Is there a benefit of stying with BT for line rental?

lottie3000

Hi

Well the question is as above really, is there a benefit of staying with BT for line rental? I am looking at rolling my broadband, calls and line rental all up together and going with o2 for this. I am just a little worried about leaving BT for my line rental as when it first came about that you didn't have to have your line rental with BT they'd charge a big call out fee for fixing any problems. Is this still the case.

The guy at o2 that I spoke to assured me that whoever I am with for my landline then they'd have to get in touch with open reach to fix the line and as long as it wasn't something within my house would be fixed without charge. The woman at BT couldn't give me an answer.

So please help anyone who can shed any light.

Thank you

Heinz

No line provider should charge to rectify a fault provided the fault is not inside your home 'upstream' of the master socket. Yes, BT Openreach will fix any faults - they are the only ones allowed to work on the PSTN.

I consider there is a reason to leave your line rental with BT - the ability to choose any ISP, to use any indirect access calls provider (e.g. 18185) and to choose any CPS calls provider.

Others are of the opposite view - taking a bundle of line and broadband like you are considering because of the price. However, in bundle cases, options for alternate routing of calls and for alternate ISPs are likely to be limited of non-existant.

lottie3000

I don't think that will really apply to me as I don't use indirect access call and i'm not sure what CPS means?

I'm still unsure of leaving BT for the line rental so I think i'll pay the 12mths up front and have my anytime calls with them too and just have internet through O2.

I just can't make my mind up!!

macman

The other disadvantage of going to a full LLU service is that it can be difficult later if you want to transfer to another LLU service. Most often it is necessary to do a return to donor back to BT first-this is free, but requires a 12m line rental contract.
Some providers claim to offer direct LLU to LLU transfers, notably Sky, but in practice this often does not seem to work out.

Phones4Chris

You don't have to go back to BT, you could use a BTw reseller who doesn't impose a 12 months contract. But apart from which, I'm sure Ofcom would be interested if an LLU to LLU transfer was blocked.
Lottie3000, you should take into account how much you use your phone in the day to see if it's worth the cost of the anytime package instead of using a service like 18185.
However as you want broadband as well, I suggest you look at the Plusnet deals. It depends on how much you use your broadband as to which package you choose. They are a BTw reseller (actually owned by BT group - not that that makes any difference) but they are cheaper than BT Retail, you can also pay line rental up front for 12 months to get it cheaper. They have UK based customer service at Sheffield and have an excellent reputation. They currently also allow use of providers like 18185.

macman

Phones4Chris wrote: »

You don't have to go back to BT, you could use a BTw reseller who doesn't impose a 12 months contract. But apart from which, I'm sure Ofcom would be interested if an LLU to LLU transfer was blocked.
Lottie3000, you should take into account how much you use your phone in the day to see if it's worth the cost of the anytime package instead of using a service like 18185.
However as you want broadband as well, I suggest you look at the Plusnet deals. It depends on how much you use your broadband as to which package you choose. They are a BTw reseller (actually owned by BT group - not that that makes any difference) but they are cheaper than BT Retail, you can also pay line rental up front for 12 months to get it cheaper. They have UK based customer service at Sheffield and have an excellent reputation. They currently also allow use of providers like 18185.

It's not a matter of blocking it. Most incoming providers will just refuse the order in such cases, or say that they'll need to install a new line. Sky are apparently one of the exceptions, though in practice it doesn't often seem to work out.

fatherbeard

Watch your step if you change your calls provider but stay with BT for line rental.
I did this four and a half years ago when I transferred my calls to Sky Talk.
Sky advised BT of the changeover which I had duly authorised but unknown to me BT kept charging me for caller display, Friends and Family International and the BT Together call packages at a cost of £66 a quarter.
I thought I was just paying them for line rental because my bill classifies these features as 'line rental and other basic charges'.
It wasn't until I recently got an alternative quote for line rental and realised that there was such a big discrepancy in cost that I looked at my bill in more detail and realised that the basic charges were for redundant call packages.
As a result BT have debited my account for £1200 for call packages that I no longer needed.
The only compensation BT will offer is 3 months rebate, which is effectively taking the unnnecessary charges off of my last bill.

Heinz

BT 'line rental' (which includes at leat their Unlimited Weekend calls plan) costs £43.80/quarter).

The additional £22.20 you were billed for were for the add-ons you had previously taken but did not cancel when you moved your calls.