Tiscali 8mb Broadband and phone Package

Rockman

Has anyone got or are intending to get the new broadband/phohe package from Tiscali which includes free line rental. The package (£19.99 per month)includes;
Up to 8Mb unlimited broadband

<LI class=pink>Free phone line rental <LI class=pink>Free UK anytime phone calls† <LI class=pink>Free

international anytime calls† <LI class=pink>Unlimited broadband monthly usage* <LI class=pink>Free modem <LI class=pink>Free email anti-spam and anti-virus
[*]Keep your existing phone number
At first glance this appears to be a decent package but can anyone see any catches/flaws.

Thanks

Francophile

We have that package and apart from the fact that we are too far from the exchange to get the 8meg (we're lucky if we get one), there don't seem to be any catches. We have free local and national calls and free international calls to 10 countries including Australia, Canada and the USA also free mobile calls to Canada & USA all day every day.
We have kept our line with BT (option 1) and somebody on this site recommended that it was best to do it this way.

psybear

I'm confused - what do you mean you kept your line with BT - looking at the Tiscali site, this seems to be the best part of the offer - the fact that your 14.99 or 199.99 includes your line rental?

Also, bearing in mind you are too far from the exchange to get 8mb, I take it you are only paying for the 2mb package? (I ask because I'm in same position - best I can get with BT is about 1.3/1.4 - pretty crap whn you have been used to 10mb with NTL prior to house move!)

PB

adeypie

Hi Rockman, I recently switched over to the 19.99 package.
the first thing is to check that free line rental is available in your area, mine isnt, but I get a discount, I pay 8.50 now with tiscali
the second thing is to check carefully the costs of items within the package, like 1571, caller display,ringback etc. some of the things that were free with BT you will pay for with Tiscali, so build that into the cost.
However with the Anytime free calls (local, national and some international) included in 19.99 I am definitely on a winner, but like most things you have to check things out first.

Alisondoc

Rockman wrote: »

Has anyone got or are intending to get the new broadband/phohe package from Tiscali which includes free line rental. The package (£19.99 per month)includes;
Up to 8Mb unlimited broadband

• <LI class=pink>Free phone line rental <LI class=pink>Free UK anytime phone calls† <LI class=pink>Free international anytime calls† <LI class=pink>Unlimited broadband monthly usage* <LI class=pink>Free modem <LI class=pink>Free email anti-spam and anti-virus
• Keep your existing phone number

At first glance this appears to be a decent package but can anyone see any catches/flaws.

Thanks

The only drawbackis that tiscali take over your line completely, so if you wish to switch providers even after your contract is up you cannot leave via a MAC. you will have to cancell all your connections and ask BT to take you back at a considerable cost (the same as a new line) and then find a new supplier. So basically you cant switch providers even after the contract is up but have to start from scratch and be without for a week or two

Rockman

As i am not eligible for the free line rental (can get it for £8.50) and with a one-off £30 charge to connect and bearing in mind what Alison has to say about being lumbered with Tiscali I think I will give this offer a miss. Thank you everyone for your help.

Am now off to suss out the ut.v broadbank/telephone package.

Bigcammy

Beware UTV braodband, their customer service is now almost completely non-existent. :mad:

chunter

Try http://www.topcomm.co.uk
independently accredited by Ofcom

I used to sign people up to Tiscali Broadband for a tenner's commission (!), but I gave it up because of the absolutely shocking customer service.

I certainly would never have signed them up to the whole phone package. Nightmare stuff.
I've dealt with all the major Broadband providers at this stage. Aol, Orange, Tiscali, TalkTalk, Pipex guises, BT, etc

Now I recommend Virgin for ordinary folk and
XLN for business.
http://www.xlntelecom.co.uk/
Both are non-commission.

UK based helpdesks are not easy to find.

caravanshaker

Bigcammy wrote: »

Beware UTV braodband, their customer service is now almost completely non-existent. :mad:

its funny that, before UTV bought DNA to gain access to the internet market, DNA were a highly recommendable local company, but after the buyout a few years ago I always thought the service went downhill

Kilty_2

Tiscali Broadband is god awful.

Indian script based customer service which is an absolute nightmare. They assume you know absolutely nothing and will not deviate from the script at all.

The modem they supply you with is a joke - it would drop out regularly and cause some strange behaviour on my line. Tiscali insisted BT were to blame. Funnily enough now that I've got an ADSL router connected using the exact same wiring it's perfect and has never missed a beat (stays online for months at a time).

I was classed as a "heavy user" (I wouldnt call 40gb a month heavy use on an "unlimited" service and at the time they didnt have any published limit). The Fair Use Policy states you recieve 2 warnings and then they take action against you. I recieved one email - informing me that my service was being limited during peak times, immediately. (no warning, just action) :mad: Dial up speeds during the day and pretty awful outside of the peak time as well (seems they put all heavy users on the same pipe so there's f**k all bandwidth)

Want to cancel? I was on hold for 75 minutes on the cancellation line (different from customer service but still in India). 0870 for 75 minutes? Luckily I phoned the head office and had them transfer me, using a free VOIP provider so it cost me nothing. Once I finally got through they had no problem giving me my MAC though - didn't even try to convince me to stay.

Billing? pffft. They didn't set the direct debit up properly (set it up but didn't actually request any money) so after 4 months we had £64 in "failed payments" - failed payments that they'd chase with a debt collection agency if it was left for long enough!

Tiscali? never again. Cheap or not, it's seriously not worth the hassle. If you expect the service you pay for to work as it was described then go anywhere but Tiscali.

Bigcammy

caravanshaker wrote: »

its funny that, before UTV bought DNA to gain access to the internet market, DNA were a highly recommendable local company, but after the buyout a few years ago I always thought the service went downhill

Agreed, DNA had a great reputation. I think UTV are diversifying too much and the Internet side of things is a very low priority, sad to see though.