You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I’ve just found out my 76 year old mother has been paying on average £232 per quarter for phone calls and broadband. On average £77 per month.
She was supposed to have free calls after 6pm (turns out it’s only weekends) and she has just been upgraded free of charge to super fast broadband for £45 per month even though she hasn’t used her laptop for 6 months.
I’ve put in a complaint to bt and they are supposed to be looking into it.
So how much should she be paying?
She’s only uses Facebook to keep in touch with family / see family photos and uses the home phone.
If I were you, I'd suggest she cancel the lot. The only reason I can think of to have a landline in 2019 is for DSL and it sounds like she's not using that.
Instead, consider https://smarty.co.uk/plans/30gb-data
Cougar has it. If there is a decent mobile signal and she gets freeview TV via an aerial cancel the landline.
PS we are approx £67 per month for TV broadband and landline with free calls from Virgin. And I'm shopping around in Feb when my contract is up.
PS we are approx £67 per month for TV broadband and landline with free calls from Virgin. And I’m shopping around in Feb when my contract is up.
I am paying about the same with Virgin (TV Mix, 100mb fibre, Talk weekends) and was wondering the same about shopping around when ours is due for renewal. We want the TV and broadband but the house phone never gets used. It would be interesting to see what you end up doing IRC
If you're with Virgin - cable Internet - you shouldn't need a landline.
My mum was paying £55pm for BT phone and Broadband. Although her contract term had finished they wouldn't give her the cheap rate that new contracts get. She's in a small village with no mobile signal and the local loop hasn't been unbundled, so it was BT or nothing - until I realised that since BT own Plusnet, they would be able to use BT's local loop. So I switched her phone and Broadband to Plusnet, £33pm. All good (except a month into the contract she decided that her fingers can't cope any longer with a laptop or touch screen, so gave up using the broadband).
If you’re with Virgin – cable Internet – you shouldn’t need a landline.
But you need to have a landline as they lease the lines from Openreach don't they? It's only the bit from the exchange to your house that they own (at least that is my understanding of it).
Thanks Cougar, will have a look at that. 👍
I’m still in shock with the cost of her bills. Bt were supposed to call me today between 12pm and 2pm after I complained and asked for some sort of refund as she’s been charged this amount for over 15 months.
Haven’t heard anything from them yet.
I pay £30 per month for bt ‘super fast broadband’ and phone calls with bt sport thrown in for free.
Also she recently said the tv films is all repeats (freeview) so got her a 7 day pass on nowtv.
She was enjoying Chernobyl tv series (who didn’t?) before the pass ran out so thinking she might benefit from either a new user offer for sky tv or monthly subscription to now tv.
What else is there?
Ombudsman. Mis-selling.
Expect them to appeal, but stick with it.
I flipping hate BT. Not only do they rip people off, but they then won't speak to you when you want to complain.
Hopefully they'll go under one day and we can all laugh at them.
But you need to have a landline as they lease the lines from Openreach don’t they?
No, that's the point. It's their own cable network, they don't need to touch the phone system at all.
(Unless you're outside their catchment area of course, then they offer DSL over POTS the same as every other ISP in the country.)
I flipping hate BT.
In my previous place of work, they were known as "BFT" throughout the IT department.
I had enough of getting ripped off by bt then 3 years with their wee cousin plusnet just as bad. SSE broadband only £13 / month no rise in 18 months i think works fine for me the 38 mph or whatever it is
If you’re with Virgin – cable Internet – you shouldn’t need a landline.
Yes when your 76 and don't want to learn about mobile phones etc . Then you probably want the land line so you have something familiar and uncomplicated that you can get in touch with relatives/emergency services quick in a hurry when flustered. You can make a sweeping statement like that.
Not everyone's an it wizard
Suggest you check other stuff - like house insurance, gas service contracts, leccy etc etc etc etc
You can get a SIP phone. With a local-ish number from one of the providers. Then it works exactly the same as a landline. We use SIPGATE. It's 1pm a minute to almost anywhere with no rental charge.
So you need some technical skill to set it up, but then it's just like a phone other than it has an ethernet cable or wireless connection to the router. 999 works fine as well (it does now, it never used to).
We had two lines (one BT and one Plusnet) and a bonding service (2x rubbish DSL) and that was £130 a month. The two lines (both with broadband enabled) were about £85 I think.
Thing that shocked me when I with BT is them charging £75 for callout when there was a fault - caused by a lightning strike.
I complained and got it refunded, but I wondered how many in the street got charged and didn’t complain. Probably most of the old folks.
I am with IDNet all in.
The amount I pay is £607/year inclusive 20% VAT (£50.60/month inclusive VAT) all in.
This amount is discounted by one month as I paid all in one go.
The £607 includes:
Broadband 55/10 (if you go for 40/10 it is cheaper by £2).
Add on (already included) for £10/month for UK landline unlimited call at any time.
UK mobile & International call 20hrs/month free (any combination so long as it does not exceed 20hrs/month).
Landline telephone rental.
The only things you need to provide is a broadband router, and landline phone and set up (very easy).
p/s: I only watch Freeview ...
Yes when your 76 and don’t want to learn about mobile phones etc .
You don't have to get an iPhone, there's plenty of non-smartphone options that are no more complicated than a land line.
You get corded mobile phones that can't "not be charged" by accident or forgotten ? And are always fixed in the same location not fallen down the side of the sofa by someone who forgets where they put stuff?
Instead, consider https://smarty.co.uk/plans/30gb-data/blockquote >
Damn Three and their dreadful network coverage. That would be the ideal solution both for my mum and our new house but their coverage does not get within miles of either. Voda and EE coverage at both great but cost is significantly more.
You don’t have to get an iPhone, there’s plenty of non-smartphone options that are no more complicated than a land line.
My FIL has a special phone for technically challenged people, made by Doro IIRC.
You get corded mobile phones that can’t “not be charged” by accident or forgotten ? And are always fixed in the same location not fallen down the side of the sofa by someone who forgets where they put stuff?
I bought one for my mum in her care home. Looks and works just like a desk phone but has a sim in it. Costs me £8 per month.
Similar to this - BW Wireless GSM Desktop Phone - Desktop Style Phone with SIM Card Slot https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01D2JFE0Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_h6KaEbZN6W16E