BT Line rental connection charge

Adrianr

Adrianr

Adrianr

Soldato
Joined
3 Feb 2008
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5,566
I was told I already had a BT line running straight into my flat. Whilst I have internet provided inclusive in my bills it's lacklustre at best, and as I get broadband cheap through o2 with the whole phone contract lark I figured having my own plugged in would be the best way to go.

Bloke at BT was very helpfull, but I'm being charged a £124.99 fee for an engineer to give the exchange a good coat of looking at, or something.. The soonest date for activation is the 28th of January.

They tried doing this with my girlfriends flat in London before she discovered it wasn't nessecary.. Is there a definite way to tell? Or do I just have to bend over and take it like a man?
 
If the lines been disconnected for a certain period (used to be 5 months IIRC but this seems to get shorter and shorter all the time) or never in service you're just going to have to bend over... Getting BT to waive this charge (which I agree is outrageous for what is normally a <20 min job for most lines) is like extracting blood from a stone.

Do you have a dial tone on the line that you're getting "installed" if so then they shouldn't really be charging you £125.
 
wij said:
If the lines been disconnected for a certain period (used to be 5 months IIRC but this seems to get shorter and shorter all the time) or never in service you're just going to have to bend over... Getting BT to waive this charge (which I agree is outrageous for what is normally a <20 min job for most lines) is like extracting blood from a stone.

Do you have a dial tone on the line that you're getting "installed" if so then they shouldn't really be charging you £125.
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Ykno I've actually no idea. I use my mobile for everything, dont even have a house phone! I presume it's worth me borrowing someones to just plug in and check?
 
Might also be worth looking at whether taking out a longer contract on the phone line (if that is a viable option for you) would also get them to drop the charge. They used to do an offer if you took the line rental for 18 months they'd drop the install charge.
 
sometimes if you sign up for a boardband package and 18 month contract they do it for free.
 
~Divine~Wind~ said:
Sky have also been known to subsidise this install cost if you take a pack from them.
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Though as the OP wants to use O2 (might be worth checking that you're able to get the LLU service not O2 Access by the way, the latter is **** - and also don't forget the oodles of cashback deals on offer).

The costs of getting Sky TV installed and the monthly costs of that might work out cheaper over the course of a contract to just pay BT £125.
 
To connect a telephone is not always as easy as connecting it up in the exchange. It can take a lot of work to connect the line. So to be quite honest £125 is cheap if you think about how much it costs BT to pay for the fuel, the van, the tools, the cabling, and the engineer.
 
wij said:
Might also be worth looking at whether taking out a longer contract on the phone line (if that is a viable option for you) would also get them to drop the charge. They used to do an offer if you took the line rental for 18 months they'd drop the install charge.
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18 months would be a preferable contract term to be honest. I'l give them a call.
 
wij said:
Though as the OP wants to use O2 (might be worth checking that you're able to get the LLU service not O2 Access by the way, the latter is **** - and also don't forget the oodles of cashback deals on offer).

The costs of getting Sky TV installed and the monthly costs of that might work out cheaper over the course of a contract to just pay BT £125.
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I can get the LLU service fortunately. Infact it was bought online about a week ago according to SamKnows. Not sure of any Cashback offers though? Besides the 2 months free broadband.
 
Is it legal for bt to say that If i dont have my line connected i have to sign a contract for them to charge 125 then have to pay 12-18 month contract? Cant you just get the 125 paid and go somewhere else?
 
It's a contract - of course it's legal.

You wouldn't sign a mobile phone contract then expect to leave after a few months when it was an 18 month contract. This is exactly the same.
 
I'm not sure if you can go straight to LLU, some places say you have to have a BT line first.

Although I've been assured by other LLU providers that you can switch from LLU to LLU without having a BT line... but the first time? Pretty much everyone I spoke to said the first time you go LLU it has to be from a BT line.

Why this is, no one ever told me...
 
o2 LLU is very good, supposedly.

o2 connect is useless :p this one uses BT's equipment rather than o2's.

go to samknows, stick in your postcode, and see if you have o2's LLU equipment at your exchange, perhaps...
 
disfunktion said:
You can get the charge waived if you agree to an 18 month contract.

See here -

http://www.serviceview.bt.com/list/public/current/Notice09_boo/2-FrameworkImpl337855.htm

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/free-BT-line-installation

You'll have to be quick as its only valid until the end of the month. you might have to try a few times as the BT customer service is useless and the people on the other end may not know about the offer.
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That's absolutely smashing, thankyou! A phonecall shall be made.


FoxEye said:
o2 LLU is very good, supposedly.

o2 connect is useless :p this one uses BT's equipment rather than o2's.

go to samknows, stick in your postcode, and see if you have o2's LLU equipment at your exchange, perhaps...
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According to Samknows o2 LLU is all setup at my local exchange, I'm confused though, does this mean I don't need a BT line anymore? There seems no specific mention of LLU on o2's site. I thought you just got it if your exchange was enabled?
 
you need a BT line, and then once you have your phone number contact o2.

HOWEVER.. what exchange are you on? I have recently moved, and had a line put in by BT. I had it installed free by signing up for an 18month contract (must make 10 chargeable calls a month), paying with DD and paperless billing gets the cost down to £11.75 a month. I then went to O2 to get the ADSL sorted out, and found they could not offer me LLU even they had equipment in the exchange (SLSF) as it was at capacity.

So, what exchange are you looking at?
 
when you get put on an LLU package, your line is disconnected from BT's equipment at the exchange, and connected instead to o2's equpment.

this save o2 a ton of money, and also means you can potentially get adsl2+ speeds instead of BT's standard offering of 8meg.

if o2 LLU is available, o2 will put you on that.

I would contact o2, give them your phone number, ask them to make sure LLU is possible on your line (it should be if Samknows lists them), and go for that.

then hopefully you don't have to pay BT anything. which is more than they deserve anyhow :p
 
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