Bt Line Connection for new build (merged)

bbb_uk

Edinburghlass wrote:

...Where I live we don't have town gas and the charge per household to get gas in will be £6,000 per house :eek: and that is before you even think about the cost of central heating etc.

That makes the £75 look like pennies in comparison. I'm speechless! :silenced:

Col_in_LB

I moved into my new build (typical Barratt box!) nearly a year ago & there is no way round the new line connection fee.

Either you want a phone line or you don't. It's one of the things we still have to put up with.

Simple as that I'm afraid.

cheers
Col

hypernetics

Hi all & LyndaG...
I am in virtually the same situation as lynda, my post...
(http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=57681)

i also havent found a simple solution to this prediciment, I think were stuck with paying the £74.99 , (as stated on thier site)
***It costs MORE if you pay over the 12 months (maybe £90)***

-Try telewst/NTL, (no joy in my case)
-Bulldog require a 'LIVE' line before they can switch over.
-Broadband via Satellite is Expensive and still requires a BT line... (use for reomte/rural areas i.e. Farms)

So it looks like we will have to sign up to the £74.99 and pay the £10.50 a month.

***I may have a long term benefit to this***

Maybe someone could shed some more light on this but , if like myself and lynda you dont want to use the home phone line to make any calls you can *after 12 months* downgrade to the LIGHT USER SCHEME!!! :rotfl:

although when i asked the BT rep on the phone he was reluctant to mention/discuss this plan, i insisted on asking (recommended by a friend)

It goes something like this.... If you make less then a few £'s worth of calls over the quarter, you can apply for the scheme, they will view your next 3 bills (next 9 months) and if u still continue to make hardly any calls - they will downgrade you to to paying only about a £10 - £15 a quarter (rather then £10.50 a month= £31.50 a qtr)
If this is correct:
***- BT LINE RENTAL SHOULD ONLY BE £3-or-4 A MONTH-***

*Be Aware* - When i spoke to the BT rep i happened to mention i have a mobile phone and and I didnt want to use the home line, -He stated if i had another phone service i.e. Mobile, I would not be elligible for the scheme! :mad: and tried to digress off the scheme- So i stated my contract was finishing in a month, so i should be elligible then! :T

All this info is what i have gathered in my search to get round this prediciment, **I maybe wrong**, I am still not yet on BT! But it looks like i have no choice, and will probably sign up soon.... any body know how long a 'New Connection' takes, although I already have the white BT box on the wall in my living.....

Keep posting, Keep saving - O.B.H. - Original Bargain Hunter :j

hypernetics

Just another quikie....

If i pay the £74.99 for the new install, I dont want it in my living room(already on the wall), i want it in my offiice upstairs....

What will they do about this... as i had no say in the matter when they installed, (before i even bought the house) and I'm paying £74.99 for it!!!

Any help appreciated... :cool:

bbb_uk

As well as Light User Scheme, you can also choose In Contact Plus.

In Contact Plus costs £9.25 per quarter (about £37 over the year) for incoming calls only and I believe this would be cheaper than the light user scheme.

For more info on In Contact Plus, click here.

For more info on Light User Scheme, click here.

Both these two schemes means you cannot use indirect access carriers like Call18866, OneTel, TalkTalk, etc.

BT do not like admitting to these two schemes as it generates no money for them but are forced to continue offering them by OfCOM. No other telephone provider offers any schemes like these as far as I'm aware.

I'm not sure if using either of these schemes means you can't have broadband so you may need to clarify this with BT or OfCOM but I suspect you may have a fight on your hands to use either of these schemes and have broadband as well.

Either way, you would still have to pay the £75 installation charge but I'm guessing as you're paying that then you can choose where you want the line connected to.

Hunnymonster

hypernetics wrote:

Just another quikie....

If i pay the £74.99 for the new install, I dont want it in my living room(already on the wall), i want it in my offiice upstairs....

What will they do about this... as i had no say in the matter when they installed, (before i even bought the house) and I'm paying £74.99 for it!!!

Any help appreciated... :cool:

They'll do it, but they'll probably tack the cable along skirtings, drill through door frames etc. and generally make your new house look a tip.

Faced with the same issue, I decided to install myself a BT socket in a convenient cupboard, bought an Orchid Ranger 400 DECT (with LCR builtin to do all the moneysaving calls stuff) and a Wireless ADSL router - fixed that all in the cupboard and when I'm at work, I take the handset - when I'm not, it's in the cupbaord on charge

bunking_off

You can't have Light User Scheme if you have broadband. LUS is designed as a "lifeline" telephony service for those customers who may need a phone service for emergencies, but don't make many calls. If you coupled that with broadband, you could make your calls over VoIP and bypass BT, hence the restriction. I'm sure that my brother-in-law got LUS straight away on his line rather than having to wait for a year, although that may be different as it was a line that had physically been used by someone in the past.

I'm no fan of BT - I work for a competitor - but I do think that people are being a little unfair in the accusation that it's £75 for 4 minutes work. Firstly, the technician can't do the activity in 4 mins - it may only be 4 mins at your property, but they also do jumpering activity further back in the network. Secondly, it's only 4 mins work because they've done a heck of a lot of preparatory work before hand...it makes a lot more sense to dig up the road once rather than each time a customer wants a line. If you think you shouldn't pay for things because they've already been produced/installed, perhaps you should try walking into Tesco and demanding free food because they've already put it on the shelf. Thirdly, it is not true to say that the value of BT's copper lines has been written off - check the accounts and latest Ofcom consultation on the issue.

I would perhaps quibble with the fee at £75, however if you start to break that down and build in the travel time for the technician etc, it's probably on the high side rather than exorbitant.

elmer

We had to pay it even when the builder had been using the line in our house for 6 months before we moved in, and then it took BT two or three weeks to change us over to our number

cheers elmer

flang

Hello guys and girls!
I have just moved into a brand new flat and wish to get a telephone line installed for broadband (and the odd few calls) unfortantly the flat doesnt doesnt have a line and BT want £75 to install one!! (what a ripp off!) is this correct or is there a cheaper option! (Cable broadband isnt available)

Thanks in advance.

rchddap1

had a similar problem when I moved into a flat once. however, it turned out that the gubbins was already installed, but hadn't been switched on. After a bit of arguing we ended up not paying the fee (as there was nothing for an engineer to do....literally).

As a side note BT messed up the switch on and we ended up with lots of credit on our accout as our phone line was unuseable (no tones at all). After a couple of months they worked out that our line and the line at the exchange weren't talking to each other properly.

Didn't pay a phone bill for ages after that.