Caller Display/ID

loofer

Many of the Phone operators charge for this feature as a extra (although BT includes in their Privacy at Home package).

I'm thinking of switching to Talk Talk but you have to buy a bundle that costs £4.50 to get Caller Display and it includes a load of other bumph that I wouldn't want/use.

What does the actual handset display without this option? Sure allowing this technology doesn't have a cost associated to the business. They are just actively witholding it so they can charge another premium

ChiefGrasscutter

...as regards TT charging £4.50: try looking at it like this

Consider a train.
Seeing as it's going to its destination anyway and it already has 1000+ passengers on it then by your reckoning allowing an extra single passenger on doen't have a cost associated with the business of running the train to is destination....so I suppose you think the rail companies by not allowing you on as that single extra person free are doing it soley so they can charge a premium for letting you travel on the train.
I take it you don't run a business

You are not paying for the cost of implementing caller display on the line, you are paying for the service and the usefulness to you of this facility. Therefore what you are prepared to pay is how much you value the service.

R34GTT

I take it you just want line rental only (no inclusive calls)?

Have you looked at Primus Telecom?
£6.79 Line Rental
£2.50 CallerID
£9.29 Total

Their customer service is probably as bad as TalkTalk's, though Primus have recently moved their call centres to the UK so things may be improving.

balmk

loofer wrote: »

What does the actual handset display without this option? Sure allowing this technology doesn't have a cost associated to the business. They are just actively witholding it so they can charge another premium

Depending on the make/model of the handset it will usually just say "CALL" or "UNAVAILIBLE".

R34GTT

balmk wrote: »

Depending on the make/model of the handset it will usually just say "CALL" or "UNAVAILIBLE".

Forgot to mention, I have Panasonic phones which display "Incoming Call" as I do not have CallerID. I'm on Primus's £6.79 line rental.

I_luv_cats

BT you have to make inclusive or chargeable calls otherwise they can / could charge you for BT Privacy Caller Display.

^ BT Privacy at Home with Free Caller Display. Customers who do not make enough calls with BT will be charged for BT Caller Display. Customers who are billed every three months must make at least six chargeable or inclusive calls within those three months, otherwise BT reserves the right to charge £9.00 a quarter. Customers who are billed monthly must make at least 2 chargeable or inclusive calls a month otherwise BT reserves the right to charge £3.00 a month. Free calls (for example to 0800 numbers, calls to the emergency services etc) do not count towards the minimum call commitment.

loofer

no issues with companies making a profit. I assumed that Landline technology might have some similarity with mobile technology in this respect. With mobiles, the number displays as a default. Don't have to pay extra for the service, but maybe that cost is already included within line rental/credit

InsideInsurance

We use phones that have both a phone line and a VOIP line. So for VOIP calls it displays the number calling as caller ID is FoC and for the phone line it simply says "External" as we don't pay for caller ID

System

TalkTalk also have a free Privacy Pack with caller ID.
They don't seem to advertise it very well

loofer wrote: »

Many of the Phone operators charge for this feature as a extra (although BT includes in their Privacy at Home package).

I'm thinking of switching to Talk Talk but you have to buy a bundle that costs £4.50 to get Caller Display and it includes a load of other bumph that I wouldn't want/use.

What does the actual handset display without this option? Sure allowing this technology doesn't have a cost associated to the business. They are just actively witholding it so they can charge another premium

elsien

Hope I'm not hijacking the thread - it's a similar query.
I have landline with BT and calls/broadband with talktalk, so I'm paying extra to BT for caller display as I'm not making any chargeable calls. Is there any way of getting cheaper caller display from talktalk without moving the landline to them? I did try to ask, but lost the will to live very quickly as they were so busy doing the hard sell I never actually got an answer to my question.
Thanks

Heinz

No. Your incoming calls arrive and your line rental is with BT so only they can provide CLI for you.