ONETEL -- loyalty discounts + helpline numbers

John_Malam

If you are with Onetel (part of the TalkTalk group) and experience difficulties with broadband access and/or email, do as I did and complain. The result for me was an £8 per month reduction in my monthly package charge. It shows up on my bills as a 'loyalty discount', and I was told it would be 'for life'. In addition, I was given 1 month free of all charges (a saving of around £30).

Onetel's email client (Mailzone) is generally reliable, but when it fails, email accounts can be offline for a considerable time (the worst I have experienced is 3 days).

To find out the status of Mailzone, phone the following freephone number and listen to the message, which will report if there is / is not a problem:

0800 957 0564

Problems have occurred in the past due to 'spam spikes' (when Onetel's servers are deluged with spam and go down). They also occur on accounts whose mail goes through a particular 'pipe' (pipe number 6) -- a techie thing that affects some, but not all, Onetel customers.

It's a pain when Mailzone goes down, and there's nothing a user can do other than phone for a status check and sit it out, knowing that it will be put right eventually. Meanwhile, threaten to cancel your account and see if they offer a loyalty discount and/or free month to retain your business.