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From: Andy Hewitt on 24 Jul 2010 13:54
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.

--
Andy Hewitt
<http://web.me.com/andrewhewitt1/>
From: Ben Shimmin on 24 Jul 2010 14:37
Andy Hewitt <thewildrover(a)me.com>:
> 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.

Have you considered O2? If you have a mobile with them already, it's
really pretty cost-effective; they also do line rental for not very much.
I *think*, best case, you could get their standard broadband package
for 7.50GBP (if you're on O2 already) and the line rental for 9.50GBP,
which comes to 17GBP/month. If you aren't an O2 customer, the broadband
is a fiver more, which still isn't bad. It's also `unlimited' downlods,
which the cheaper TalkTalk package isn't.

I have no experience of their line rental (for no very good reason, I
have stuck with BT for that, and in return for my loyalty they send me
strange bills which in no way tally with my own usage, or with any
information on their web site; in fact, they send me bills by post,
despite my telling them I only ever want online bills, to my old address,
to the great delight of my estate agents, who scribble angry messages
on the BT envelopes before forwarding them on to my new address; I also
spent a fruitless six months trying to persuade them to let me have
caller ID, which they supposedly offer for free...), but O2's broadband
has been totally rock solid for me, and they get pretty high ratings in
general -- of the big providers, they generally come out towards the top,
especially for customer service and speed.

b.

--
<bas(a)bas.me.uk> <URL:http://bas.me.uk/>
`Zombies are defined by behavior and can be "explained" by many handy
shortcuts: the supernatural, radiation, a virus, space visitors,
secret weapons, a Harvard education and so on.' -- Roger Ebert
From: Andy Hewitt on 24 Jul 2010 15:21
Ben Shimmin <bas(a)llamaselector.com> wrote:

> Andy Hewitt <thewildrover(a)me.com>:
> > 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.
>
> Have you considered O2? If you have a mobile with them already, it's
> really pretty cost-effective; they also do line rental for not very much.
> I *think*, best case, you could get their standard broadband package
> for 7.50GBP (if you're on O2 already) and the line rental for 9.50GBP,
> which comes to 17GBP/month. If you aren't an O2 customer, the broadband
> is a fiver more, which still isn't bad. It's also `unlimited' downlods,
> which the cheaper TalkTalk package isn't.

Not so unfortunately.

For one, I don't have an O2 mobile - I nearly did, but I was put off by
their useless website not enabling me to enter my payment details.

I'm currently on an 'anytime' calls package, and my exchange hasn't been
LLU'd by O2, so I'm looking at their 'access package' for �22.50, which
is more than I'm paying for my 'Pro' broadband with PlusNet.

Oh, and Talk Talk is now unlimited, and they only traffic shape between
3pm and midnight (PlusNet vary theirs throught the entire day).

> I have no experience of their line rental (for no very good reason, I
> have stuck with BT for that, and in return for my loyalty they send me
> strange bills which in no way tally with my own usage, or with any
> information on their web site; in fact, they send me bills by post,
> despite my telling them I only ever want online bills, to my old address,
> to the great delight of my estate agents, who scribble angry messages
> on the BT envelopes before forwarding them on to my new address; I also
> spent a fruitless six months trying to persuade them to let me have
> caller ID, which they supposedly offer for free...), but O2's broadband
> has been totally rock solid for me, and they get pretty high ratings in
> general -- of the big providers, they generally come out towards the top,
> especially for customer service and speed.

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.

Currently my telephone, line rental, and broadband come to �37/mth.
TalkTalk is �26/mth.

With my circumstances, other costs having increased of late, and the
impending VAT rise, I'm being backed into a corner be the truth known,
and I won't have much choice before long.

I did think of cutting back my PlusNet services, but it's only a couple
of quid to the cheaper broadband, and a fiver for the lower phone
service. That wouldn't save much anyway, as I use my phone a lot in the
afternoon, so the cost saving there would be negated.

So, overall O2 offers no real advantage over PlusNet right now.

Thanks anyway.

--
Andy Hewitt
<http://web.me.com/andrewhewitt1/>
From: Ben Shimmin on 24 Jul 2010 15:40
Andy Hewitt <thewildrover(a)me.com>:

[...]

> Not so unfortunately.
>
> For one, I don't have an O2 mobile - I nearly did, but I was put off by
> their useless website not enabling me to enter my payment details.
>
> I'm currently on an 'anytime' calls package, and my exchange hasn't been
> LLU'd by O2, so I'm looking at their 'access package' for ?22.50, which
> is more than I'm paying for my 'Pro' broadband with PlusNet.

Ah! In that case, my advice is totally useless to you -- sorry! The
`Access' package is quite expensive, and by some accounts at least, not
great.

> 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.

[...]

> 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.

> 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...

> Thanks anyway.

You're welcome, for what little help I was!

b.

--
<bas(a)bas.me.uk> <URL:http://bas.me.uk/>
`Zombies are defined by behavior and can be "explained" by many handy
shortcuts: the supernatural, radiation, a virus, space visitors,
secret weapons, a Harvard education and so on.' -- Roger Ebert
From: Daniel Cohen on 24 Jul 2010 16:41
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.

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.
--
<http://www.decohen.com>
Send e-mail to the Reply-To address.
Mail to the From address is never read.
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