bbb_uk wrote on Feb 22^nd, 2014 at 10:59am:


Do we know what the cost price per month is for a line provided through a TalkTalk LLU though?

Is the amount charged by TalkTalk for WLR to other providers closer to the figures at which Primus is offering its product in the first year?  I would assume Primus have noted that landline line rental customers who move providers only tend to jump ship every five years so hence they expect to make their money in years 2 to 5?..........

Regarding bigjohn's original plug for Southern Electric line rental I think the most important point to note is that Talk Light from Southern Electric does not include any calls at all in the line rental (unlike Primus who include evening and weekend calls in their £6.99 first year deal through MSE), there is a massive call setup fee of 13.8p per call and call prices are a whopping 8.4p per minute in the weekday daytime.  Also the line rental mentioned by bigjohn requires a 12 month minimum contract.  TalkWeekend from Southern Electric, that does not have a 12 month contract, costs £12.99 per month but includes weekend calls and the daytime call rate is a sligtly but not much less whopping 6.75p per minute.  See https://www.southern-electric.co.uk/uploadedFiles/CoreMarketingSites/Assets/Docu...

bigjohn also does not mention that these packages are also sold at the same prices under the SWALEC, Scottish Hydro Electric and Atlantic Electric and Gas brand names as indicated at www.telecom-tariffs.co.uk/opnotes.htm

A far better bet than the Southern Electric tariff on a little used phone line if you want to commit for 12 months seems to be Post Office Homephone's Line Advance deal.  This costs £120 up front or £10 per month but includes free Weekend Calls, Caller Display, 1571 and Call Barring.  Also based on past history and the marketing position of Post Office Homephone this price is likely to be a sustainable long term one and not just a lure you in for Year 1 deal as the Primus Homephone deal clearly is.   Only bad news re Post Office Homephone is that they no longer include evening landline or weekend calls to mobiles or european fixed line numbers in their basic line rental tariff.

However there is no longer any cashback at www.topcashback.co.uk for joining Post Office Homephone whereas Primus currently offers £31.50 for becoming a Pay Monthly Homephone customer.

I'm probably actually going to get my mother to switch her second line to Post Office Homephone as the Caller Display is useful and I know I'm going to get it completely in the neck from her if Primus start inventing phantom calls etc and its impossible to contact anyone to complain about this.  Whereas in the event of any problem with Post Office Homephone an email to the CEO of the Post Office is likely to do the trick pretty rapidly based on past experience.

At the end of the day line rental is becoming so expensive now it is really better to disconnect a little used phone like this one and replace it with a little used Pay As You Go mobile on Three's 321 or similar or a little used Voip line with landline incoming number from www.sipgate.co.uk or similar.  Unfortunately however this one is connected to my mother's burglar alarm system so there would be a one off £100 or so charge to get it swapped on to her main line.  Really her burglar alarm could do with updating anyway to one that has a dual mobile phone and fixed landline dialler option to overcome the likely eventuality of a sophisticated burglar cutting the phone line before they break in.

NGMsGhost wrote on Feb 22^nd, 2014 at 2:06pm:


Its £120 upfront  and £12 a month  soon to be £13 a month.

I notice you conveniently you miss out when it suits you the soon to be massive connection fee of 15p and the new wopping Daytime call charges to national and local numbers which will increase to 8.5p a minute,and the higher costs to mobile, and new disgaceful costs to call 0844/0871.

The fact that it does not have a minimum term might be useful to mention.

The £1.25 a month Inclusive bolt on for  evening and weekend calls   to UK landlines with area codes beginning 01, 02 or 03 and calls to 0845 and
0870 numbers, is very reasonable as it also includes weekend calls to landlines in  Top 40 Countries  and all UK mobile
networks.

If you refer a friend both you and the friend get £10 credit.

Primus are increasing their prices from 1/4/2014 .

"Line Rental & Calls
From 1st April 2014 your line rental charge will increase by £1.20 per month. The call set up fee that is applied on all
non-inclusive calls, such as calls to mobile phones, will increase to 14.5p per call. The cost of daytime calls to UK landlines will also increase to 8.4p per minute from 1st April 2014."

" As a result of the price changes indicated above, you may exit your contract with Primus Saver without penalty, so long as you provide us with notice of your intention to terminate your service subscription within 30 days of the date of this notification. "

http://www.primussaver.co.uk/pricing-notifications.html