Help choosing BB/Phone package

As per the title - I'd appreciate some input about choosing a decent
BB/Phone deal - preferably with a UK based billing centre!

BT seem to have finally hit rock bottom, their Indian billing call centre is
a nightmare, and the UK based operation is only marginally better.

So, I want to leave them.

I need BB (max speed I can get is about 3 Mb) and an all-in-one call package
offering unlimited UK calls to geographic numbers. Low mobile call rates
would be a bonus.

I waited 19 minutes to speak to Sky Talk - only to be told by their Indian
call centre that I had to also buy Sky TV.

Don't want Sky TV - so the hunt goes on.

Any recommendations?

Thanks

smithie wrote:

> As per the title - I'd appreciate some input about choosing a decent
> BB/Phone deal - preferably with a UK based billing centre!
>
> BT seem to have finally hit rock bottom, their Indian billing call centre is
> a nightmare, and the UK based operation is only marginally better.
>
> So, I want to leave them.
>
> I need BB (max speed I can get is about 3 Mb) and an all-in-one call package
> offering unlimited UK calls to geographic numbers. Low mobile call rates
> would be a bonus.

All-in-one packages are usually a bad choice. Tiscali's cheap bur fairly crappy
and their support people LIE to you. It took my neighbour TWO MONTHS to get it
working without regular losses in phone and ADSL and even then it was only 2
Mbps. Finally after getting over that hurdle got them to speed it up to 6Mbps,
so they were mis-selling to begin with. On my line next door I can get 1 Mbps
more btw, so I half suspect they're still throttling it.

Graham

smithie <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> As per the title - I'd appreciate some input about choosing a decent
> BB/Phone deal - preferably with a UK based billing centre!

Please don't multipost. Crossposting if you need to, by all means, though.

Why? It leads to separate discussions where you find some people start
independently repeating what others have said, and you may even find
you get *fewer* responses because people find your posting in several
places and get annoyed.

Thanks
Chris

"Chris Davies" <chris-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> smithie <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>> As per the title - I'd appreciate some input about choosing a decent
>> BB/Phone deal - preferably with a UK based billing centre!
>
> Please don't multipost. Crossposting if you need to, by all means,
> though.<<

---

Ah - there is obviously something wrong with my keyboard.

I *thought* that I was asking for some help in choosing a BB/Phone package -
what I *actually* appear to have requested is a lecture on Usenet etiquette
from a passing control freak.

My bad - and thank you for fulfilling my request - even if it was an error
on my part.

"Eeyore" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>
> smithie wrote:
>
>> As per the title - I'd appreciate some input about choosing a decent
>> BB/Phone deal - preferably with a UK based billing centre!
>>
>> BT seem to have finally hit rock bottom, their Indian billing call centre
>> is
>> a nightmare, and the UK based operation is only marginally better.
>>
>> So, I want to leave them.
>>
>> I need BB (max speed I can get is about 3 Mb) and an all-in-one call
>> package
>> offering unlimited UK calls to geographic numbers. Low mobile call rates
>> would be a bonus.
>
> All-in-one packages are usually a bad choice. Tiscali's cheap bur fairly
> crappy
> and their support people LIE to you. It took my neighbour TWO MONTHS to
> get it
> working without regular losses in phone and ADSL and even then it was only
> 2
> Mbps. Finally after getting over that hurdle got them to speed it up to
> 6Mbps,
> so they were mis-selling to begin with. On my line next door I can get 1
> Mbps
> more btw, so I half suspect they're still throttling it.
>
> Graham


Thanks for the advice (and thanks even more for resisting the urge to
lecture me

It does seem hard to get a package that give, both, a good phone service
*and* a good BB service.

I'd considered Orange - until I read opinions on the BB service.

Virgin I won't have because of Phorm - Tiscali I have heard bad things about
for a long time, where *to* place my money?, that's the problem.

"Retired" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) et...
>
> "smithie" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> As per the title - I'd appreciate some input about choosing a decent
>> BB/Phone deal - preferably with a UK based billing centre!
>>
>> BT seem to have finally hit rock bottom, their Indian billing call centre
>> is
>> a nightmare, and the UK based operation is only marginally better.
>>
>> So, I want to leave them.
>>
>> I need BB (max speed I can get is about 3 Mb) and an all-in-one call
>> package
>> offering unlimited UK calls to geographic numbers. Low mobile call rates
>> would be a bonus.
>>
>> I waited 19 minutes to speak to Sky Talk - only to be told by their
>> Indian
>> call centre that I had to also buy Sky TV.
>>
>> Don't want Sky TV - so the hunt goes on.
>>
>> Any recommendations?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
> I'm with PlusNet.
> They seem as satisfactory as any and they have a UK call centre
> They do a combined package but I only have experience of their broadband
> But! They are a wholly owned subsidiary of BT although at present they
> seem to be independent.


Thanks - does the BT connection (no pun) mean that PlusNet implement Phorm?

"Mark McIntyre" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:eVyDk.60472$(E-Mail Removed)...
> smithie wrote:
>>
>> I *thought* that I was asking for some help in choosing a BB/Phone
>> package - what I *actually* appear to have requested is a lecture on
>> Usenet etiquette from a passing control freak.
>
> Its a free world - if you screw up your postings, expect to get it pointed
> out to you. By the way unlike yourself Chris was very polite.<<


Ah, well, I'm not polite - and that's why I'm telling you to go and fuck
yourself.

-----------

>
>> My bad - and thank you for fulfilling my request - even if it was an
>> error on my part.
>
> You could always shout down a well if you need the exercise?<<


Nah - I'd rather tell tossers like you to, er, go and fuck themselves. (it's
more fun, and avoids lichen stains on clothing)

smithie wrote:

> "Eeyore" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > smithie wrote:
> >
> >> As per the title - I'd appreciate some input about choosing a decent
> >> BB/Phone deal - preferably with a UK based billing centre!
> >>
> >> BT seem to have finally hit rock bottom, their Indian billing call centre
> >> is a nightmare, and the UK based operation is only marginally better.
> >>
> >> So, I want to leave them.
> >>
> >> I need BB (max speed I can get is about 3 Mb) and an all-in-one call
> >> package offering unlimited UK calls to geographic numbers. Low mobile call
> rates
> >> would be a bonus.
> >
> > All-in-one packages are usually a bad choice. Tiscali's cheap bur fairly
> > crappy and their support people LIE to you. It took my neighbour TWO MONTHS
> to
> > get it working without regular losses in phone and ADSL and even then it was
> only
> > 2 Mbps. Finally after getting over that hurdle got them to speed it up to
> > 6Mbps, so they were mis-selling to begin with. On my line next door I can
> get 1
> > Mbps more btw, so I half suspect they're still throttling it.
> >
> > Graham
>
> Thanks for the advice (and thanks even more for resisting the urge to
> lecture me
>
> It does seem hard to get a package that give, both, a good phone service
> *and* a good BB service.
>
> I'd considered Orange - until I read opinions on the BB service.
>
> Virgin I won't have because of Phorm - Tiscali I have heard bad things about
> for a long time, where *to* place my money?, that's the problem.

Almost invariably, the companies offering 'all-in one' packages are the scum of
the bunch. Sky, funnily enough tends to get good reviews, but if you don't want
the TV, that's not much help.

What are your download requirements btw ? There are some inexpensive deals out
there for light users. Plusnet comes to mind.

You can get cheap or near free calls from companies like 1899 anyway. That's
what I do. Free calls in the UK after the connection charge and 1p a minute to
the States even (mobile or fixed).

Graham

Mark McIntyre wrote:

> Eeyore wrote:
> >
> > It took my neighbour TWO MONTHS to get it
> > working without regular losses in phone and ADSL and even then it was only 2
> > Mbps.
>
> To be fair to the support people, the problem was most likely the line
> going to your neighbour's house and/or his in-house wiring.

IT WASN'T, MR FUCKING KNOW ALL. No-one tech ever once entered the house (except me
to check for obvious faults and minimise the possibilities).

It was the change to LLU that buggered it. He'd had Tiscali BB for several years
on a line with BT without a hitch before Tiscali took his line over. Totally
incompetent bunch of cnuts. And they NEVER ring back despite being so assured many
tens of times. My poor neighbour was 'utterly desperate' at one point at the
appalling level of non-service. It cost hima fortune on his mobile too since that
was his only was to contact what they laughingly call 'support'.

Graham

Chris Davies wrote:

> smithie <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> > As per the title - I'd appreciate some input about choosing a decent
> > BB/Phone deal - preferably with a UK based billing centre!
>
> Please don't multipost.

Where did he multipost btw ?

Graham