Line rental at £XX why show it seperate?

andrew71

Whether it be Sky, Talk Talk or Virgin. When they advertise they temp you with "landline calls at £4.50" then at the bottom it says line rental is £13.50 (example). We know we have to pay line rental so why do they advertise like this?
Surely it's like buying a car and them saying the car is £15000 and underneath saying "Wheels are £5000.

You need the line to use the phone so line rental is obvious, isn't it? Or have I been reading the adverts wrong all this time?

Krojan

You can get line rental from BT, but calls carried by TalkTalk for example, so you don't necessarily have to use the same provider for both services, hence they show the line rental price seperatly.

System

"Line rental" has become the accepted term, but it's odd. When I rent a car or a holiday flat, I know what and where it is, and I can temporarily use it as if I owned it.
A more honest term would be "standing charge" (independent of how many calls you make and receive). Though BT, for example, levies a higher standing charge if you do not also pay it for some calls.

TalkTalk

Hi Andrew,


There was a recent ASA ruling with regards the disclosure of line rental prices during advertising, this may be the reason you have noticed the prominence of the Line Rental on recent advertising.

from ISP's



I am personally aware that TT's most recent radio advertising has a similar caveat regarding the line rental and other forms will also be in line with this. This is to give a complete picture of all charges relevant to the service.


Regards

Mark
TalkTalk Online Community Department