Have to pay for Caller Display!

[#1]

I am totally new to PlusNet and I have just been connected today. I have just found out that I have to pay for Caller Display.
I have never had to pay Caller Display from other phone companies since I started having a home phone.
I am already not happy paying for a service that I've never had to pay for before.

[#2]

Not many people round here are happy with the Caller Display charge, something which is seen by many to be as much a standard feature of a phone service as the ring.

[#3]

BT seem to be offering it free for a year although their standard charge looks like £1.75 a month otherwise.
Many others do seem to offer it as part of the line rental though.
I fully expected to pay the extra £0.99/month when I signed up a couple of years ago though as I'd read through all the extras before signing up.

[#4]

It has always been standard and free. I did phone and complain but got no joy and the customer adviser just said that it's 99p!

[#5]

It has always been a chargeable option on PN for as long as I've been with them (>2 years now).
BT Wholesale charge Plusnet for the option too - I've just read the price lists though and it appears the wholesale cost has fallen from £6 a year down to £0.45 (+vat) per year - if this is the case then it wouldn't take much for PN to absorb this cost or even charge a one off £1 a year fee for it .
It will be interesting to see if PN start passing these new savings on.

[#6]

I very much doubt if PN will decrease their price but even if it was just £1 per a year then I would be happy to pay that amount but not 99p per a month. I know it sounds petty but every penny counts these days.

[#7]

Quote from: DomS

It will be interesting to see if PN start passing these new savings on.

Off topic, but wholesale line rental has dropped a bit as well but that doesn't stop telcos putting the retail price of rental up though!
I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for CLI to drop in price - Very happy to be proved wrong of course!

[#8]

They would freeze the prices but they would never drop the prices. My landline and broadband was with Sky and it increases every year.

[#9]

Quote from: DomS

BT seem to be offering it free for a year although their standard charge looks like £1.75 a month otherwise.

For as long as I can remember BT have always had a charge for this.  They did though at one time bundle it free with a "security / privacy" package (included TPS registration), however one had to make a minimum number / value of chargeable calls.  As I rarely use the landline outside of evening & weekends, I kept being stung by them for the monthly fee.  PlusNet at 99p is irksome but much cheaper than the price reported by Dom.

[#10]

I used to have it with BT (for free with the privacy package) and the only calls I ever made were free ones, but was never charged for it.
A couple of years ago I created a poll on what people wanted 1571 or CLI, the VAST majority wanted CLI. PN promised to look into it then but as usual it was dropped and they continue to charge for it.

[#11]

Quote from: Townman

Quote from: DomS BT seem to be offering it free for a year although their standard charge looks like £1.75 a month otherwise. For as long as I can remember BT have always had a charge for this.  They did though at one time bundle it free with a "security / privacy" package (included TPS registration), however one had to make a minimum number / value of chargeable calls.  As I rarely use the landline outside of evening & weekends, I kept being stung by them for the monthly fee.  PlusNet at 99p is irksome but much cheaper than the price reported by Dom.

BT still do offer it free with the "Privacy at Home" scheme, provided you agree to a new yearly contract every time. Otherwise it's £1.75 pm. Up until a year or 2 ago, you didn't need to agree to the yearly contract.
Making a charged call was part of the deal originally, but that was dropped many years ago.
I have no problem with Plusnet charging 99p pm for caller ID. It still works out cheaper than the line rental I was paying with BT & it was clearly shown when signing up on the internet.

[#12]

Yes BT are getting a bit sneaky; it used to be totally free (if you knew what to ask for) but now they want a contract commitment as well. 

[#13]

Hi guys,
This one is debated quite often, though I'm pretty certain that we have always charged 99p since we started providing home phone, and we have tried to be very transparent about it.
Whilst I don't treat this as justification, we have kept our voicemail 1571 free, whereas I think that other providers have started charging up to £1.85 for it.

Quote from: Hairy

A couple of years ago I created a poll on what people wanted 1571 or CLI, the VAST majority wanted CLI. PN promised to look into it then but as usual it was dropped and they continue to charge for it.

Out of interest, would you still be able to find the post for this?
Matty

[#14]

This is one http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,75634.msg604749.htm but there was probably a later one

[#15]

Cheers Jim.
I'm actually surprised at that outcome (for back in 2009 anyway). Would have thought that voicemail would have been used a bit more often back then.