After 30 yrs BT and I part company.

allinav

I hope I've done the right thing- but after receiving my latest quarterly BT bill for £70.00 and only £3.00 of the bill was for calls I have decided to have the line disconnected.
We all have mobile phones in the house, and I really cannot justify this expense?
I have to say, as silly as this may sound, I am not sure if I have done the right thing. Partly because I have never not had a landline, and have had this line and number for 30 years.
What do you guys think? Is it a good idea not to have a fixed land line or not? My TV and internet are through Virgin cable, so they're not affected.

macman

It's pointless having a BT landline as well as VM cable, since the pricing is rigged so that there's little saving for not having the phone line as well.
So you really should have ditched it when you had cable installed, as in effect you've been paying line rental twice.

iniltous

If the bill for the calls made were £3 in the quarter, how have you got a line rental bill of £67, or £22.33 a month, as this is way in excess of the maximum line BT line rental fee, ?

allinav

iniltous wrote: »

If the bill for the calls made were £3 in the quarter, how have you got a line rental bill of £67, or £22.33 a month, as this is way in excess of the maximum line BT line rental fee, ?

The person I spoke to last night told me I was on a very very outdated plan. The bill was exactly £69.05 and the call cost £3.64- He agreed this was a very high bill for low usage and offered to reduce it to £12.00 or similar- however, I had already decided to leave. There was also the £6.00 processing fee.

Buzby

What took you so long?

I left them after 40 years - my custom was clearly not valued, so whilst it was a culture shock no longer having any accounts with Post Office Telephones or BT, my bank balance welcomes it!

Mozzanov

I have been thinking about ditching BT lately too. Well, I am, but moving to VM in my new flat. I haven't decided yet if I will get a VM landline though. While it would save a payment each month, calls to "special"/"free" phone numbers can be expensive on a mobile (at least with 3, not sure what other providers are like now). I've learnt the hard way calling them on my mobile, so the landline comes in useful.

The other problem I've found sometimes is that a mobile number is not always accepted when making some payments online and they ask for a number. (Sorry, I don't remember with what.)

I'm considering replacing it (landline) with a VOIP package (just for making calls), but I've read that some "special numbers" (such as 0844) restrict being able to receive VOIP calls. There are always websites such as say no to 0870, but the numbers don't always seem to be accurate (if there at all).

Buzby

To get the best price, you need to take VM's phone service. Indeed, if you have TV or TiVo you are charged for it anyway.

macman

allinav wrote: »

The person I spoke to last night told me I was on a very very outdated plan. The bill was exactly £69.05 and the call cost £3.64- He agreed this was a very high bill for low usage and offered to reduce it to £12.00 or similar- however, I had already decided to leave. There was also the £6.00 processing fee.

So the remedy to reduce your BT bill massively was always in your own hands, by updating your tariff. And why pay a processing fee when you can use DD?

Joe_L

I'm thinking of finally leaving BT as well. I've been with them on and off for about 30 years as well and they've been consistently sneaky and rude whenever I've had the misfortune of having dealings with them. I'm on the cheapest tariff they have and it's still costing me just short of £50 a quarter. The only reason I'm hanging on is that I've got a decent broadband deal with o2, but now they've been bought up by Sky I think it's time to say bye--or maybe good riddance.

macman

Joe_L wrote: »

I'm thinking of finally leaving BT as well. I've been with them on and off for about 30 years as well and they've been consistently sneaky and rude whenever I've had the misfortune of having dealings with them. I'm on the cheapest tariff they have and it's still costing me just short of £50 a quarter. The only reason I'm hanging on is that I've got a decent broadband deal with o2, but now they've been bought up by Sky I think it's time to say bye--or maybe good riddance.

Which leads me to think that you're not saving yourself £56.40pa by using Line Rental Saver? If you are on the cheapest tariff (Unlimited Weekend) then that costs £10.75pm using LRS-so your quarterly bill would be only £32.25. Without LRS, it will be £15.45pm, or £46.35 per quarter.

AngelsMadv

Mozzanov wrote: »

I have been thinking about ditching BT lately too. Well, I am, but moving to VM in my new flat. I haven't decided yet if I will get a VM landline though. While it would save a payment each month, calls to "special"/"free" phone numbers can be expensive on a mobile (at least with 3, not sure what other providers are like now). I've learnt the hard way calling them on my mobile, so the landline comes in useful.

The other problem I've found sometimes is that a mobile number is not always accepted when making some payments online and they ask for a number. (Sorry, I don't remember with what.)

I'm considering replacing it (landline) with a VOIP package (just for making calls), but I've read that some "special numbers" (such as 0844) restrict being able to receive VOIP calls. There are always websites such as say no to 0870, but the numbers don't always seem to be accurate (if there at all).

If you're thinking of doing this, don't be put off by the special numbers.

With all modern smart phones, you can make calls to the special numbers using your inclusive minutes with apps such as "0800 wizard" and Saynoto0870.

I have yet to find a "special" number I have had to pay for! :rotfl: