Land line phones (are they a thing of the past?)

So how do you do it?

  • I always use a LL phone when at home

    Votes: 24 31.2%

  • I never use a LL phone when at home

    Votes: 17 22.1%

  • I'll use both

    Votes: 25 32.5%

  • I don't have a LL

    Votes: 5 6.5%

  • I don't have a mobile

    Votes: 7 9.1%

  • I don't care, I'm off down the pub

    Votes: 4 5.2%
  • Total voters
    77
Tigger.ufo said:
...and just try phoning them Chris!

"This number is not recognised. Please check the number and try again"

I have used Say No to 0870 for years but no joy with City-Link who to collect from their depot would involve me driving past Park Cameras to do so!
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I've just emailed City Link and pointed the law out to them and asked for a compliant customer services number, let's see how they reply ;).
 
justlooking said:
I use LL at home as mobile reception it pathetic
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What network are you on?

Some of the networks have wifi apps or home signal boxes these days. It normally takes a simple complaint to get one if the network has decent CS.
 
What about the extra stuff you get with a BT line, like BT sport, WiFi hot spots and all that crap.
Is that reason enough to have a LL ?
 
joxby said:
What about the extra stuff you get with a BT line, like BT sport, WiFi hot spots and all that crap.
Is that reason enough to have a LL ?
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But you need BT internet for the associated "Stuff" surely?
And I certainly don't want to be paying for BT Sports either, there is enough crap on the TV as it is.
(Yes its suppose to be free, but I bet its factored into the price.)
 
boliston said:
I don't know how BT can justify £16 per month line rental when other suppliers charge £10 or less for the same bits of copper.
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Which other suppliers? Certainly not plus.net or talk talk or virgin or sky.
 
Well I think thread is about the point of having a landline from a usage perspective rather than availability or cost.

Fact is, unless you have cable you have no choice, I mean you can choose whether you have and pay for a landline but the reality of that is that line rental makes up the lions share of the bill, which you'd pay anyway for your internet access, and for the little extra it costs to actually have a phone in your house, you might as well have it, regardless of whether its your main line of communication or not.
Its p*** poor, but monopolies generally are.


Cobra said:
But you need BT internet for the associated "Stuff" surely?
And I certainly don't want to be paying for BT Sports either, there is enough crap on the TV as it is.
(Yes its suppose to be free, but I bet its factored into the price.)
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Oh yeah, it will be.......thats it you've set my bum itch off again.. :/
 
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More than once I have heard tell that BT is planning to offer it's inlimited fibre broadband customers (and of course new customers to the same) a peanuts line rental plan with no phone option, simply for internet.

Judging by the amount of people with no requirement for a LL, I suspect they'd clean up until others did the same.
 
joxby said:
but the reality of that is that line rental makes up the lions share of the bill,
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Or in my case, it makes up 100% of the bill ;)
I'm in the never used the LL from home camp :)

viv1969 said:
More than once I have heard tell that BT is planning to offer it's inlimited fibre broadband customers (and of course new customers to the same) a peanuts line rental plan with no phone option, simply for internet.
Judging by the amount of people with no requirement for a LL, I suspect they'd clean up until others did the same.
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I'd certainly jump on that band wagon.
Truth is they have been promising "me" well my area, fibre for a few years now,
they still haven't managed it.
Although they are more than happy to charge me circa 16 quid for 2,5meg,
under the pretence that it is actually fibber, I mean fibre optic.
 
I've just been offered a free unlimited fibre optic upgrade from BT at no extra cost, don't really need the speed but perhaps I should take them up on it
just in case :)
 
Dave1 said:
What network are you on?

Some of the networks have wifi apps or home signal boxes these days. It normally takes a simple complaint to get one if the network has decent CS.
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My mobile is on Vodaphone and I appear to live in a smallish area where the signal is very often nil or if I face the right way perhaps two bars.
 
justlooking said:
My mobile is on Vodaphone and I appear to live in a smallish area where the signal is very often nil or if I face the right way perhaps two bars.
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It is probably worth complaining to Vodafone, loud and often, they do a device called "Sure Signal" that gives you a mini cell at home.

Many people manage to get them for free after complaints to the forum teams or their CEO 's office. When you complain, drop in that you intend moving to another network if they don't resolve the issue.
 
Dave1 said:
It is probably worth complaining to Vodafone, loud and often, they do a device called "Sure Signal" that gives you a mini cell at home.

Many people manage to get them for free after complaints to the forum teams or their CEO 's office. When you complain, drop in that you intend moving to another network if they don't resolve the issue.
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I might be tempted to badger Vodafone about this but it's not important. We have a landline for what passes for broadband around here anyway, and threatening to jump ship might not work. The only alternative is O2, which is just as poor, and I'm sure they know that!
 
MartynK said:
. The only alternative is O2, which is just as poor, and I'm sure they know that!
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No one says you have to actually move, just making the threat can sometimes work.

O2 has a free wifi app now, called TuGo, it's actually very good, allowing you to use your cellular allowance over wifi from anywhere in the world.
 
ST4 said:
plus I need landline for the web
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That bit given Steve, it was the fact that who uses the LL phone as well :)
 
Tigger.ufo said:
How do fecking City-Link get away with only having an 0844 4 no. then?
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City Link's excuse, the recipient isn't their customer, but they do give a law compliant contact number to companies who use them. What a bunch of tw*ts...

As you are aware, the new regulation prohibits helpline phone charges in excess of the basic rate for calls made by customers to a retailer or trader about products they've purchased. This essentially means that your suppliers have to offer you an alternative telephone number so you can contact them about the order you have placed with them.

The company that holds the contract with City Link are offered alternative telephone numbers because they pay us directly for the service. As you are a third party we are not liable to provide you with any alternative telephone numbers. However, we do offer a service online so you can contact us by email should you require any assistance.
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Nice get out :rolleyes:
 
Dave, tw*ts they may be, but, sadly they're also correct :(
 
viv1969 said:
Dave, tw*ts they may be, but, sadly they're also correct :(
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I know, but what a way to run a business.

Then again, they make that many cock ups with deliveries they probably make a fortune from all the angry recipients trying to find where their parcel is on the 0844 number.
 
Dave1 said:
Then again, they make that many cock ups with deliveries they probably make a fortune from all the angry recipients trying to find where their parcel is on the 0844 number.
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PMSL
 
Dave1 said:
City Link's excuse, the recipient isn't their customer, but they do give a law compliant contact number to companies who use them. What a bunch of tw*ts...
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Which is why I go out of my way to not use companies who use them, but unfortunately I failed to find out from Park Cameras until it was too late!:rolleyes:


.
 
Same here. They once left a huge cardboard box on my mum's doorstep (they sent us a photo!), which is right by the main path.
She was indoors as well but they didn't knock. By the time she had left the house the parcel was gone but City Link didn't want anything to do with it.
 
spike241 said:
Same here. They once left a huge cardboard box on my mum's doorstep (they sent us a photo!), which is right by the main path.
She was indoors as well but they didn't knock. By the time she had left the house the parcel was gone but City Link didn't want anything to do with it.
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at least without a signature the sender would be liable for the cost of the goods
 
I have three landlines and brilliant mobile reception. I always make calls to landlines from a landline. Why suffer a poor quality line (over mobile) when there is something better available? I've never understood this. People these days don't strive for quality and seem to accept inferior, this really baffles me. I didn't understand the early popularity of youtube as the quality of everything on there was dire - and still is in many cases.

Why take that shot with a nikon mobile phone camera when you have your canon available?
 
2blue4u said:
Why suffer a poor quality line (over mobile) when there is something better available?
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I must admit I've never noticed "poor quality"
when phoning from home on a mobile to mobile or land line.
In the middle of nowhere maybe a slightly different case,
but then there are no LL's in the middle of a field anyway ;)


2blue4u said:
Why take that shot with a nikon mobile phone camera when you have your canon available?
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OUCH!
:D
 
Cobra said:
I must admit I've never noticed "poor quality"
when phoning from home on a mobile to mobile or land line.
In the middle of nowhere maybe a slightly different case,
but then there are no LL's in the middle of a field anyway ;)
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Me too. I always use my mobile from home, never notice a drop in quality when calling a landlne
 
justlooking said:
I use LL at home as mobile reception it pathetic
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I suspect it is pathetic in a lot of places. If you listen to any of the radio shows that have a live phone in you'll notice that the sound quality from many callers is bloody awful and sometimes totally breaks down.
 
I would also suspect, going on the "sounds" a lot of people are using it hands free,
(with or with out a supporting device) and possibly mobile too ;)
 
I swing both ways. Landline is still used primarily by my Dad (late 40s, also has tinnitus), a lot of his age that I know either use about 50/50 or mostly landline. My grandmother (late 70s) only has a cheap emergency mobile. I use the landline more as there's no worries of signal etc. (although, mine is excellent here!). Mobile for mobile calls though. Sometimes use it if I'm upstairs and remember I need to make a phone call.

I prefer texting to be honest. In proper English though, asides from any regional dialect that oozes in. Considering I can send 480 characters in 1 text, and most people I know have plans to send loads, mine is 5000 (which I barely touch, I have no friends), the whole idea of using "text speak" when it's not needed just irritates me.
 
It pees me off that to have broadband I have to have and pay line rental for a landline phone I never use.
 
We use land line normally, mobile coverage is poor and on pay-as-you go, quite expensive.

I do get maddened by the number of crap sales calls, though this has reduced 90% since I bought a call blocker. Unfortunately I can't do a blanket block on 'number withheld' because NHS uses it, as do some other large organisations.
 
Swissy said:
It pees me off that to have broadband I have to have and pay line rental for a landline phone I never use.
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Line rental is for the rental of the line. It is not for the ability to make voice calls, that is just one thing you can do with the line once it is connected. If you didn't rent the line there would be no line connected to your house for your broadband to arrive on :rolleyes:.

It's been this way since LLU started, which must be over a decade. If you really don't like paying it, get a SIM with lots of data for your mobile phone and tether that. You can have your landline disconnected then.
 
Nope I don't want a sim with lots of data, last month I downloaded 600 gig of stuff lol imagine how much that would have cost.

I just begrudge paying line rental end of.

Times have changed most of us just use mobile phones now so it just seems like a rip off to me
 
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So you want to have a line connected to your house and maintained so signals can travel over it, but you don't want to pay for it?

Line rental goes to maintenance of the network, which is why you have to pay it if your line is connected. OFCOM set the rate that BT wholesale are allowed to charge the various telecoms companies (of which BT retail is one) for this based on the cost of maintaining the network and it is about £9/month from memory (VAT will be added). This reflects the actual cost of maintenance averaged per subscriber. Or do you think that the network over which voice and data travels should only be maintained from the fees paid by people that make telephone calls?

You can get a private circuit connected to your house which is not part of the BT local loop and is dedicated to data. A number of providers will install one and connected it to their nearest point of presence to provide backhaul to the internet. This will mean you won't have to pay line rental for a telephone line. If you want such a circuit, put "leased line" into google and ask for some quotes. The traditional telephone line will suddenly get a lot more appealing.
 
You sound like you work for BT,

Argue as much as you want, line rental imo is a rip off, I am being made to pay for a land line phone I don't use or want, if there was a way for people to get (cheap)internet access without having a land line 99% would take it and ditch BT
 
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Untoll recently we had 3 BT landline numbers and an 0844 plus a Bath number provided via a VoIP sevice which enabled me to run my business from home and with 5 Associates any client ringing in wod get an answer from a team working from their home or out in the field et .

I sold the bisiness and reduced the LL to one number for private use and internet.

All here are on 3 mobile but earlier this year mods to tbe local tower left us without signal in the house (we also have walls 24-30 inches thick. A call to 3 got us a free signal booster box that plugs into our Infinity 2 service and we have full service inside the house.

The landline phone does not get used and we all have the "all you can eat" package for mobile (unlimited texts voice (LL and mobes) and data.

By not falling into the trap of 'upgrading' our phones we have kept all the full service and halved the monthly charge. I am in Amsterdam at the mo and can make and receive calls and connect to my VPN within my plan.

Stripping out all the extras for the 'must have' land line reduces the monthly charge (voicemail is £1.75 per month) and pre-paying a year line rental tales a useful chunk off that charge. The phone is not attached to the wall box and is in a cupboard for emergencies.

I know a couple of the local BT engineers and though relatively rural we got Infinity 2 a couple of years back, they have been told that our exchange will be on Infinity 3 and fibre to the proerty soon. Hopefully they will offer Broadband only then.

Given our use of streaming services including transferring big files to the cloud, when SWMBO mulled over the possibility of moving I gave her the list of must haves... superfast internet was number 1....

Landline.... yes will keep it for now but it's gone asap.

Steve
 
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We still have one, and just thinking why! We certainly don't need it..
 
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