topic Re: Customer equipment - given a basic phone again? in Plusnet Feedback

Customer equipment - given a basic phone again?

Gus — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 14:32:45 GMT

It used to be when you got a BT line you got a BT phone supplied by them, ok that was decades ago but shouldn't that happen again? Considering that fact that customers regularly now have no corded phone or they have a wireless DECT handset and they can't do the basic fault check for phone line noise. Would it be a great hassle/cost to give every one with a phoneline account a very basic corded phone for that reason?

Re: Customer equipment - given a basic phone again?

Razorback — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 14:43:39 GMT

I seem to recall rather than being given by BT they were rented. Years ago you didnt have the option to have your own telephone equipment. You can pick up a cheap corded phone for a fiver. I still have one in the cupboard from back in the day.

Re: Customer equipment - given a basic phone again?

HairyMcbiker — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 14:54:21 GMT

Yep I am sure there used to be a "rental" charge on the phone bill way back in the 70's, I think that was when my dad bought a new phone.

Re: Customer equipment - given a basic phone again?

jelv — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 15:00:21 GMT

That's correct. And when you said you didn't want it, and asked where should you send it back to, more often and not they said keep it!

Re: Customer equipment - given a basic phone again?

w23 — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 15:06:18 GMT

That's after they started replacing the hard-wired faceplates with sockets you could plug telephones into.

Re: Customer equipment - given a basic phone again?

catelliott — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 15:20:03 GMT

Hi Gus,
I see where you're coming from, and it is a great idea, but unfortunately, it wouldn't be cost effective for us, as a company, to provide every customer with a phone handset. You can pick up simple handsets from a number of retailers for a reasonable price

Re: Customer equipment - given a basic phone again?

jelv — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 15:22:51 GMT

I've just looked on Amazon and you can get a brand new BT handset for under a tenner!

Re: Customer equipment - given a basic phone again?

x47c — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 15:27:18 GMT

Yes:
That was in the days when everything and all internal wiring phones etc was in BT's (well GPO in those days) control.
You basically HAD to rent a phone for which you were charged.
Then the concept of the NTE5 socket came in being a demarcation point between the customer and BT.
At the same time now householders could do their own extension wiring internal to the house on their side of the NTE5 - with some of the dire results we have seen.
Did it change over at the point when the first tranche of GPO was privatised to become BT?
Basically this change allowed BT to offload internal house issues onto the customer so getting rid of lots of non revenue earning costs at the same time I'd imagine.
As ever its all costs
Around 25 million domestic properties in the UK
so BTOR supplies 1 phone to each at say £5 cost each so that is £125m total bill
Then there is is admin/P&P/aggro whatever charges plus lost in post scenarios which is probably going to be the same/household again averaged out so you are getting on for a quarter of a billion pounds
Well we are now starting to talk serious money here!
So who wants to pay?

Re: Customer equipment - given a basic phone again?

Gus — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 15:46:05 GMT

Lately seeing a number of threads all with the same issue, the customer can't do a basic fault check with their phone line as they have no phone at all or have a DECT handset.
Then the standard reply you can get one for £5-10, would you be happy if every ISP suddenly stopped supplying routers and modems/all in ones for ADSL/FTTC? I think not, so if I buy a phone service am I not buying the hardware to use it as well?

Re: Customer equipment - given a basic phone again?

catelliott — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 16:02:36 GMT

Again, Gus, I do see where you're coming from, but these days, not all customers who have the phone line use it to make calls. In fact, it's becoming more and more common for people just to have it for the broadband

Re: Customer equipment - given a basic phone again?

peter10 — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 16:20:45 GMT

A very cheap corded phone can be picked up for £5-99 at Argos. If PN were to supply basic phones they would probably charge P & P as they do for ADSL routers so I can't see any benefit. I have very poor mobile reception so I bought a £5 corded phone from the now defunct Comet as in the case of a power cut my DECT phones wouldn't work. I certainly wouldn't want to pay even slightly more for my phone and broadband package just to get a corded phone that I would rarely use.

Re: Customer equipment - given a basic phone again?

jelv — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 16:31:59 GMT

Quote from: Gus
I think not, so if I buy a phone service am I not buying the hardware to use it as well?

You are not buying a phone line, you are buying a line which can be used to connect a phone, a fire or burglar alarm, a fax, to connect a Sky box to allow it to call home, an old or disabled persons emergency alarm and also for ADSL (and probably a few other things as well). Also 99.9% people coming to Plusnet from another provider will already have the phones they want. So why should Plusnet put up prices for everyone to supply something that in a lot of cases will just end up in the landfill unused?

Re: Customer equipment - given a basic phone again?

JayG — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 16:44:15 GMT

People's telephony habits have changed much faster than copper telephone line technology, so there's little point PN adding to their costs by starting to supply a corded phone as part of the package now.
As Salmo has pointed out you need a corded phone as an alternative to a DECT during power cuts, so it has its uses apart from being a noise-detecting tool.

Re: Customer equipment - given a basic phone again?

HairyMcbiker — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 17:13:07 GMT

Last corded phone I got I got from freecycle !

Re: Customer equipment - given a basic phone again?

picbits — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 17:37:32 GMT

Last corded phone I gave away was on Freecycle !
There is no such thing as a free lunch. If PN gave every customer a basic phone, the majority would end up in a cupboard and we'd all have to pay for it somewhere along the line anyway as they would have to cover their costs by adding it to the bills somewhere. I have a few corded phones in a box in the attic. I've not used a corded phone for years. If I wanted to buy one I could nip down to Argos and grab one for a fiver (or used to be able to).

Re: Customer equipment - given a basic phone again?

Oldjim — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 17:40:59 GMT

I use mine occasionally
Usually to call the electricity supplier to report a power cut and to see when the expected fix time is

Re: Customer equipment - given a basic phone again?

PeterLoftus — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 17:46:08 GMT

With all the flooding and wind events recently I am surprised that there haven't been more posts saying they would never again be without a corded phone. It is IMHO the most reliable system for support in an emergency and great for ringing up the emergency helpline for the local electrical distribution company.
But I agree anyone who hasn't got one should buy one of a fiver! At those prices ISP's needn't be involved

Re: Customer equipment - given a basic phone again?

tijara33 — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 20:45:49 GMT

Mine arrives from Amazon tomorrow; thanks for the reminder. I meant to do it 3 weeks ago when a careless tree took out our power cable!

Re: Customer equipment - given a basic phone again?

jelv — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 20:53:48 GMT

Suggested phone: http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5526527.htm £5.99

Re: Customer equipment - given a basic phone again?

198kHz — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 09:20:31 GMT

Quote from: PeterLoftus
With all the flooding and wind events recently I am surprised that there haven't been more posts saying they would never again be without a corded phone. It is IMHO the most reliable system for support in an emergency and great for ringing up the emergency helpline for the local electrical distribution company.

Agreed.
Everyone should have a corded phone, permanently connected.
Imagine waking at 3am with your smoke alarm beeping, the DECT handset flat, or there's a power cut, but you know there's a corded phone at the back of a cupboard - somewhere.