Prev: So, the iPad as a business tool
Next: USB stick not freeing up memory?
From: Andy Hewitt on 24 Jul 2010 17:39
Ben Shimmin <bas(a)llamaselector.com> wrote:

> Andy Hewitt <thewildrover(a)me.com>:
>
> [...]
[..]
> > Oh, and Talk Talk is now unlimited, and they only traffic shape between
> > 3pm and midnight (PlusNet vary theirs throught the entire day).
>
> I would never, ever use a provider that did any sort of traffic shaping.
> If O2 start doing this, I will go back to a smaller provider, even if
> I have to pay over the odds.

There's not many that don't now, at least not in the 'budget' range. It
can be hard to find out the details of the shaping too. FWIW, PlusNet
make theirs very clear, with a chart of how it works.

Seems Talk Talk are now quite open about it too now.

> [...]
>
> > BT owed me a couple of quid for ages after I cancelled the account with
> > them. They were so poor to deal with then, I just left it as a
> > worthwhile cost in not having to talk to them again.
>
> They are spectacularly hopeless to deal with, second only in awfulness
> to Virgin, in my experience. Oh, and the Student Loans Company.
>
> The strange thing is that there are whole swathes of people who will
> go with BT just because, well, they're British Telecom. I don't know
> if it's out of some weird sense of patriotism, or what, but I certainly
> know a good few people who are like this.

Yeah, I've heard those too.

> > Currently my telephone, line rental, and broadband come to ?37/mth.
> > TalkTalk is ?26/mth.
>
> That seems like a worthwhile saving, then. Fingers crossed, if you
> do go with TalkTalk, that you get a resonable service out of them and
> don't have to deal with their support people too much...

I rarely ever do, although they can't be any worse than NTL were.

> > Thanks anyway.
>
> You're welcome, for what little help I was!

:-)

--
Andy Hewitt
<http://web.me.com/andrewhewitt1/>
From: Andy Hewitt on 24 Jul 2010 17:39
Daniel Cohen <dcohenspam(a)talktalk.net> wrote:

> Andy Hewitt <thewildrover(a)me.com> wrote:
>
> > Any Talk Talk users here?
> >
> > For various reasons, mainly financial, I'm really considering them at
> > the moment (a �12 a month saving is significant to me at this time).
> >
> > I know the horror stories I read, but they must get it right for many. I
> > went with Wanadoo myself a few years ago, and never had any bother at
> > all.
>
> Some of the horror stories date from their initial expansion, when they
> took on too many customers too quickly.
>
> Their telephone customer service is supposed to be poor, I've never used
> it.

Yeah, but whose isn't amongst the big boys? I've had it all with NTL and
Virgin (separate accounts though).

> Their online customer forums, on the other hand, are excellent. They
> played a significant part in my decision to go with TalkTalk. Of course
> if you lose connectivity completely then you would need other internet
> access (at work or a library, say) to get to the forums.
>
> I've had a few glitches, including a couple of occasions when my
> exchange (not my own line) was cut off for a few hours, but nothing
> serious.
>
> And the price when I joined was excellent. There are special offers from
> time to time.

Yes, that's what's attractive right now.

--
Andy Hewitt
<http://web.me.com/andrewhewitt1/>
From: d4g4h4 on 25 Jul 2010 11:05
Andy Hewitt <thewildrover(a)me.com> wrote:

> Any Talk Talk users here?
>
> For various reasons, mainly financial, I'm really considering them at
> the moment (a �12 a month saving is significant to me at this time).
>
> I know the horror stories I read, but they must get it right for many. I
> went with Wanadoo myself a few years ago, and never had any bother at
> all.

I switched a couple of years ago and have been delighted with the
service. There have been very occasional drops in service, which have
righted themselves quickly- I suspect these are local exchange issues. A
few weeks ago, we lost landline service (but not broadband) on a
Thursday evening. I called the automated response line and immediately
any incoming calls were diverted to my mobile for no charge- by end of
next day a BT engineer called round and fixed the problem without
entering my home- again, perhaps an exchange thing. While not
particularly elegant, I find the online account information helpful and
unbilled calls are added within 24 hours.

So no problems here, and for the price (including free local and
international calls to most countries I call) I think it's hard to beat
at the moment. I only use 1899 for daytime non-local UK landlines now...

--
(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
www.davidhorne.net (email address on website)
"[Do you think the world learned anything from the first
world war?] No. They never learn." -Harry Patch (1898-2009)
From: Andy Hewitt on 25 Jul 2010 11:29
David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*) <d4g4h4(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> Andy Hewitt <thewildrover(a)me.com> wrote:
>
> > Any Talk Talk users here?
> >
> > For various reasons, mainly financial, I'm really considering them at
> > the moment (a �12 a month saving is significant to me at this time).
> >
> > I know the horror stories I read, but they must get it right for many. I
> > went with Wanadoo myself a few years ago, and never had any bother at
> > all.
>
> I switched a couple of years ago and have been delighted with the
> service. There have been very occasional drops in service, which have
> righted themselves quickly- I suspect these are local exchange issues. A
> few weeks ago, we lost landline service (but not broadband) on a
> Thursday evening. I called the automated response line and immediately
> any incoming calls were diverted to my mobile for no charge- by end of
> next day a BT engineer called round and fixed the problem without
> entering my home- again, perhaps an exchange thing. While not
> particularly elegant, I find the online account information helpful and
> unbilled calls are added within 24 hours.
>
> So no problems here, and for the price (including free local and
> international calls to most countries I call) I think it's hard to beat
> at the moment. I only use 1899 for daytime non-local UK landlines now...

Cheers.

As it is, I've decided to make the jump. There's too much on offer for
too cheap a price. I know it's a bit of a risk, but I'm really at a
point of having to find ways to cut back now.

--
Andy Hewitt
<http://web.me.com/andrewhewitt1/>
From: Pd on 26 Jul 2010 06:07
Ben Shimmin <bas(a)llamaselector.com> wrote:

> The strange thing is that there are whole swathes of people who will
> go with BT just because, well, they're British Telecom. I don't know
> if it's out of some weird sense of patriotism, or what, but I certainly
> know a good few people who are like this.

That's the value of a Brand. Having a Brand that smells 'trustworthy' is
worth massive amounts of Good Customer Service, Actually Useful Features
and Good Value Packages.

I think the idea is that BT are too big to fail, too big to rip you off,
been doing it so long they're boung to have it sorted.

My experience of them is similar to yours: if telecom supply were a
bodily function, BT would be wiping their elbows with loo paper.

--
Pd
First  |  Prev  |  Next  |  Last
Pages: 1 2 3
Prev: So, the iPad as a business tool
Next: USB stick not freeing up memory?