Dave wrote on Apr 16
th, 2011 at 10:20am:
Perhaps you have pretty much answered your own question. They give free calls to mobiles at weekends (when termination rates are at their lowest) and make up for it elsewhere.
I didn't know that mobile termination rates are lower at the weekend. Shame on the main mobile service providers for not passing that onto their (and BT's) customers!!
The Post Office also offers free international calls at weekends. Explain that one?
Not sure what you mean by "[they] make up for it elsewhere"... Their non-inclusive (weekday daytime) call charges hardly break the bank... In fact, they're low compared to BT's: 5.36p to a landline (compared to BT's soon-to-be 7.6p), with a connection charge of 9.6p per call (soon 12.5p on BT). Their non-inclusive calls to most international countries are only 5.11p a minute - cheaper than their UK calls (go figure!), and cheaper than BT's standard international charges. Even their non-inclusive calls to UK mobiles are only a teeny bit more than BT's.
Admitedly, they charge a lot for the calling features - but honestly, how many residential customers need three-way calling etc? The only one most people can't live without these days is caller display, which sets you back a whopping £2.50 a month on Post Office. That's the only real downside to them, I guess. If you work weekdays nine to five, the standard working day, and can live without caller display, Post Office Homephone is a very good choice. Unfortunately, according to most online reviews, their customer service is the pits... but nearly all the reviews I've seen have been for their broadband service. There's a lot less to go wrong with a telephone service, so maybe they're all right if you just stick to that.