New Set-Up fee charge

[#1]

Does anybody understand what the 4.5p set-up fee for non inclusive calls actually means...?  Does it mean that every call will cost 4.5p plus the charge for the length of the call so a 1 minute, non-inclusive, call would cost 4.5p + 3p therefore costing 7.5p rather than the 5p that it use to cost...?

[#2]

Yes, that's exactly what it means, but it will actually cost 8p as charges are rounded up to the nearest penny.
When you make a non-inclusive call, the 4.5p charge is slapped on as soon as the recipient picks up the receiver, and then charging as usual commences from second 0.
I recently switched to PN Anytime+ from TalkTalk (who already use the setup fee system) and did a detailed analysis based on previous TalkTalk bills of how much I would save with PN.  It amounted to about £5 on a typical month. Having re-analysed, the new charging regime increases my PN bill by about £1.50 per month, so happily I'm still cheaper than with TalkTalk.

[#3]

I was interested in your reply about comparisons with TalkTalk. I use Homephone Anytime Plus and Option 1 PAYG and thought that I would be better off financially with TalkTalk at £20 per month (although I have no intention of changing).
Out of curiosity, can you say how you arrive at your comparison please? 

[#4]

I picked up on this similarly.  For me the following changes are disappointing :-
a) The change to per minute billing (rounded upto next minute rather than 6 seconds).
b) The call setup fee added to the cost of all chargable calls.
c) The removal of weekend rates on many calls (so that now weekends are classified as daytime / evening).
d) The increase of landline call charges to 3ppm at all times.
Looking into it further last night, though, I see this is the way that most telcos are now going.  I'll just need to review my bills to see if I still get the best deal, but on Anytime+ with the 300 included minutes internationally, I think I probably am  - though the bill will increase.

[#5]

Quote from: poppy

I was interested in your reply about comparisons with TalkTalk. I use Homephone Anytime Plus and Option 1 PAYG and thought that I would be better off financially with TalkTalk at £20 per month (although I have no intention of changing). Out of curiosity, can you say how you arrive at your comparison please?

I'm only comparing phone packages, not broadband since I wouldn't touch TalkTalk broadband with a barge pole even though it is effectively free with their phone packages. My broadband has been with Plusnet for many years, but only recently have I switched my phone over to them too from TalkTalk.
The basic comparision goes like this (per month):
TalkTalk Talk 3 package  £7.49
'Mobile Extra' option (25% off mobile calls)  £0.45
Caller ID  £1.50
Line Rental  £10.49
Giving a total spend before non-inclusive calls of £19.93
And for Plusnet....
Anytime +  £15
Caller ID  £1.50
Giving a total spend before non-inclusive calls of £16.50
Hence the non-inclusive calls with Plusnet need to cost £3.43 (£19.93 - £16.50) more than those with TalkTalk before Plusnet becomes more expensive, given TalkTalk's generally cheaper 'per minute' charges.
However, they didn't become more expensive. My typical spend with TalkTalk was about £26 per month i.e. there were about £6 worth of non-inclusive calls (£26-£19.93). I took a typical TalkTalk bill, knocked up a spreadsheet and worked out how much that bill would have cost on Plusnet, with the answer being about £21. This was on the old charging regime of no set-up fee and no call duration rounding-up (both of which TalkTalk already did). With the newly announced regime and call charges, my Plusnet bill increases by about £1.50, but is therefore still cheaper than TalkTalk.
As I say I don't include broadband in this. I'm happy to pay PN my £10.49 per month for this for what I consider to be a good service.

[#6]

Thank you for your reply.  As you describe it, our telephone package is very competitive, although only available with broadband (TalkTalk telephone line/calls can be obtained independent of BB).  I considered TT although the 'free' broadband would not have been free for me as I wouldn't have utilised anywhere near the telephone call allowance. Also, reliability was a major concern. I pay a little more now for a similar package, but have to top up for going over 1GB per month, which would not have applied with TT. It is worth the extra, however, as I have had really good service from Force 9.

[#7]

Hi all,
I've published a new blog post today going into a little more detail regarding the changes, and have posted a comparison table with our major competitors to help clarify things.
You can find the blog post here.

[#8]

Call cost rounding.....up or up and down?
Having a senior, so cannot recall what E+W means

[#9]

E&W evening and weekends I think,next question is all the other supplyers costs for E&W.

[#10]

......and is that chart identical for Anytime+ apart from the bottom line as that's what I have.
Dick

Time for a single malt I think

[#11]

Quote from: lucerne

Call cost rounding.....up or up and down? Having a senior, so cannot recall what E+W means

Rounding up, apologies if that was not clear.
E+W = Evening and Weekend call package.

[#12]

Quote from: FretMaster

......and is that chart identical for Anytime+ apart from the bottom line as that's what I have. Dick Time for a single malt I think

Yep, and I'll take a double.