Another success, though it took a long time. Our broadband hub has been cutting out frequently and it’s several years old, so I wanted to phone for a new one. However, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to stay with BT as I seemed to be paying over the odds, not having renegotiated the price for a few years. I’d also managed to get myself with a different company for phone calls, though not for the phone line. There was no fee though, just the price of the calls – all the same, I wanted to get everything together. I spoke online to one person, then was given a (freephone) number to telephone; that person put me through to someone else, who was great. Really helpful, took some time to work out the best deal and I got a reduction of several pounds a month. After that, she asked about my mobile phone – I have a SIM only, monthly contract, so I told her my deal and how much I pay, and she was able to undercut that too and give me double the data. So I accepted that too, though it’s not been ordered yet as I’ll have to give notice to my present supplier. Although I was by no means five hours on the phone, because I had an appointment before lunch and then took a while to gird the metaphoricals again, that was the time it took from beginning to end.
So I haven’t done much else. We went out to buy the potting compost and I’ve potted up the final two tomatoes, all but one of the aubergines and a couple of peppers. The chilli peppers are still small seedlings, not having sprouted very quickly, so they’ll go into medium pots.
Paul the Fish had some lovely sea trout on his van today, so that’s what we’re having for dinner. Ratatouille out of the freezer and probably a few more of our own potatoes.
I’m starting clarinet lessons again tomorrow and I haven’t played for weeks. So that’s what I’m going to do now.
Which company please?
I’ve stayed with BT, as a result of all the discussions. I still think the broadband is quite expensive for its speed, but the price was much the same as offers from other companies and £6.50 (I think, I haven’t checked) less per month than I have been paying. Although I used another company (it’s a long story) for phone calls, it was only for the price of the calls, so switching has just simplified matters a bit. And I had been with O2, whose mobile connection was better than anyone’s here, but they’ve all been upping their game recently. My SIM only contract is now £8 per month for 2GB instead of 1 and it had been £14.50, and I have heard that EE is good here and I think it’ll be better than O2’s in other parts of the county.
The whole telecoms and other utilities sector is all a total racket isn’t it?
Everything takes that amount of time to get a good deal – which most people don’t have, and hence why they get away with opaque pricing.
Ditto the time required if you have a problem.
I am utterly sick of the whole lot of them and the shady ways they operate.
The whole ‘capped energy costs’ idea is going to make the whole situation much worse.
I agree. I never even use the bloody landline unless I must and the £18.99 per month connection charge is a rip-off. There were some deals that effectively included it, or included broadband, but the broadband speed here is so poor that I can’t go for a basic service. I did need to order a new home hub so had to phone up – and actually, the woman who sorted it all out was excellent. Very helpful, now working from a checklist, I’d spoken to three people before I got the one I needed (and there was an offer to phone me back, which I didn’t opt for) and they were all helpful.