Caller display and ring back

[#1]

Aslo with PN you don't have to suffer BT's appalling customer service and the hour-plus long waits in their queues before somone answers. (Speaking from personal experience!!!)

[#2]

I'm amazed no-one has been as shocked as I am that Plus Net (a BT company) have the nerve to charge for Caller Display - I was all set to consider the possibility of maybe thinking about swapping to PlusNet for home phone.  But the cost savings (not huge to begin with) would be halved (nearly) by the £18 PA for caller display.
Come on Plus Net, add it for free and I may join! 
Chris

[#3]

Hi Chris,
It's not really a case of us having the nerve to charge for something.  Caller Display, as with pretty much anything in our Business Model is charged for because Openreach charge us to supply it.

[#4]

Hi James - tongue was a bit in cheek before, but even so, it took me a long time today to find details of the charges for these extras - there is a really nice link from the initial page (http://www.plus.net/residential/phonecalls/home/index.shtml?resheader=phonecallstab) but I missed that, and once I got deeper into the details there was no mention of the price on any of the FAQ pages(http://www.plus.net/support/home_phone/info/general_guide.shtml#18  and http://www.plus.net/images/residential/voice/pdf/call_features.pdf , so I was a bit frustrated by the time I eventually found it.
But, to be honest, I think you could have got away with adding at the onset for everyone and adding the cost to the initial price.  I know not everyone wants it, but then it could be listed as a FREE service 
Oh and as a PS, I am sure there are still loads of BT customers paying the additional fee for caller display as BT have never told those paying it that is free if you ask for the "security package" - we were paying extra for a few years until someone mentioned it to me.

[#5]

James - thinking about this, is this all above board, I thought Openreach had to treat BT (whatever the company providing home phone packages under the BT brand  is called) the same as other companies.  Are you sure that Openreach are charging BT for caller display?
As otherwise it seems that BT are getting a £1.50 a month advantage, as anyone wanting to switch needs to factor that into account.  In my case it makes it such a marginal saving going to PlusNet Anytime over BT that I am still dithering.
Chris

[#6]

I agree with Eserim's comment. I also would  expect BT Wholesale to charge BT Retail the same as it charges all other providers.
I am with BT and have Caller Display and Voicemail - both free as part of BT Privacy. Plusnet would charge £2/month for these. Until Plusnet remove this charge it will not be cost effective foe me to move.

[#7]

I suppose that it all depends on the tariff you're on with BT.  If you're on Option 2 or Option 3 it's still cheaper to move to PN even taking the cost of caller display and voicemail into account.
Option 2 on BT is £13.95
With PN the equivalent, including voicemail and caller display, is £11.99.
Option 3 on BT is £18.45, the PlusNet equivalent including caller display and voicemail cost £17.
The only time it would cost more is if you're on BT Option 1 but PN don't do a package equivalent to that (4.5p per hour package with no inclusive calls) as the base £9.99 package includes evening and weekend calls (equivalent to Option 2).

[#8]

That's just it - we are on Option 1, but our daytime calls make up about £13 - so ontop of the basic £10 a month the anytime packages start to make sense (when added to the £3 or so evening/weekend calls)
So adding another £1.50 a month for caller display makes it it harder to call.
But I would still be interested to see BTs internal charging for these features investigated.
Chris

[#9]

sorry, a misunderstanding - I've mixed monthly and 1/4ly - the usage is for the full billing period, so our final BT bill per 1/4 is a shade over £50.
So with PlusNet Anytime at £45 per 1/4, plus £4.50 for caller display it really is close (this ignores the non geographic and mobile calls)
THe only advantage of PlusNet or BT option 3 is that our bill is more or less a certain amount and we then can use it more during the day with no worries
Cheers
Chris

[#10]

As others have said - essential that we have caller display (free with BT). We have No call charges at all on our bill - I don't know why anyone has nowadays.
[We use VOIP at the current voip.co.uk cost of 2p per hour (yes per hour) during the day. (fee of 20 pounds per year) Free calls in the evening and at weekends.  2p per min to the USA with no connection fees.]

So BT is cheaper.................