How much to re-activate phone line?

alinkliter

After several years with Virgin I feel like a change for Broadband & Phone.
I have an inactive phone line from when I had BT but John Lewis want £49.99 to re-activate it. Do they all charge this sort of fee or do some do it free? I could see no reference to it with NOW.

Neil_Jones

It varies - some providers will give you it free if you sign up for long enough, or they'll charge if you don't stay long enough.  Others have variations on this.

Note that John Lewis is repackaged Plusnet, so may be worth going to the horse's mouth as it were.

macman

The OR/BT rack rate is around £130, but most other providers discount this significantly. That JL charge is not abnormal, but these fees are always negotiable.

JJ_Egan

OP are you aware of what you can get on a non VM line ?? Or do you feel like a change to a probable lower speed .

Highland76

TalkTalk no longer charge for new line installations or re-activations. 

iniltous

BT offer free reconnection or new line install,  if taking ‘fibre’ broadband at the same time, many providers absorb the install/reactivation fee ( the provider gets charged about £38 including VAT by Openreach for a new line, less for a reconnection)...generally it’s brand new landline with no broadband that providers charge an install fee for. 
TBH , if JL charge around £50 install but we’re £4/month cheaper on a 12 month minimum term compared to someone else who offered free install, then the JL ‘install’ price shouldn’t really much of a deal breaker as over the term there really isn’t much in it, unless you prefer to pay more over the first 12 months and keep the £50 in your pocket.