Permanent Call barring on Plusnet

[#1]

I am setting up a buy to let with flat students or temporary workers being the likely market.
Decided to provide broadband so long as the monthly bill will be 100% predictable. Will add it to the rent.
This avoids the need for e.g. foreign students to have a delay getting connected due to credit check or unwanted long contract issues etc.
Having decided, I find that Virgin Media who I know offer 'Broadband Only' with no phone line does not serve the address - not a cabled building.
I have been phoning the Plusnet sales line for an answer to see if Plusnet can offer a 'virtual no phone line' broadband service where any chargeable outgoing calls are guaranteed to be blocked (0800 and 999/112 would be acceptable). But no-one picks up at Plusnet! So I hope someone here can answer.
Is there a Help Page on the Plusnet explaining exactly how this outgoing block would work?
What is the current status - can Plusnet guarantee that unless the account holder explicitly changes things, there's a way to block chargeable outbound calls?

[#2]

Hi - as per James' earlier posts, we cannot guarantee that call barring will stay on the line because our billing system is set up to automatically put it on & remove it under certain events (e.g. late payment).
P.S. It's often better to start a new thread if there hasn't been a recent discussion on the topic - saves any confusion with past discussion

[#3]

Split off to its own thread

[#4]

OK Ben thanks for the update that does not inspire confidence.
But I have now discovered that in any case there appears to be no way to prevent Reverse Charge calls and these can cost a fortune.
All in all it's entirely within the power of the telcos to offer what I require to people whose main use of a phone line is Internet and especially to landlords.
I am now going the way of offering a Three 3g/4g WiFi hotspot instead - the ISPs don't want my money! 

[#5]

You can bar all calls, including operator & 999 which AFAIK includes reverse charges. (Again, we cannot confirm this will stay on the line).
Edit: I'm sorry if this 'doesn't inspire confidence' but the reason we also state that call barring might not stay on is because billing controls call barring and there are scenarios where we expect billing to place a 'remove call barring' order. This is entirely by design.

[#6]

BT clearly states in their Ts&Cs online that they cannot/will not block reverse charges (but their pages do clearly confirm that outgoing calls can be blocked).
Hence I have assumed the same will be true of Plusnet unless & can see a Ts&Cs page on Plusnet's site to the contrary.

[#7]

I'm fairly sure that your assumption is correct.
Why not just charge your tenants the charges for the phone and broadband service and add it into your tenancy agreement?

[#8]

The idea is this:
- The day the tenant arrives (possibly from abroad) the water, power and WiFi is working
- Because of the variable costs involved, the tenant will take over water and power contracts per tenancy agreement. Meters will have been read on arrival there's a tried & tested procedure for this.
- I wanted absolutely fixed cost broadband with no possibility of unknown phone charges. Were the property on Virgin cable for example, Virgin's 'Broadband Only no phone' line would have done this perfectly.
- When the tenant moves out, meters are read again, their contract to pay arrears on power & water is with the companies and not me.
- The day the tenant moves out, the WiFi stays working so its immediately available to the next tenant. No complex procedures.
I've been on other forums and many landlords are looking for this broadband solution and not getting clear answers!
Those with Virgin cable only are looking a bit smug though!

[#9]

Hi
AAISP might have a solution for you - you can get a broadband only line with your broadband with them for £10 a month line rental, and it can't be used for calls.  See http://www.aa.net.uk/broadband-home1-info.html#more for more info.

[#10]

Would it be an option to build a lockable box or cupboard enclosing the master socket, or have it moved into an existing cupboard? Perhaps the router could live inside this, too. Or if the router were outside, then the filter could be inside, with only the HF DSL line coming out?
If you can't plug in a phone, then you can't make calls or receive reverse-charge calls. (You can't receive any calls at all, which may not be what you want.)

[#11]

Some good ideas. Had a look at AA - got excited for a moment then noticed that the basic Home:1 package would be £35. No Quidco etc here!
Any over-usage, though improbable, is billable. AA does not have flat rate all you can eat. Interesting suggestion, I suppose no worse than a £20 unlimited data + landline rental deal.
Re locked cupdboard etc - this is a new refurb and I don't want to mess around with anything. The tenant may later want to take on a contract, fine by me but I don't want to have tampered with the box.

[#12]

I wasn't suggesting you should tamper with the master socket. If it were moved, it would have to be by BT. And a box could be built around it or mounted over it without touching it, which I guess would be within the rules. If it enclosed just the socket and a filter, it need be no more than a few inches square, and quite shallow....    
Edit: If anyone did fit such a box (I take it netgran is not the only landlady or landlord with this problem), it would be a courtesy to mount it such that the keyholder could remove it quickly, so that BT could work on the socket if they had to without it being in the technician's way.

[#13]

I found out that A&A offers a "absolutely no calls" land-line to support their broadband, this would have done but for their ferociously high pricing compared to the brilliant current Unlimited Broadband for £2.50 Plusnet currently offers!
Also I installed Plusnet for a relative a while back and found out how easy it was to DIY it, very pleased.
BUT regarding this new BTL project, an Email with Plusnet Sales is now telling me that In/out call barring would not be an option with Plusnet. What a pity!
I pointed out to Sales that Openreach offers both in and out barring as an option to the resellers so I wonder if Sales will be able to improve the offer?
On top of all that, if my tenant may want to upgrade once they've settled in. I assume that an "transfer of responsibility" would then be possibility so they can take over the Plusnet contract ad add phone etc.
Well, there business going begging here if Plusnet can adapt to the landlord market!

[#14]

You could try posting somewhere like http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/ for suggestions (you could mention how unhelpful Plusnet were ).

[#15]

If you have more than a few properties, our Partner program may be better for you - http://www.plus.net/business/partner-with-us/ . On this, we offer lines without calls.