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
- again no plans in actually using it.

:-(

--
Adrian C

In article , Adrian C
scribeth thus

A friend is 'moving back to BT' from another telephone provider and gave
me horrible news of her new £40/month package.

Why ever does she want to move back to BT for?..


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
- again no plans in actually using it.

:-(


--
Tony Sayer

In article , says...

In article , Adrian C
scribeth thus

A friend is 'moving back to BT' from another telephone provider and gave
me horrible news of her new £40/month package.

Why ever does she want to move back to BT for?..


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
- again no plans in actually using it.

:-(


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.

"tony sayer" wrote in message
...
In article , Adrian C
scribeth thus

A friend is 'moving back to BT' from another telephone provider and gave
me horrible news of her new £40/month package.

Why ever does she want to move back to BT for?..


To have more expensive Broadband or fiber, :-)
Regards
David
Ps
Could not resist the joke.

"Dave" wrote in message
m...
In article , says...



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

On Oct 26, 9:43*pm, "David" wrote:
"Dave" wrote in message

m...

In article , says...

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 £1.50 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 !!

Simon

On Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:01:58 +0100, tony sayer
wrote:

In article , Adrian C
scribeth thus

A friend is 'moving back to BT' from another telephone provider and gave
me horrible news of her new £40/month package.

Why ever does she want to move back to BT for?..

Yes, that was my immediate reaction, too. I've just moved FROM BT (to
Zen Home Talk as it happens).

MM

On Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:43:36 +0100, "David"
wrote:



"Dave" wrote in message
om...
In article , says...



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

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.

MM

uk.telecom.broadband, uk.d-i-y
I am with a business BT line and was a resolute refuser of all offers by 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 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 £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 **** me off so much I go out of my way to recommend others to leave them.

wrote:

I am with a business BT line and was a resolute refuser of all offers by 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 **** 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?

In message , Andy
Burns writes

Do you *seriously* expect anyone to read messages formatted like that?

grin I read the first few lines, then gave up ...
--
Graeme

On Oct 27, 8:26*am, Andy Burns wrote:
wrote:
I am with a business BT line and was a resolute refuser of all offers by 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 **** 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?

I did.

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.


NT

On 26/10/11 21:39, David wrote:


"tony sayer" wrote in message
...
In article , Adrian C
scribeth thus

A friend is 'moving back to BT' from another telephone provider and gave
me horrible news of her new £40/month package.

Why ever does she want to move back to BT for?..


To have more expensive Broadband or fiber, :-)
Regards
David
Ps
Could not resist the joke.

Would have been better with "fibre" (as used in the optical sense, even
in the USA).

--
PeeGee

"Nothing should be able to load itself onto a computer without the
knowledge or consent of the computer user. Software should also be able
to be removed from a computer easily."
Peter Cullen, Microsoft Chief Privacy Strategist (Computing 18 Aug 05)

In article , MM
scribeth thus
On Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:43:36 +0100, "David"
wrote:



"Dave" wrote in message
. com...
In article , says...



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

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.

MM


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?..

--
Tony Sayer

In article , Dave
scribeth thus
In article , says...

In article , Adrian C
scribeth thus

A friend is 'moving back to BT' from another telephone provider and gave
me horrible news of her new £40/month package.

Why ever does she want to move back to BT for?..


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
- again no plans in actually using it.

:-(


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.

Good for you!.

You have been very very lucky!...
--
Tony Sayer

In article , MM
scribeth thus
On Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:01:58 +0100, tony sayer
wrote:

In article , Adrian C
scribeth thus

A friend is 'moving back to BT' from another telephone provider and gave
me horrible news of her new £40/month package.

Why ever does she want to move back to BT for?..

Yes, that was my immediate reaction, too. I've just moved FROM BT (to
Zen Home Talk as it happens).

MM

Yes excellent service .. we have a few lines from them now as well as BB
services..
--
Tony Sayer

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 **** 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?

Indeed .. but you could ""feel"" the anger in that;!...
--
Tony Sayer

wrote...


On Oct 26, 9:43*pm, "David" wrote:
"Dave" wrote in message

m...

In article , says...

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 £1.50 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 !!

Simon


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".

On Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:29:35 +0100, tony sayer
wrote:

In article , MM
scribeth thus
On Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:43:36 +0100, "David"
wrote:



"Dave" wrote in message
.com...
In article , says...



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

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.

MM


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?..

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.

All services should be run like Zen.

MM

On Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:01:58 +0100, tony sayer
wrote:

In article , Adrian C
scribeth thus

A friend is 'moving back to BT' from another telephone provider and gave
me horrible news of her new £40/month package.

Why ever does she want to move back to BT for?..

Because they other supplier was even worse? I moved from BT to PO and
they overcharged me on *every* bill.
--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Due to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking some articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.

On Thu, 27 Oct 2011 01:08:16 -0700 (PDT), NT
wrote:

On Oct 27, 8:26*am, Andy Burns wrote:
wrote:
I am with a business BT line and was a resolute refuser of all offers by 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 **** 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?

I did.

Sad to say it, but it seems all the telco providers are just as
moronic.

Not Zen. Zen are totally excellent.

MM

In article , MM
scribeth thus
On Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:29:35 +0100, tony sayer
wrote:

In article , MM
scribeth thus
On Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:43:36 +0100, "David"
wrote:



"Dave" wrote in message
t.com...
In article , says...



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

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.

MM


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?..

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).

Yes we came from another ISP who blamed BT and BT blamed them over a
long running fault. Zen sorted it in Two days...


When you phone you get through to a human IN THE UK almost immediately
and they are really clued up.

Thats if you include the peoples republic of Rochdale in the UK;-)..

All services should be run like Zen.

Indeed. My only concern is that one day they'll sell out;(...

MM

--
Tony Sayer

In article , Mark i@dontget
lotsofspamanymore.invalid scribeth thus
On Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:01:58 +0100, tony sayer
wrote:

In article , Adrian C
scribeth thus

A friend is 'moving back to BT' from another telephone provider and gave
me horrible news of her new £40/month package.

Why ever does she want to move back to BT for?..

Because they other supplier was even worse? I moved from BT to PO and
they overcharged me on *every* bill.

Go and have a look at Zen minimum period One month. Why not try it and
see?..
--
Tony Sayer

On Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:39:08 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

On Oct 26, 9:43*pm, "David" wrote:
"Dave" wrote in message

m...

In article , says...

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.

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 £1.50 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 !!

I was also offerred an "amazing" deal when I said I was leaving BT
(phone only).
However the one that I was actually given was *not* the one promised
on the phone.

Nearly a year later I am still waiting for the refund that was
promised.
--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Due to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking some articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.

On Oct 27, 8:26*am, Andy Burns wrote:


Do you *seriously* expect anyone to read messages formatted like that?

No, nor do I expect people to repost the whole lot.

MBQ

On 27/10/2011 11:36, tony sayer wrote:

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).

Yes we came from another ISP who blamed BT and BT blamed them over a
long running fault. Zen sorted it in Two days...


When you phone you get through to a human IN THE UK almost immediately
and they are really clued up.

Thats if you include the peoples republic of Rochdale in the UK;-)..

All services should be run like Zen.

Indeed. My only concern is that one day they'll sell out;(...

I was worried that plusnet would be assimilated into BT when they got
swallowed. So far at least they are still reassuringly Sheffield with
not a hint of BTishness about them.

(IDNet are another Zen like ISP in terms of service)


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Man at B&Q wrote:

On Oct 27, 8:26 am, Andy wrote:


Do you *seriously* expect anyone to read messages formatted like that?

No, nor do I expect people to repost the whole lot.

I considered cutting it out, but then thought the O/P might not realise
what the message looked like. As it was, making it format=flowed
changed it anyway ... send me the bill for your 4k excess traffic :-)

On 27/10/2011 10:48, Mark wrote:
On Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:01:58 +0100, tony
wrote:

In , Adrian C
scribeth thus

A friend is 'moving back to BT' from another telephone provider and gave
me horrible news of her new £40/month package.

Why ever does she want to move back to BT for?..

Because they other supplier was even worse? I moved from BT to PO and
they overcharged me on *every* bill.

That sort of thing is one of the reasons for my inertia in moving my
phone service away from BT. At least, the devil you know and all that...
I'm happy with my anytime calls package and direct debit set-up, no
problems so far and no worries about call charges, except to mobiles,
which I avoid if possible anyway.
There's also the (perhaps perceived) advantage of BT's excellent
automated fault-reporting system. Just dial 0800 800 151 and go through
the system. It just works (for me, at any rate).
Having said all that, I moved my internet connection away from BT many
years ago to Plusnet, for three reasons. The first was cost. BT was
(still is?) much more expensive than anyone else for what you get.
Secondly, the BTYahoo email system was very clunky (do they still use
that system?). And last but not least was the abysmal Indian
call-centre, which drove me up the wall.
The one big advantage with Plusnet, from my point of view, apart from
cost, is having access to their Sheffield call centre and being able to
converse with someone who speaks and understands plain English!

YMMV of course...

George

On 27/10/2011 09:31, tony sayer wrote:
In .com, Dave
scribeth thus
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.

Good for you!.

You have been very very lucky!...

I too have been very, very lucky with BT. Had a telephone since 1976
(moved around the UK several times) and internet since 1997. One major
fault which affected most of Northern Orkney earlier this year
(lightning strike on exchange) but that's it.
--
Bruce Fletcher
Stronsay, Orkney
(Remove dentures to reply)

On 27/10/2011 09:08, NT wrote:
On Oct 27, 8:26 am, Andy wrote:
wrote:
I am with a business BT line and was a resolute refuser of all offers by 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 tha
t 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 **** 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?

I did.

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.

I read it too. He'll find all the telcos are the same. The key problem
is his reluctance to go DD, and that IMO is a foolish move.

On 27/10/2011 12:32, George Weston wrote:
On 27/10/2011 10:48, Mark wrote:
On Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:01:58 +0100, tony
wrote:

In , Adrian C
scribeth thus

A friend is 'moving back to BT' from another telephone provider and
gave
me horrible news of her new £40/month package.

Why ever does she want to move back to BT for?..

Because they other supplier was even worse? I moved from BT to PO and
they overcharged me on *every* bill.

That sort of thing is one of the reasons for my inertia in moving my
phone service away from BT. At least, the devil you know and all that...

Which is why you shouldn't base your judgement on anecdotes, but proper
large scale surveys e.g.
http://media.ofcom.org.uk/2011/09/22...ders-revealed/

Although none are perfect, they are a better judge than what a handful
of people may or may not say.

From the above it's clear that Talk Talk is by far the worst for
landline with the rest being a much of a muchness. Whereas for BB it's
more of a spread with TalkTalk worst and Virgin best, but all are
improving apart from BT which is getting worse.

Having said all that, I moved my internet connection away from BT many
years ago to Plusnet, for three reasons.

Me too, but I also moved my landline. My main reasons were not having to
agree to 12 month contracts, inclusive international minutes (with
Anytime+) and showing BT that they are in a competitive market place
where customers can move when they see themselves being shafted.

The one big advantage with Plusnet, from my point of view, apart from
cost, is having access to their Sheffield call centre and being able to
converse with someone who speaks and understands plain English!

Yup. Plus they're helpful and there's no lag on a crappy line.

On Oct 27, 1:06*pm, Clive George wrote:
On 27/10/2011 09:08, NT wrote:



On Oct 27, 8:26 am, Andy *wrote:
wrote:
I am with a business BT line and was a resolute refuser of all offers by 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 tha
t 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 **** 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?

I did.

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.

I read it too. He'll find all the telcos are the same. The key problem
is his reluctance to go DD, and that IMO is a foolish move.

Whatever is wise about giving an untrustworthy company free access to
your bank account, with only half-assed measures to claw money back?


NT

On 27/10/2011 19:36, NT wrote:
On Oct 27, 1:06 pm, Clive wrote:
On 27/10/2011 09:08, NT wrote:



On Oct 27, 8:26 am, Andy wrote:
wrote:
I am with a business BT line and was a resolute refuser of all offers by 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 l
ot
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 t
ha
t 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 **** 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?

I did.

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.

I read it too. He'll find all the telcos are the same. The key problem
is his reluctance to go DD, and that IMO is a foolish move.

Whatever is wise about giving an untrustworthy company free access to
your bank account, with only half-assed measures to claw money back?

Nothing half-assed about the DD guarantee.

On Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:32:20 +0100, tony sayer
wrote:

In article , MM
scribeth thus
On Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:01:58 +0100, tony sayer
wrote:

In article , Adrian C
scribeth thus

A friend is 'moving back to BT' from another telephone provider and gave
me horrible news of her new £40/month package.

Why ever does she want to move back to BT for?..

Yes, that was my immediate reaction, too. I've just moved FROM BT (to
Zen Home Talk as it happens).

MM

Yes excellent service .. we have a few lines from them now as well as BB
services..

Just got the Zen Newsletter for October:

"Zen Internet wins its eighth PC Pro Best ISP award."

MM

On Thu, 27 Oct 2011 20:43:17 +0100, Clive George
wrote:

Nothing half-assed about the DD guarantee.

If it actually works, that is.
--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Due to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking some articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.

On Oct 28, 9:41*am, Mark
wrote:
On Thu, 27 Oct 2011 20:43:17 +0100, Clive George
wrote:


Nothing half-assed about the DD guarantee.

If it actually works, that is.

Its widespread practice for companies to misuse DD to overcharge or
prematurely charge customers. But that aside, giving a company free
reign over one's bank account sounds like madness to me.


NT

On Fri, 28 Oct 2011 03:36:14 -0700 (PDT), NT
wrote:

On Oct 28, 9:41*am, Mark
wrote:
On Thu, 27 Oct 2011 20:43:17 +0100, Clive George
wrote:


Nothing half-assed about the DD guarantee.

If it actually works, that is.

Its widespread practice for companies to misuse DD to overcharge or
prematurely charge customers. But that aside, giving a company free
reign over one's bank account sounds like madness to me.

A lot of the time you *have* to use DD to get the best deals. Over
the years I have saved a considerable amount of money by using them.

OTOH the DD guarantee does not always work as one bank I used refused
to invoke the guarantee when requested.
--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Due to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking some articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.

On Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:02:23 +0100, Mark
wrote:

On Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:39:08 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

On Oct 26, 9:43*pm, "David" wrote:
"Dave" wrote in message

m...

In article , says...

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.

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 £1.50 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 !!

I was also offerred an "amazing" deal when I said I was leaving BT
(phone only).
However the one that I was actually given was *not* the one promised
on the phone.

Nearly a year later I am still waiting for the refund that was
promised.

BT offered me a very good deal when I told them I was leaving to go to
Sky, almost matching the deal I would have got had I done so.

Just under £27 a month, unlimited broadband, anytime phone package. It
was good enough to enable me to stay.

They got the billing messed up for the first 3 months, but I phoned up
eveytime to complain, and it was sorted.

On 28/10/2011 09:41, Mark wrote:
On Thu, 27 Oct 2011 20:43:17 +0100, Clive George
wrote:

Nothing half-assed about the DD guarantee.

If it actually works, that is.

What stories do we have then?

In message , Mark
writes
On Fri, 28 Oct 2011 03:36:14 -0700 (PDT), NT
wrote:

On Oct 28, 9:41*am, Mark
wrote:
On Thu, 27 Oct 2011 20:43:17 +0100, Clive George
wrote:


Nothing half-assed about the DD guarantee.

If it actually works, that is.

Its widespread practice for companies to misuse DD to overcharge or
prematurely charge customers. But that aside, giving a company free
reign over one's bank account sounds like madness to me.

A lot of the time you *have* to use DD to get the best deals. Over
the years I have saved a considerable amount of money by using them.

OTOH the DD guarantee does not always work as one bank I used refused
to invoke the guarantee when requested.
Did you refer them to the Banking Ombudsman/Ombudsperson
--
hugh