customer service response.

P.S. I gave up waiting after 38 minutes and 58 seconds of holding!

Careful_with_that_Axe

Just about to move to a new build too. I have been told by various people that I HAVE to have a BT line installed before anyone would take over my calls packages etc.

I have Sky BB and Sky TV which I am happy to stick with. Are there any alternatives to BT for a new line? If not, doesn't this smack of restrictive practices?
BT will only be able to connect line 10 days after move in date and as I am disabled and rely heavily on the internet for on-line shopping etc, I would ideally like to get the new line activated far sooner than that.

Thanks

Heinz

Any of the line providers now in the market (Sky included) should be able to install a new line by issuing instructions to Openreach (the only people authorised to do so).

Many cannot be bothered to do so though.

AlexisV

Utility Warehouse £99 for a new line, 12 month contract.

glasgowstudent

this is a bookmark for later.
i have a BT socket in my house but no account as the last owner of the house died and the account was must likly cancelled.

they want £150 to activate it again :mad:

gingerknowledge

Hi,

I just spoke to BT and if you are an exisiting customer with BB and Phone line and are moving address, they will waiver the fee

Thanks

zaax

As changing provider is now all computerised (a few presses of buttons) is BT Openreach, who has a monopoly, justified in charge such an exorbitant fee.

Heinz

zaax wrote: »

As changing provider is now all computerised (a few presses of buttons) is BT Openreach, who has a monopoly, justified in charge such an exorbitant fee.

It's not 'a few button presses', it normally involves the physical removal of the pair from one providers' rack to another's.

That requires an Openreach engineer and, hence, a charge (which the new provider can choose whether or not to pass on to its new customer).

LABLAKE

HELP PLEASE....I could make calls but could not receive them. Engineer booked for 9th December 2011. Waited in - no one called so 15.34 (as shown on my talk talk bill) I called Talk Talk to ask when the engineer was coming and was informed he had fixed the line externally and did not need access to my house. I stayed in anyhow. March 2012 was charged 129.00. Stopped my direct debit as operator suggested but paid telephone calls via a cheque. Received a text to say the charge is correct and their decision is final as it is an abortive call - I was fuming to say the least. I never went out all day, I had proof I had phoned them to chase and they told me they did not need access. This Monday they cut my line and broadband. I have phoned OFCOM and submitted a complaint. The girl did not seem the least bit surprised. Talk talk want me to pay 10.00 for BT open reach report.
This is all such a scam. BT have told me that they would charge Talk talk if the fault was found to be external and the customer would only have to pay if the fault was found to be internal. BT went onto say they would not visit if they had fixed the fault externally and they are trying to pull a fast one to quote his words. I cannot get any sense out of their customer services at all.