Like most of you I'm called up regularly looking to change this service & that service, normally I'd not bother with the call and quickly get rid for once I listened to the recent O2 call being an existing customer, offering the change to O2 for land line for 9.50 - tempting rather than sign up then, I'd have a think. Called up BT from the 15.78 per month (unlimited evening/weekend plan) They discounted it to 12.79, with free (unlimited evening/weekend plan) then setting up Direct debit & opting for paperless billing it dropped they it down to 8.30 per month & refunded me the amount I'd paid upfront on the line rental what else can I save on?
You need to be dating Carol Vorderman or be a Mathematician to be able to calculate out all the different pricing variables they offer. I ended up going for the whole deal with BT, which is unlimited any time calls (doing a lot of calling businesses during the day with the house build and the like). I am not in an un-bundled area whatever that means, so got my broadband through them as well. Got a direct debit organised too and I now pay something like just under 90 a quarter for line, calls and broadband. It is a ridiculously complex job attempting to work out all their prices, when they bill you for one thing and discount on another. How older folk or other vulnerable types can work it out, I just do not know. It takes up so much of your time calculating the savings that you probably could have just worked and earned the extra tenner you may have saved. The other thing is that if you have everything with them, then it is their problem if a fault occurs, if you split it with different companies you will get the run around. It is just a pity the dollar talks these days, and now the massive profits they rake in are made up of your hard earned money, and cheap labour from abroad. Nigh on legalised slavery!
Well, a year on and it is contract renewal time again. The 90 a quarter I had been paying increased slightly due to the VAT rise at the beginning of the year, which ended up meaning I paid 93 a quarter all in for line rental, anytime calls package, and broadband (10gb limit per month). So the renewal just came through, and as per usual the figures on that letter did not tally with anything on my previous bills. So I called up BT to clarify if I was going to be paying the same as I have been. Well, the lad (British ) was pretty switched on and rapidly ran through a few things. I was not able to take much of it in tbh as it contained the usual discounts on certain things and bolt ons to the other, but the result was I am now going to get another years contract but will be paying 85.60 instead of the 93 per quarter. Now I also recall if you paid the line rental upfront there was a discount on offer too. I need to call up tomorrow to organise this but it looks like I will be saving a further 3.90 a month which makes a yearly saving on the line rental of 46.80, over the 166.80 I would have to pay if I just paid it monthly. Certainly a worthwhile thing to do if you can front up the 120 for the year. Will find out tomorrow and confirm final costs. So it does show it is worth questioning the deals you get offered, as it could be worth a few green queens staying in your pocket. Think I am going to blow some of that cash I just saved on a beer!
Wow, thats a blast from the past - guess what I forgot !! I'll have to check the bills, see whats what & get on the phone myself Danster: can I just e-mail you all stuff & you work as my PA
Ok, think I have now sorted it all out. And cheaper again! I was paying 93 a quarter for anytime calls, line rental, broadband (10gb a month). This makes 372 a year. So now I pay 120 up front for the year's line rental. Then 10 a month for broadband (10gb a month) + 4.70 for anytime calls to UK landlines and other free numbers like 0845 etc. I have needed to go to online billing to get this but no problem with that. I will now be billed quarterly for the 14.70 x 3 = 44.10. This makes 176.40 a year, and with the 120 I paid up front for line rental now makes a total of 296.40. That is a saving of 75.60 a year!!
can't wait to change our price plan with BT, got utterly stung by them when we set up our landline. just five more months to wait.
Our bill is 150-200 a month from bt, have 2 landlines which work out at about 30 each, then unlimited broadband is 40 on top and then my mobile aswell, they are taking so much cash. I pay 22 a month for the sim aswell, and my mate has just got a 500 phone for 20 a month with virgin. Not sure what to do as i took a 24month contract out.
