Phone Madness :)

Reverso

I'm moving and I'm trying to get my phone/adsl situation sorted out. *I've
rung BT and they did a test and they say the line is not connected. Now,
Tiscali have a deal that is ~£20 pcm that includes line rental, phone calls
and broadband. Although I don't rate Tiscali's service very highly, that's
quite a reasonable deal pricewise. Effectively the line rental is free because
the nearest similar package they offer with line rental is about the
same price.

But there is a catch. Tiscali require you to have a BT connection first.
They told me they don't have the equipment to set it up themselves.
So I rang BT, but BT say they will only connect me if I agree to take up
12 months line rental with them, which defeats the whole purpose of
going to Tiscali in the first place: to get line rental included in the deal
saving approx £10.50 a month.

Also, BT want to charge me £125 to have the phone "activated", which
seems an awful lot of money considering they only charged me £50 for
the same thing in 1999. Apparently they don't do it themselves now. The
work is carried out by openreach. Anyway, the upshot is this: unless I
can find a way through this, I'm going to end up paying nearly £500 for
a year's phone + broadband, when I was looking at £270ish with Tiscali
before. I don't know what to do at this point. It's crazy that Tiscali can't
sell you line rental unless you buy line rental from their competitor first.

Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks.

--
R

{{{{{Welcome}}}}}

Reverso wrote:
> I'm moving and I'm trying to get my phone/adsl situation sorted out.
> I've rung BT and they did a test and they say the line is not
> connected. Now, Tiscali have a deal that is ~£20 pcm that includes
> line rental, phone calls and broadband. Although I don't rate
> Tiscali's service very highly, that's quite a reasonable deal
> pricewise. Effectively the line rental is free because the nearest
> similar package they offer with line rental is about the same price.
>
> But there is a catch. Tiscali require you to have a BT connection
> first. They told me they don't have the equipment to set it up themselves.
> So I rang BT, but BT say they will only connect me if I agree to take
> up 12 months line rental with them, which defeats the whole purpose of
> going to Tiscali in the first place: to get line rental included in
> the deal saving approx £10.50 a month.
>
> Also, BT want to charge me £125 to have the phone "activated", which
> seems an awful lot of money considering they only charged me £50 for
> the same thing in 1999. Apparently they don't do it themselves now.
> The work is carried out by openreach. Anyway, the upshot is this: unless I
> can find a way through this, I'm going to end up paying nearly £500
> for a year's phone + broadband, when I was looking at £270ish with Tiscali
> before. I don't know what to do at this point. It's crazy that
> Tiscali can't sell you line rental unless you buy line rental from
> their competitor first.
> Any advice much appreciated.
>
> Thanks.


Tiscali could initiate the install of a phone line if they wanted to, they
don't want to because they'd rather pay Open Reach the £2.35 it costs to
take over a line than the £103.40 it costs to install the line. Tiscali are
lying to you when they say they can't do it, because they like BT (Retail)
can simply pay Open Reach the same £103.40 to do it. BT are forced to
accept all new customers, Tiscali just want to let BT pay the £103.40 and
themselves pay only the £2.35. Tiscali are the only ones who don't want to
pay the £103.40 and tell their customers they can't do installs, when it's
just they don't want to pay.

It's not crazy Tiscali can't sell you line rental, because they can, they
just choose not to as they don't want to pay. They don't even give you the
choice of paying the install fee either.



--
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Ash

On Dec 3, 10:57 pm, "{{{{{Welcome}}}}}"
<.uk> wrote:

> Tiscali could initiate the install of a phone line if they wanted to, they
> don't want to because they'd rather pay Open Reach the £2.35 it costs to
> take over a line than the £103.40 it costs to install the line. Tiscaliare
> lying to you when they say they can't do it, because they like BT (Retail)
> can simply pay Open Reach the same £103.40 to do it. BT are forced to
> accept all new customers, Tiscali just want to let BT pay the £103.40 and
> themselves pay only the £2.35. Tiscali are the only ones who don't wantto
> pay the £103.40 and tell their customers they can't do installs, when it's
> just they don't want to pay.
>
> It's not crazy Tiscali can't sell you line rental, because they can, they
> just choose not to as they don't want to pay. They don't even give you the
> choice of paying the install fee either.
>

Welcome is right it's Tiscali choosing not to offer the service,
rather than being incapable. It's not unusual for the big residential
providers to not offer new installs - TalkTalk being the perfect
example. Yet many smaller providers have no trouble, often I think
it's because they don't want the hassle and would rather just transfer
existing customers over from BT, at little effort.

Anyway one smaller provider I use offers New Installs of lines, plus
line rental, calls and broadband - maybe not as cheap as Tiscali, but
then you are also not letting yourself in for dire service - they're
called The Phone Coop ()

Reverso

On 2007-12-03 23:30:28 +0000, Ash <> said:

> Welcome is right it's Tiscali choosing not to offer the service,
> rather than being incapable. It's not unusual for the big residential
> providers to not offer new installs - TalkTalk being the perfect
> example. Yet many smaller providers have no trouble, often I think
> it's because they don't want the hassle and would rather just transfer
> existing customers over from BT, at little effort.
>
> Anyway one smaller provider I use offers New Installs of lines, plus
> line rental, calls and broadband - maybe not as cheap as Tiscali, but
> then you are also not letting yourself in for dire service - they're
> called The Phone Coop ()

Ok, I'll check that out. Thank you for your reply.

--
R

Reverso

On 2007-12-03 22:57:56 +0000, "{{{{{Welcome}}}}}"
<bhx_spam@trapped__hotmail.co.uk> said:
> Tiscali could initiate the install of a phone line if they wanted to,
> they don't want to because they'd rather pay Open Reach the £2.35 it
> costs to take over a line than the £103.40 it costs to install the
> line. Tiscali are lying to you when they say they can't do it, because
> they like BT (Retail) can simply pay Open Reach the same £103.40 to do
> it. BT are forced to accept all new customers, Tiscali just want to
> let BT pay the £103.40 and themselves pay only the £2.35. Tiscali are
> the only ones who don't want to pay the £103.40 and tell their
> customers they can't do installs, when it's just they don't want to pay.
>
> It's not crazy Tiscali can't sell you line rental, because they can,
> they just choose not to as they don't want to pay. They don't even
> give you the choice of paying the install fee either.

Ah, it makes more sense now. When I asked the person at BT
why the cost had gone up 150% in the last 7 years, he muttered
something about Open Reach. Then I asked if I could go directly
to Open Reach and he seemed to say I could, but not in a very
convincing way or with any enthusiasm. Looking at Open Reach's
web pages, well, they seem to deal more with businesses than
everyday customers.

I might try phoning BT again. In all likelihood it's a reconnection, and
BT may have had the line before me. I've read that sometimes
BT don't charge for a reconnection like that. Then again, sometimes
they do. So maybe if I get lucky and speak to the right person ...

Thanks very much.

--
R

{{{{{Welcome}}}}}

Reverso wrote:
> On 2007-12-03 22:57:56 +0000, "{{{{{Welcome}}}}}"
> <bhx_spam@trapped__hotmail.co.uk> said:
>> Tiscali could initiate the install of a phone line if they wanted to,
>> they don't want to because they'd rather pay Open Reach the £2.35 it
>> costs to take over a line than the £103.40 it costs to install the
>> line. Tiscali are lying to you when they say they can't do it,
>> because they like BT (Retail) can simply pay Open Reach the same
>> £103.40 to do it. BT are forced to accept all new customers,
>> Tiscali just want to let BT pay the £103.40 and themselves pay only
>> the £2.35. Tiscali are the only ones who don't want to pay the
>> £103.40 and tell their customers they can't do installs, when it's
>> just they don't want to pay. It's not crazy Tiscali can't sell you line
>> rental, because they can,
>> they just choose not to as they don't want to pay. They don't even
>> give you the choice of paying the install fee either.
>
> Ah, it makes more sense now. When I asked the person at BT
> why the cost had gone up 150% in the last 7 years, he muttered
> something about Open Reach. Then I asked if I could go directly
> to Open Reach and he seemed to say I could, but not in a very
> convincing way or with any enthusiasm. Looking at Open Reach's
> web pages, well, they seem to deal more with businesses than
> everyday customers.
>

You can't go to Open Reach direct, it's the likes of TalkTalk, Pipex,
Tiscali, BT themselves that have to deal with Open Reach.


> I might try phoning BT again. In all likelihood it's a reconnection,
> and BT may have had the line before me. I've read that sometimes
> BT don't charge for a reconnection like that. Then again, sometimes
> they do. So maybe if I get lucky and speak to the right person ...
>
> Thanks very much.

Though you'll still be tied to a 12 month contract for line rental and have
to pay your way out.

That's not to say as long as you keep your line rental with BT you can't use
others for calls such as Primus Saver 2 combined with Call 18185, and use
others for broadband. (Primus do broadband, though don't detail it on their
site).

Virgin do an ADSL service with a calls package and line rental remains with
BT, so use them for the Inclusive calls, put other calls back over BT (1280)
and via 18185 as on Virgin calls outside the inclusive ones are very high.


--
3 Issues of PC Pro for £1
Plus Free Toolkit

acdeag

"Reverso" <> wrote in message
news:.uk.tiscali.com...
> On 2007-12-03 23:30:28 +0000, Ash <> said:
>
>> Welcome is right it's Tiscali choosing not to offer the service,
>> rather than being incapable. It's not unusual for the big residential
>> providers to not offer new installs - TalkTalk being the perfect
>> example. Yet many smaller providers have no trouble, often I think
>> it's because they don't want the hassle and would rather just transfer
>> existing customers over from BT, at little effort.
>>
>> Anyway one smaller provider I use offers New Installs of lines, plus
>> line rental, calls and broadband - maybe not as cheap as Tiscali, but
>> then you are also not letting yourself in for dire service - they're
>> called The Phone Coop ()
>
> Ok, I'll check that out. Thank you for your reply.
>
> --
> R
>


If you have a Vodafone contract mobile then Vodafone will also install a
landline for £99 I believe, you get their broadband, calls and line rental
for £25 per month.

acdeag

"Reverso" <> wrote in message
news:.uk.tiscali.com...
> On 2007-12-03 23:30:28 +0000, Ash <> said:
>
>> Welcome is right it's Tiscali choosing not to offer the service,
>> rather than being incapable. It's not unusual for the big residential
>> providers to not offer new installs - TalkTalk being the perfect
>> example. Yet many smaller providers have no trouble, often I think
>> it's because they don't want the hassle and would rather just transfer
>> existing customers over from BT, at little effort.
>>
>> Anyway one smaller provider I use offers New Installs of lines, plus
>> line rental, calls and broadband - maybe not as cheap as Tiscali, but
>> then you are also not letting yourself in for dire service - they're
>> called The Phone Coop ()
>
> Ok, I'll check that out. Thank you for your reply.
>
> --
> R
>


If you have a Vodafone contract mobile then Vodafone will also install a
landline for £99 I believe, you get their broadband, calls and line rental
for £25 per month.

acdeag

"Reverso" <> wrote in message
news:.uk.tiscali.com...
> On 2007-12-03 23:30:28 +0000, Ash <> said:
>
>> Welcome is right it's Tiscali choosing not to offer the service,
>> rather than being incapable. It's not unusual for the big residential
>> providers to not offer new installs - TalkTalk being the perfect
>> example. Yet many smaller providers have no trouble, often I think
>> it's because they don't want the hassle and would rather just transfer
>> existing customers over from BT, at little effort.
>>
>> Anyway one smaller provider I use offers New Installs of lines, plus
>> line rental, calls and broadband - maybe not as cheap as Tiscali, but
>> then you are also not letting yourself in for dire service - they're
>> called The Phone Coop ()
>
> Ok, I'll check that out. Thank you for your reply.
>
> --
> R
>


If you have a Vodafone contract mobile then Vodafone will also install a
landline for £99 I believe, you get their broadband, calls and line rental
for £25 per month.

acdeag

"Reverso" <> wrote in message
news:.uk.tiscali.com...
> On 2007-12-03 23:30:28 +0000, Ash <> said:
>
>> Welcome is right it's Tiscali choosing not to offer the service,
>> rather than being incapable. It's not unusual for the big residential
>> providers to not offer new installs - TalkTalk being the perfect
>> example. Yet many smaller providers have no trouble, often I think
>> it's because they don't want the hassle and would rather just transfer
>> existing customers over from BT, at little effort.
>>
>> Anyway one smaller provider I use offers New Installs of lines, plus
>> line rental, calls and broadband - maybe not as cheap as Tiscali, but
>> then you are also not letting yourself in for dire service - they're
>> called The Phone Coop ()
>
> Ok, I'll check that out. Thank you for your reply.
>
> --
> R
>


If you have a Vodafone contract mobile then Vodafone will also install a
landline for £99 I believe, you get their broadband, calls and line rental
for £25 per month.