Thu, 09 Jul 2009 Third of UK broadband customers don't bundle telecoms services

Elliot Richards said on Thu, 09 Jul 2009

Heaven forbid Quality of Service being an issue. Why pay less for rubbish customer service when it goes wrong, if you can get through, on an 0845/0870 line?

Seriously, there's something to be said for paying a quid or two more for just better service and better reliability.

Alex Cotton said on Thu, 09 Jul 2009

As Elliot said, reliability. None of these providers/companies are in it for the customer's benefit, they're in it for profit. Customer service can be atrocious, especially if a problem turns out to be slightly more than requiring a routine solution. And with their 0845 type numbers it rapidly becomes costly trying to sort out something that is their responsibility (yet we pay for simply trying to tell them).

I know people who have never had a problem, and those who have. When they have had a problem it's been a nightmare to sort out (usually along the lines of the error appears to never have been recorded and they have to go through the whole thing again with customer services).

By keeping services separate at least when one goes wrong/has a problem the others aren't affected.

Joe Blogs said on Thu, 09 Jul 2009

Sky are putting every one up from 8Mb to 10Mb for free! And then also capping them at 10Gb instead of 40Gb with less than a months notice to get out of your contract for free.

This is only one reason why a 3rd of the country would rather pay more for good service and support.

Christiaan said on Thu, 09 Jul 2009

I have a landline phone bundled with my Virgin broadband connection because it's cheaper than broadband by itself. But I don't even have a phone plugged in. It's ridiculous.

Jovin said on Thu, 09 Jul 2009

Agree with what everyone just said.. Plus, they'll ask you to sign up to a minimum contract, usually 12 months. If you're already past your minimum term on an existing contract it's a risk you may not want to take - tying yourself into worse service for a fixed term?

Aaron Fothergill said on Thu, 09 Jul 2009

My land line is only there to run ADSL over and that's it. I already pay the BBC for my TV and it's cheaper to buy the good stuff off iTunes than pay Sky or Virgin for extra adverts.

As all the other posters have noted, ALL the companies doing bundled phone, broadband and TV are terrible ISPs with crippling usage caps and horrible customer support. I'm amazed only a third of customers are avoiding them.

Brian said on Thu, 09 Jul 2009

What choice, i can't get virgin broadband even though the street below does. O2 can't offer discounts for my exchange. Sky has low download allowance. My neighbour took 2 weeks to resolve their Talk Talk phone line problem. Minimum contract period, no thanks!

George said on Thu, 09 Jul 2009

Now, if we had a regulator that regulated, wouldn't that be pleasing!

Having spent an afternoon being told limited truths by ISPs I tried the comparison sites, only to discover that one was doing a 'special offer' from Plusnet that was lower than the published price (how can one trust such information?).

Many do not allow for non-LLU exchanges when giving a price and if one tries using the availability boxes, people like Talktalk's sales team ring one up for days afterwards (no warning of this on the site).

This price for the first 3 months, that for signing one's life away: is there an 'R' in the month. . . Feeling drained by the experience, I am tempted by the straightforward Post Office (of all sources), entire price-list on a single page.

Bosie Reece Dixon said on Thu, 09 Jul 2009

Ridiculous argument - a wise decision is not based on cost. If I want cheap it's available; if I want quality I have to shop around.

Harry said on Thu, 09 Jul 2009

@Aaron, I pay £20 a month for phone line rental and 8 Mbit ADSL combined, with *no* data cap. I also get free landline calls to anywhere in the UK 24/7, free calls to the U.S. and Canada (landlines and mobiles) 24/7, and free calls to landlines in Australia, New Zealand, France, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands 24/7.

I have never had a problem with the broadband or the phone line.

Tiscali, in case you were wondering.

Craikeybaby said on Fri, 10 Jul 2009

I had loads of problems when I was with Tiscali and the service was crap.

What about the option of getting discounted ADSL through your mobile provider? Not officially bundled, but cheap (and FWIW the service has been good).