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Barney_Rubble
regular
Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 2699
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Not quite an ISP question, but on my recent travels I've been seeing advertising hoardings saying BT now charge "local rate" for national calls. Better still, they say "off peak" calls are now chaged at only 6p an hour. 
Can this be true? I'd ring them myself, but I think I must have shredded my last bill, and they won't even talk to subscribers (on 150) without a "customer number" or something, so I'll have to wait for the next bill some time in July.
6p an hour seems too good to be true, but does anyone know whether it is?
If so, what about "pay per minute" internet access? Would this also be reduced to 6p an hour?
Somehow I don't quite believe any of this, but I'm sure there's someone "out there" who knows the truth.
There is intelligent life on Earth, but I'm only visiting.
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TheFatControlleR
Forum Admin
Reg'd: Fri
Posts: 6556
Loc: Megatripolis
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Hi Barney,
Sadly, the small print excludes internet dial-up numbers 
Adieu,
TFC
Nothing is a problem for me...
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Poppy
regular
Reg'd: Sat
Posts: 383
Loc: North East England
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Also, what they fail to mention in the advert (unless you shove your face right up to the tv screen to read the teenyweeny print), is that a monthly fee applies.
Poppy aka Susanna
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blackpoolrock
regular
Reg'd: Fri
Posts: 240
Loc: northamptonshire
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Barny, for years I have not paid BT, anything for call charges, only for the line rental. I chose Saga (the over 50's people) to bill me. It is simply a case of contacting them, giving a few details, and from then on, any calls you make, even with the BT phone line, are billed by saga, monthly. BUT, any call you make, be it local, national, international or to mobiles, are guaranteed cheaper. They have recently sent me a list of charges, and I would gladly supply you with details, on request. I have to say that there are dozens of companies who provide this service, and there is no reason to ever pay BT's charges ever again.
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Barney_Rubble
regular
Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 2699
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Thanks everyone. There had to be a catch. If it seems too good to be true, it usually is, and especially where BT is concerned. I suppose they're not actually lying (not quite anyway), but it would be nice if, just once, they could dispense with the "small print" getout and try telling the truth, or is that a dirty word nowadays? Wouldn't be a politician on the board by any chance, would there?
Regarding Blackpool Rock's suggestion, I once made the mistake of signing up to one of these firms (can't even remember who it was now) that use a dialler box and claim to be cheaper than BT.
I paid the quarterly line rental to BT and monthly bills to the other firm, but they were even less honest than BT, adding made-up numbers to my bill each time. Some of these were just numbers I knew I hadn't used, and the others were created by adding extra digits to frequently used numbers, so I'd end up with fraudulent charges for calls to 15 or 16 digit numbers, or possibly even longer.
Even without these impossible numbers, I found my total bill over a 3 month period was more than it would have been had I stayed with BT, so I ditched the crooks (except the ones at BT - er ... sorry BT - only joking, unless you weren't thinking of suing me) and went back to the "normal" BT charges.
I'd be interested in knowing more about the Saga deal, being a bit "over the hill" myself.
 (Not saying how old I am, but Betty's just had her 3,021st birthday and still looks good. Pity about Wilma. She's getting a bit wrinkly now, but Fred doesn't seem to mind).
Saga, or (allegedly)
Send
A
Granny
Abroad
is a well established firm with a reputation to protect, so they should be ok, but what about dial-up internet charges? I don't normally need to worry, having unmetered daytime access anyway, but I do occasionally have to go on line "out of hours".
There is intelligent life on Earth, but I'm only visiting.
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blackpoolrock
regular
Reg'd: Fri
Posts: 240
Loc: northamptonshire
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Hi Barney. Earlie this month, Saga notified me that as from June 11th, intenational calls to USA,Canada, Australia,New Zealand,Spain, France Germany,Ireland,Netherlands,Italy, Belgium,Switerland,Sweden,Norway,Finland & Luxembourg would be 5p per min at ANY time all other calls are guaranteed to be less than BT standard rates.Suggest you ring saga for more info, I think this is the number 0845 302 0214
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Joe_London
HijackThis Helper
Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 10539
Loc: London
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I'm with Blueyonder who include the basic cable TV in the line rental cost. In addition I dial another number and once connected I can call abroad at local rates. This saves me a lot of money each month. I'm sure I saw something similar from BT among my letters a few days ago.
Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live on nothing but food and water.
- W.C. Fields
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Barney_Rubble
regular
Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 2699
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Thanks for that, Blackpool. Now I wish I made a lot of international calls. 5p a minute sounds ridiculously cheap. Unfortunately I don't know anyone who lives abroad.
Could pay me to give them a ring re their national rates though. What a pity we can't dispense with BT altogether, but short of signing up (and paying out) for cable, it looks as if we're stuck with the greedy monopoly and their misleading (I'd better not say lying, dishonest or fraudulent) advertising.
Thanks again. I'll check them out.
There is intelligent life on Earth, but I'm only visiting.
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Houdi
new user
Reg'd: Wed
Posts: 9
Loc: Rotherham
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I am sure eveyone as pointed you to the right sevice. As for the package you were talking about it does not include internet access as neither does any one else who provide telecommunications for a fixed price. They all have small print and they all mislead you at the end of the day not just BT, read what they after say note it always says at BT standard rate which is the lowest so the charges are at full price, then for a small monthly fee you get cheaper calls, 33% cheaper than BT. So you may as well go to BT Together packages and get upto 50% cheaper than standard rates,they don't tell you that and of course they also have a connection fee which can be dearer than BT's 5p min call charge. Never jump before you look and never condemn before you check.BT will not suit eveyone as neither will other companies. Yes I am BT worker and yes BT openworld is c**p
Edited by TheFatControlleR on 29/06/2003 23:17 (server time).
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blackpoolrock
regular
Reg'd: Fri
Posts: 240
Loc: northamptonshire
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Oooooh !
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Barney_Rubble
regular
Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 2699
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Sorry it took me so long to get back to you, Houdi. I've had a lot going on recently.
I take your point about BT being no more dishonest than everyone else, but why mislead people in the first place?
If my local supermarket was advertising "everything half price", I'd expect it to be true. I wouldn't be looking for "only on February 30th" in microscopic print, and if I arrived at the checkout and found they'd been lying to me, I'd complain and they'd have to remove the offending adverts.
There's no reason to mislead people. What's wrong with telling the truth? BT's got a monopoly on all that wiring and stuff, and they're certainly the biggest in their field, so couldn't they set an example to the others? Start a trend? Reintroduce honesty into business? Wouldn't that be better for everyone?
Sorry if it's a bit heavy. I'm not getting at you personally. You raised a valid point. It's just a pity that so many firms consider truth and honesty to be dirty words, when if they tried being honest for a change, they'd probably find their profits increasing because people would learn that they could be trusted.
Having said all that though, I've been talking to BT today, and it seems that the latest deals really are worth going for. 
I've been with the basic (evening and weekend voice calls) "together" deal for some time, and as far as I can tell, it's looking as if I'll actually be saving a few more pennies under the new deal, so after all my moaning, well done, BT.
There is intelligent life on Earth, but I'm only visiting.
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8277
regular
Reg'd: Wed
Posts: 33
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When I received a letter from bt, telling me that internet charges would not be billed with phone charges, but woujld be now charged separately, I was sceptical, when told in would be benificial to the customer as most changes result in higher prices, so I decided to keep my previous bill. Sure enough when the July account arrived, although my surf time had been adhered too and my phone calls were only 62 p more, my total bill was over £11 more that the previous quarter. I have written to bt for an explanation, so far I have not received an answer. If I fail to get a satisfactory reply I intend to contact Oftel.
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