Moving Out Of Home For First Time - Need Phone/Broadband advice

steve3186

Hi all.

Me and my girlfriend are moving out of the parents house for the first time and I am need of some advice.

We are moving into a flat in London, and I have been told by BT (after many phone calls and them taking stupid amounts of details for what I thought to be a simple question) there is an "active" line in there but they cannot give me the telephone number until I sent up an account with them...

Does this mean that even if I want to have my phone and broadband with someone else such as Tiscali or Talk Talk for example, then I will have to pay the £10.50 BT line rental on top of the other suppliers prices?

Hope someone can help or point me in the right direction?

Cheers
Steve

Quentin

You always have to pay line rental, though with some suppliers it is bundled with the broadband service.

You don't have to pay it to BT, though.

Read up on alternative (cheaper suppliers).

If you open an account with BT you will be tied in to a minimum 12/18 month contract.

If you decide not to go with bt, you can find out your number to get it switched back on by your chosen supplier - just dial 17070 and listen.

Heinz

Welcome to the MSE forums steve3186.

If there is a dial tone on the inactive line at the flat you will be able to ascertain the number if you dial 17070 – so take a cheap corded phone with you next time you go, plug it in and try.

It sounds like BT will reconnect (‘re-activate’) the line free of charge for you. However, being a new customer, they may ask for a deposit (typically £50) which will be refunded after a year.

If you do that, you will be contracted to BT for line rental for a minimum of 12 months. If you breach that contract, you will be liable for a £70 charge for doing so.

In any case, leaving your line rental with BT (the Unlimited Weekend Plan @ £10.50/month after DD and paper-free discount is the cheapest) is recommended because it ‘’leaves all your options open’. You can then (see the HERE link in my signature below) make money-saving decisions for your voice calls (immediately opting to use a CPS calls provider is recommended) and will be able to choose any ADSL broadband provider.

steve3186

Thanks very much for all your info!
Much appreciated.

I have been looking at the deal from Tiscali for broadband and phone £4.49 for the first 3 months and then it goes to £12.99. http://www.tiscali.co.uk/products/broadband/?code=ZZ-NL-11EE&srccode=COD_592

When I click on the link to buy this it asks me to put my telephone number in, but I don't have that. I have been told by BT that there is a phone line in the flat and I will not need to pay the £100+ start up costs for a line?

I am going to go to the flat before I move in to get see I can get the phone number (I will connect a phone to it to see if I can get them number as you both mentioned in your previous posts), but what if the line is dead and there is no number? What do I do then? Hope for some advice, help and general point in the right direction

Cheers

Steve

normanmark

Well it sounds like theres no active line. So irrespective of Tiscali's offer someone needs to get the line activated. Currently Tiscali do not do this. So you will need to get another provider to do this.

Be warned read up on contract lengths before approaching a supplier to activate the line because majority of them have some minimum term with them when you take their service.

Quentin

You can get the line activated (free) by the post office (and can then leave to go to tiscali if you want with just 15 days notice)

Quentin

steve3186 wrote: »

what if the line is dead and there is no number? What do I do then? Hope for some advice, help and general point in the right direction

Wait and cross that bridge if you need to.

If you find the line no longer exists, then you will have to get it connected at your expense.

There is a thread dedicated to connections in this forum.

But bt have said there is a line connected, so as long as you are moving in soon, hopefully it will still be available.

steve3186

Well I went to the falt and the line is dead... thanks very much BT.
They have been so unhelpful with me...
I will check up on connections etc... Damn!

I like the sound of the Post Office thing, would that be my best option?
I was looking at getting Virgin but im in a non-cable area also, denied!

normanmark

steve3186 wrote: »

Well I went to the falt and the line is dead... thanks very much BT.
They have been so unhelpful with me...

If the flat has been vacant for a period of time they disconnect the line.

steve3186

OK...
I rang BT and they said that they can reconnect me for free, but I will need to go into a 12 month contract with them and would need credit check etc.

I also rang TalkTalk and Tiscali and they cannot connect me for free as they do not connect people - I would already need to have a telephone number to go with them, but unfortunately as a first time mover I dont have one

I checked on the BT website to see if they do any phone and broadband packages but they dont which is a bit frustrating... anyone know of any good deals that I would be able to get set up on?

Thanks

Steve

Heinz

steve3186 wrote: »

I checked on the BT website to see if they do any phone and broadband packages but they dont which is a bit frustrating... anyone know of any good deals that I would be able to get set up on?

I'd say that's a good thing.

As BT will connect the line f.o.c., you can opt for their Unlimited Anytime Plan and get free UK 01/02/03 calls at weekends AND be free to take your choice of whichever CPS (Carrier PreSelect) calls provider meets your needs (see the HERE link in my signature below for some suggestions) and/or use any/all of the available indirect access calls providers (1899, 18185 & 18866).

Additionally, you can take your choice of any ADSL broadband provider.