A friend is 'moving back to BT' from another telephone provider and gave me horrible news of her new £40/month package.
It included BT Infinity Broadband....
This is an elderly lady living alone without a computer in the house, or immediate plans to get one.
I've just been on the phone to get it down to the basic £12/month, and when/if the time comes that she wants the internet then off to Plusnet for basic ADSL we will go.
Talk Talk were up to this trick not so long ago, I have elderly relatives that proudly show me their unused router received in the post
Why not? In total I've been with BT/PO Telephones for over 47 years, taking both 'ordinary' telephone service and when it became available, internet. Only ever had three faults - 1969, 1987 and 2008. Never had cause to complain and everything has been brilliant - wouldn't dream of going with anyone else.
Well maybe cost does not bother you and your just lucky your BB speed does not slow down, also if you have had no reason to complain you will not have suffered at the Indian call center. Regards David
I have just renewed my Internet and Phone deal with BT. I rang up saying I wanted to move to Orange and I got a cracking deal ! I have no specific allegiance to BT, it's just that they were the best in terms of features and matched prices once I had haggled.
I don't think there is a lot of difference in the service you will get., it's the same phone line after all, however it does seem that my BT Broadband is ADSL2 which might not be the case if a switched. Generally I am very happy with the quality of service BT provide and would rather not switch unless it's going to save a lot of money.
You do have to keep an eye on the bills though. I signed up for 'friends and family mobile' since it was free, however since my last 're-negotionation' 12 months ago they've been charging =A31.50 a month... and the Indian chap /refused/ to refund it !!! I get my bills online now and I guess I never bothered to look at them DOH !!
God, yes, that Indian call centre! I had to speak to some guy there to find out whether I was on any kind of contract with BT before dumping them for Zen. The nice Zen man suggested I find out before switching otherwise I might have been liable to BT for some exorbitant contract-breaking fee or other. It took AGES going through the various menus with BT before I finally ended up in India. Nice guy, but I could hardly understand a word he was saying. However, the key part was that I wasn't under any contract, so I said thanks, put the phone down, called Zen again and went through with the switchover. Which BTW was *completely* seamless. I didn't and haven't noticed any change to the service at all. Well, except that I elected not to have Zen's version of 1571, as my phone already has a built-in answerphone that I've never used.
uk.telecom.broadband, uk.d-i-y I am with a business BT line and was a resolute refuser of all offers by ot= hers sticking with BT for over 30 years. Originally, I had four lines: Home= , business in and business outgoing then facsimile. We also had one for a s= econd home in Anglesey. All went well for about 15 years and then the pric= es went up so first the facsimile went and I used the telephone line for th= e odd facsimile. I regualrly paid for all the bills with one cheque. Then = in came electronic billing so I did the same on my main business number. W= hat did BT do? gave me a huge credit on the paid for number - 3x the amoun= t needed to pay it and promplty cut off the other two phones. Tried to cha= rge a fee for reconnection. Took an hour or four to sort that out. Told t= hem if they could not sort out a payment meithod whereby I paid my BT bill = with one transfer I would get rid of two of the other phones. Did they both= er? Couldn't give a flying f... So that is what I did. They lost out on q= uite a lot of turnover. Next they not only put the price of the line up so= much that the line rental is 3x the call charges but also are charging me = =A35 (now=A39) for NOT being on DD because I pay quarterly by electronic t= ransfer. No paper - no cheques - no cost - It goes right into their bank a= ccount (or more accurately their sub contractor who they pay to collect the= money) Next they alter the existing contract and superimpose a late fee of= =A313 if you do not pay promptly. I checked out my original paper contrac= t which being anal I have from 30 years ago - no such clause. I wrote to t= hem last May and told them they needed to pay me =A3250 pounds for my losss= es to date (time spent phoning India etc) and I was not going to pay rental= as a business from that date but that I would retain a private home line p= ayable one year in ADVANCE at =A3100 ( instead of =A3120) and if they could= stomach that I would stay with them. I sent that letter in late May elect= ronically where the promise was that as a business they would deal with it = in four working days. What happened ? You guessed - FA. I wrote a hard co= py a month later after several electronic chase ups. Nothing. I phoned Indi= a and "she" ( Is it not funny that they all have British names with accents= you cannot understand?) gave me an oral assurance that my letter was rece= ived and being attended to in Sept when the quarterly bill was due and I al= so told her that I was only going to be paying at the home phone rate I off= ered if I stayed. Since then all I have heard is a deafening silence and H= eaven be praised no bills and a working phone. Who is running that busines= s? A moron. I have set up Zen to go to if the proverbial hits the fan and = for sure as eggs is eggs the Anglesey house will go as well. B.T. had a re= ally loyal customer in me giving them a four figure sum in phone fees at on= e point and they have managed to piss me off so much I go out of my way to = recommend others to leave them.
others sticking with BT for over 30 years. Originally, I had four lines: Home, business in and business outgoing then facsimile. We also had one for a second home in Anglesey. All went well for about 15 years and then the prices went up so first the facsimile went and I used the telephone line for the odd facsimile. I regualrly paid for all the bills with one cheque. Then in came electronic billing so I did the same on my main business number. What did BT do? gave me a huge credit on the paid for number - 3x the amount needed to pay it and promplty cut off the other two phones. Tried to charge a fee for reconnection. Took an hour or four to sort that out. Told them if they could not sort out a payment meithod whereby I paid my BT bill with one transfer I would get rid of two of the other phones. Did they bother? Couldn't give a flying f... So that is what I did. They lost out on quite a lot o f turnover. Next they not only put the price of the line up so much that the line rental is 3x the call charges but also are charging me £5 (now£9) for NOT being on DD because I pay quarterly by electronic transfer. No paper - no cheques - no cost - It goes right into their bank account (or more accurately their sub contractor who they pay to collect the money) Next they alter the existing contract and superimpose a late fee of £13 if you do not pay promptly. I checked out my original paper contract which being anal I have from 30 years ago - no such clause. I wrote to them last May and told them they needed to pay me £250 pounds for my lossses to date (time spent phoning India etc) and I was not going to pay rental as a business from that date but that I would retain a private home line payable one year in ADVANCE at £100 ( instead of £120) and if they could stomach that I would stay with them. I sent that letter in late May electronically where the promise was that as a business they would deal with it in four working days. What happened ? You guessed - FA. I wrote a hard copy a month later after several electronic chase ups. Nothing. I phoned India and "she" ( Is it not funny that they all have British names with accents you cannot understand?) gave me an oral assurance that my letter was received and being attended to in Sept when the quarterly bill was due and I also told her that I was only going to be paying at the home phone rate I offered if I stayed. Since then all I have heard is a deafening silence and Heaven be praised no bills and a working phone. Who is running that business? A moron. I have set up Zen to go to if the proverbial hits the fan and for sure as eggs is eggs the Anglesey house will go as well. B.T. had a really loyal customer in me giving them a four figure sum in phone fees at one point and they have managed to piss me off so much I go out of my way to recommend others to leave them.
Do you *seriously* expect anyone to read messages formatted like that?
y others sticking with BT for over 30 years. Originally, I had four lines: = Home, business in and business outgoing then facsimile. We also had one for= a second home in Anglesey. =A0All went well for about 15 years and then th= e prices went up so first the facsimile went and I used the telephone line = for the odd facsimile. I regualrly paid for all the bills with one cheque. = =A0Then in came electronic billing so I did the same on my main business nu= mber. =A0What did BT do? =A0gave me a huge credit on the paid for number - =
3x the amount needed to pay it and promplty cut off the other two phones. = =A0Tried to charge a fee for reconnection. =A0Took an hour or four to sort = that out. =A0Told them if they could not sort out a payment meithod whereby= I paid my BT bill with one transfer I would get rid of two of the other ph= ones. Did they bother? Couldn't give a flying f... =A0So that is what I did= . =A0They lost out on quite a lot o
at the line rental is 3x the call charges but also are charging me =A35 (no= w=A39) for NOT =A0being on DD because I pay quarterly by electronic transfe= r. =A0No paper - no cheques - no cost - It goes right into their bank accou= nt (or more accurately their sub contractor who they pay to collect the mon= ey) Next they alter the existing contract and superimpose a late fee of =A3=
13 if you do not pay promptly. =A0I checked out my original paper contract = which being anal I have from 30 years ago - no such clause. =A0I wrote to t= hem last May and told them they needed to pay me =A3250 pounds for my losss= es to date (time spent phoning India etc) and I was not going to pay rental= as a business from that date but that I would retain a private home line p= ayable one year in ADVANCE at =A3100 ( instead of =A3120) and if they could= stomach that I would stay with them. =A0I sent that letter in late May ele= ctronically where the promise was that as
? You guessed - FA. =A0I =A0wrote a hard copy a month later after several = electronic chase ups. Nothing. I phoned India and "she" ( Is it not funny t= hat they all have British names with accents you cannot =A0understand?) gav= e me an oral assurance that my letter was received and being attended to in= Sept when the quarterly bill was due and I also told her that I was only g= oing to be paying at the home phone rate I offered if I stayed. =A0Since th= en all I have heard is a deafening silence and Heaven be praised no bills a= nd a working phone. =A0Who is running that business? A moron. =A0I have set= up Zen to go to if the proverbial hits the fan and for sure as eggs is egg= s the Anglesey house will go as well. =A0B.T. had a really loyal customer i= n me giving them a four figure sum in phone fees at one point and they have= managed to piss me off so much I go out of my way to recommend others to l= eave them.
Sad to say it, but it seems all the telco providers are just as moronic. There must be a great pool out there of potential customers for any telco that can take problem solving seriously, but it seems none do.
Well.. We needed a line and BB installed for someone who's a customer of ours at a rather unusual location and of course the first question is Postcode and this place doesn't have one its in the middle of nowhere he went to talk to a supervisor and after 20 odd mins on hold I put the phone down..
Called Zen and was surprised to find that they did phone lines. Monthly rental a shade cheaper than BT. Postcode?, no problem and the whole was ordered up on around 6 mins and around 20 mins later an e-mail and details of the allotted phone number and connection details of the BB service..
All done and sorted .. all we had to do what wait around 10 days for Openreach to install which they did on the allotted day and time..
Job done:))...
Did I ever tell you of how long to took with BT to get an address corrected?..
Nothing like a sneaky unexplained extra charge to ensure a company keeps its customers happy.
I thought the free calls evening & weekends, then lost the evenings couldn't be beaten, until my money saving direct debit shot up to the point that my 3 monthly bill was being taken out of my bank every 2 months. As for their Indian call centre, they'd never heard of 'service' or 'customer' in their lives.
HTF BT get away with claiming their wireless hub is so brilliant is beyond me.
BTW - I know of one idiot who transferred to Sky and BT are still billing him a standing charge. The moron is happy because they told him - "should Sky's phone service break down, BT was there as a backup".
I am just very impressed by Zen. I had already had the BB package for several years with just one or two faults (switch speedtouch off and on again to fix).
When you phone you get through to a human IN THE UK almost immediately and they are really clued up.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.