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Lazybones looks for best deal: Unlimited BB, 24/7 UK land & International

Hello everyone,
I am a future ex-Primus customer. Swept off my feet by the glowing reports on MSE, I merrily signed up in Dec 2011... Slow connection & useless CS wasn't a great start; then despite the attractive offer, I always seemed to be paying way over the odds. I cut down on foreign calls (from weekly to virtually zero), UK calls reduced, Internet usage ditto & still the price stayed at an average of £27.50 per month!:eek:
Time to check out MSE & change providers, I thought...
I spent hours researching packages & deals & mainstream providers & thought it would be a great pity to chuck my notes in the bin when someone might be able to use them to get themselves a better deal, so here they are for anyone who's interested.


Location: deepest, darkest East Anglia
Requirements: Unlimited BB (15-30G usage per month & rising); Anytime UK calls; Anytime standard (the "classic" 36) International calls
Payment: Will pay line rental "up-front" & use DD.

1) BT (0800 100 400) - hours before I talked to a human! :(
18 month contract. £0 connection charge.
Up front line rental=£129 per year.
Unlimited BB+ Anytime UK+ 600m International=
6 months @ £10.65 + remaining months @ £28.65
Average monthly cost for Y1
(£364.5/12) =£30.38

2)
Plusnet (0800 432 0200) - fairly fast contact.
12 month contract. £0 connection charge.
Up front line rental=£125.88 per year.
Unlimited BB (£8.49)+ Anytime UK (£4)+ 300m International (£2)
Average monthly cost for Y1
(£299.76/12) = £24.98

3)
Talktalk (0800 049 7802) - fairly fast contact.
12 month contract. £0 connection charge.
Up front line rental=£114 per year.
Unlimited BB (£3.25)+ Anytime UK (£3.5)+ Unlimited International (£5)
Average monthly cost for Y1
(£255/12) = £21.25

NOTA: There are vouchers offered but I didn't factor these in here.

I will be saving an absolute MINIMUM of £72 on my phone bills this coming year - that's a really good meal out for 2, yippeee!
:j
Hope this will help someone out there to get a better deal too.

Good hunting!

«1

Comments

  • Update:
    I've just got my welcome letter from Talktalk, apparently changeover will take place on 19 February.
    Let's see if it goes according to plan...
  • Hello,

    Here's my final update.

    Yesterday was 19th February & the phone line worked as of midday. Internet was on when I got up this morning & they had till midnight to get it to work so no complaints there.

    Broadband Speed is MILES better than with Primus. Cheaper by far, too!

    Very happy I switched to Talktalk.:j
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,128 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Is this a TT LLU service (is your 'deepest, darkest rural exchange' LLU'd for TT?). If not, they'll sting you with a huge broadband surcharge of about £15 per month.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • macman wrote: »
    Is this a TT LLU service is your 'deepest, darkest rural exchange' LLU'd for TT?). If not, they'll sting you with a huge broadband surcharge of about £15 per month.

    Hi macman -
    It's supposed to be LLU, as my Primus was.
    However I will now be checking my bills VERY carefully though, just in case.
    Thanks for the heads up.
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,128 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Primus is not an LLU service, it's a resold BT Wholesale product. If it was LLU then you wouldn't have been able to move direct to a TT LLU service.
    Do an exchange search on www.samknows.com and it will clearly show if TT is LLU'd on your exchange.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • Hi macman

    I'm seeing a lot of posts from yourself regarding Primus Saver (and several other companies) most of which contain quite a few untruths; in this particular instance Primus Saver does indeed utilise LLU connections.

    Have a nice day.

    Elliott
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,128 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Thanks for clarifying that Elliot, which network does Primus use for it's LLU, and how many exchanges is that available on?
    Since you don't know what exchange the OP is on (all she quoted was 'rural East Anglia'), unless you've made direct contact, or accessed her old Primus account, how can you possibly know if Primus is LLU'd on it?
    If you would care to direct me to any deficiencies in my posts, I'll be happy to check them out and correct if necessary.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • Hi Macman -
    When I rang Primus & asked for my MAC number, they told me I had none as I was LLU. I told Talktalk this & they didn't seem to have a problem with it...
    So unless Primus was lying, I am LLU!
    But I'm still going to be reeeeal careful when the bills come in!
    Cheers
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,128 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Thanks for that Granariesgirl. We await a response from Elliott...
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • dazza.mk
    dazza.mk Posts: 1,927 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    macman wrote: »
    Thanks for that Granariesgirl. We await a response from Elliott...

    macman, I don't think you'll get a full answer

    I read Primus's answer to be purely in response to your post and the particular "instance" being "your untruths" about Primus.

    Slightly antagonistic response maybe but I don't think they were responding in anyway in reference to the OP or whether they were LLU at their exchange.
This discussion has been closed.
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