TELEWEST! Can anyone help me save some cash?

nosferatu_2

Hello people!

Firstly, thanks for having me on this board. Seems like there is a lot of good advice here! I hope that some of you will be able to help me with my situation:

We moved into a new place in Febuary this year. It had no phone line, and no external TV ariel. I work from home so need a landline and broadband. We decided to go with Telewest, as they had the 3 for £30 offer, TV, phone and Broadband.

I'm not sure if tis has been a mistake or not. I find telewest incredibly confusing and deliberately misleading on the whole. My Bills always come up with £40-£45 'service charges'. I have no idea what this means as I was under the impression taht we got all services for £30! Does anyone understand this?

It seems that Telewest charge the earth for phone calls. I have recently started using the incredibly frustrating 08444 numbers in order to cutt my mobile calls down. Is this a good idea? It seems that I pay 2-4p a minute to the phone provider, plus 4p/min to telewest for each cxalll. That makes calls around 6-8p/min. Much better than telewests 21p! Am I right here or am I gonna get stung?

In all, my telewest monthly bills come up around £69. This is around £25 call charges, the mysterious 'Service Charges' and tax. Does this sound right to anyone?

Basically Telewests services are terrible. Badly broadcast programs, freezing pictures, and terrible line quality. I really resent paying this much money for such a poor service... Does anyone have any advice for me or others in my position to save money with them? We really need Digital TV, BB and phone... But not at this cost!

Thanks in advance...
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Nosferatu

Heinz

Welcome to the MSE forums nosferatu

Sorry, I have no experience of NTL or Telewest (for which I will be forever grateful having read the numerous horror stories on MSE and elsewhere) but your observations appear to be fairly standard.

Their call charges are notoriously high and many people use this site to find alternatives for their calls. I believe THIS is the most comprehensive guide to available options.

Others will post shortly to give you advice on 'negotiating' but, AIUI, you have to be ready with facts and figures of the alternatives you are supposedly considering when you 'make that call'.

From what you say, I assume your place was brand new when you moved in so had never had a BT line before. If a BT line had previously been installed, you might have been able to get a 'reconnection' FOC but, if not, BT's charge of £124.99 will almost certainly apply. Many people complain at that high charge but, in the long run, it may be a good option for you if cable is not providing you with the service you need.

Certainly, a BT landline will enable you to take advantage of the many and various cheaper options for making calls and allow you to make a choice of broadband provider (although, there, a low price is not always the one to go for).

bbb_uk

As Heinz pointed out, Telewest have expensive call charges especially the 6p connection fee on top of the cost of your call instead of just a minimum call charge like most other providers.

I agree their TV and telephone service is terrible but their broadband is fine I've found - in fact it's the only thing that is good if you ask me.

You will need to ask them what they mean by service charges (ie you want a break-down).

I believe the £30 is only if you stuck with the original TV package that is part of the deal so if you added an extra channel on (like sports or something) then you pay full price same as other NTL/Telewest users.

Have you an extra box or something which may also explain the bills you get as I believe their extra boxes are £15 per month.

I'm guessing here but the 0844 numbers are probably slightly more than what they cost on BT so beware.

If you signed up to Call18185 you could make landline (geographical) calls for 1ppm with a 3p connection fee via their freephone access number. This is cheaper than Telewest's 3ppm with a 6p connection charge.

As you are within your minimum term contract then you can't negotiate with them on reducing your tarif. This can only really be done outside your minimum term contract when you threaten to leave them.

Please remember that call charges to 0844 numbers quoted on all dial-through operators are based on costs from a BT landline. Most other teleco operators charge more for these type of calls than BT do.

To save all the messing around with having to dial these other numbers first then you could invest in a Orchid Dialler and set it up to do this automatically.

astonsmummy

OMG, i didnt realis they charge connection fees! My last bill all together was £90!! Unfortunately my contract doesnt run out till december so i'm stuck!

chatta

Do you have extra boxes, I just called and got one reduced to £9.50 per month was about £15.00, bad line i suffered for long time till last month when they finally fixed it (got 3 months free rental for that plus compensation). Talk to them about which tv package you have, I just downgraded because i dont watch so many of the things that are offered on 'Supreme'

bbb_uk

astonsmummy wrote:

OMG, i didnt realis they charge connection fees! My last bill all together was £90!! Unfortunately my contract doesnt run out till december so i'm stuck!

Telewest, like most other providers, obviously don't advertise their minimum call/connection fee. Telewest's tariff page does have a * next to their prices which if you scroll down gives you the bad news that they charge a 6p connection fee per call.

Heinz

I've just realised I missed the 'February' part of your OP. That probably means you're stuck with them at least until the initial 12 months is up.

However, as bbb_uk says, that does not stop you using the freephone access numbers call1899.co.uk and/or 18185.co.uk and/or call18866.co.uk provide for cable users to save on your call charges!

bbb_uk

chatta wrote:

Do you have extra boxes, I just called and got one reduced to £9.50 per month was about £15.00, bad line i suffered for long time till last month when they finally fixed it (got 3 months free rental for that plus compensation). Talk to them about which tv package you have, I just downgraded because i dont watch so many of the things that are offered on 'Supreme'

I assume you are outside your minimum term contract. The OP indicates he is still in his minimum term contract and therefore I very much doubt they will offer him/her any deal as there is no reason to because he/she is stuck with them anyhow until the end of the minimum term.

chatta

Yep sorry I am contract free, i didnt read anything about a contract in his post. Guess its just part of signing up with them. Still must be worth a try after all its a freephone number you call. Nothing ventured nothing gained.

nosferatu_2

Wow! Thanks for the replies, guys.

I called Telewest and they told me that thery charge 2-4p/min for 08444 numbers, so I guess they work out around 4-8p/min for mobiles, not forgetting Teleworsts 6p connection fee! This still works out better than their 21-26p/min 'normal' mobile charge, though.

This all said, I have yet to recieve a bill since trying these 08444 numbers. I ususally use PHONECHEAP or 08444calls... Has anyone on Teleworst used these and paid a bill since?

Finally, I don't have any additiuonal boxes or services. The only thing I was paying extra for was non-direct debit charge of £3. It's all so confusing.

Heinz

I'd say using call1899.co.uk (via their 0808 1 708 708 freephone access number) at all times for your UK 01/02 calls (3p connection and 1p/minute) and 18185.co.uk (via their 0808 1 703 703 freephone access number) for your weekend mobile calls (4p connection and 2p/minute) will save you a fair amount (being freephone access numbers, at least both of them will eliminate TW's 6p connection charge).