Michael Posted April 1, 2010 Report Share Posted April 1, 2010 Had a call yesterday from a company called Optimum Calls about changing my landline billing to them from BT.I will save 50% on my recurring charges and cheaper calls, but this switching lark always worries me.I got screwed years ago switching electricity suppliers and ended up having no bill for 3 years even though I contacted them on numerous occasions, and then a mahoosive bill suddenly drops through your letterbox!!! Any one else used this or another company and had any bad/good experiences? I've got the usual 7 day cooling off period when I can cancel so fast responses would be mucho appreciato... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted April 1, 2010 Report Share Posted April 1, 2010 Not heard from them & like you I was dubious about switching from BT, I did switch to XLN Telecom on the advice of twofatbyfar & it was the best move I've made in years! the XLN deal included broadband & my phone for 24.95 a month Which was less than I paid BT for the broadband alone! never mind the line & phone! I had a fault with my line a couple of months after & phoned XLN & it was sorted out in 2 days, with 2 visits so no worries there either! So switching to a cheaper deal isn't to worrying! Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironplanet uk900 Posted April 1, 2010 Report Share Posted April 1, 2010 My Rule: never buy anything or sign for summat you didn't intend to when you got out of bed that morning. If your not happy with a service or product, sourse your own replacement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted April 1, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2010 Just sent me cancellation letter today and will look at Lee's XLN suggestion.Looks like a very good deal =D> =D> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted April 1, 2010 Report Share Posted April 1, 2010 give them my number 01502 561333 & I'll get £25 for the recommendation Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x minit uk Posted April 1, 2010 Report Share Posted April 1, 2010 I switched to xln 3 years ago, never had a problem, I now use them as my home phone provider aswell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hakeemz Posted April 1, 2010 Report Share Posted April 1, 2010 YEP xln me too and i think its £35 for recommendations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Klazykobbler Posted April 1, 2010 Report Share Posted April 1, 2010 I'm with xln too. Michael if you go for xln why not mention lee then maybe he can put the mooolahh into the charity he is supporting ???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perplexus Posted April 2, 2010 Report Share Posted April 2, 2010 XLN are x-l-nt! Very good value and service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rebecca Optimum Posted April 15, 2010 Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 To the OP 'michael26uk' My name is Rebecca Williams and I am the Customer Relations Manager at Optimum Calls. I was sorry to hear that you felt uneasy about transferring to Optimum Calls, and would like to invite you to discuss the reasons of why you felt this way, so perhaps we can make some changes for future consumers. I can be contacted on rebecca.williams@optimumcalls.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted April 15, 2010 Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 Hi Rebecca You can see what a strong band we are here on the shoe repairer . info website do you do any affiliate trade group rates? Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted April 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 The reason I decided to cancel in the end was that when I read the T's & C's (which I normally never do! ) I had signed for a 5 year contract with a £395+vat buy out clause.Any contracts now seem generally to be 1-3 years. When optimum rang up to ask why I had decided to cancel I told them this and straight away was told, "What if we gave you a 1 year contract with a £89+vat buy out." This sort of thing gets on my nerves and makes me suspicious of companies.If you could of give me that deal in the first place don't try and sneekily get more out of me by using small print Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rebecca Optimum Posted April 15, 2010 Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 Michael, thank you for your response. Optimum Calls offer 60 months as our standard contract term as we do have a price guarentee on that (meaning the prices won't go up during that time) and for a lot of our consumers this is a security for them in an ever price increasing industry. However we do realise that this won't meet the needs of everybody, and are happy to negotiate on most things. You should have been advised on the length of the contact at the point of sale also, as we don't hide behind our terms and conditions like some other suppliers. I have acknowledged your points and am very grateful for you getting back to me. Lee, we are a business to business telecoms company, which are reselling line rental and calls at pretty much wholesale prices. We are members of the telecommunications ombudsman "Cisas" http://www.cisas.org.uk/WhoisCovered-2_e.html and the FCS (federation of communication services) http://www.fcs.org.uk/Members/MembersDi ... ia=&Page=4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted April 15, 2010 Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 Lee, we are a business to business telecoms company, which are reselling line rental and calls at pretty much wholesale prices. We are members of the telecommunications ombudsman "Cisas" http://www.cisas.org.uk/WhoisCovered-2_e.html and the FCS (federation of communication services) http://www.fcs.org.uk/Members/MembersDi ... ia=&Page=4 So the upshot of that is, stick to the recommendations on this topic! XLN all the way! however thanks Rebecca for a. finding us! b. taking the time to defend your corner! Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommy Posted August 14, 2010 Report Share Posted August 14, 2010 Hi Guys, Just found this thread, have been looking to change. My last quarter bill from BT was about £75 and only £8 of calls. Please tell me if the £25 recommendation still applies and is it going to charity? I will be changing to XLM on monday Cheers Tommy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommy Posted August 16, 2010 Report Share Posted August 16, 2010 Hi Lee Recommended you today, I'm sure he said it is now £35.00 on its way to you. It would be nice to think you used it for this forum or charity. Regards Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shop-keep Posted August 16, 2010 Report Share Posted August 16, 2010 Hi guys, A word of caution. There is no statutory "cooling off period" with a business contract. If you or a one of your staff even verbally agree to a contact over the phone it is then legal and binding. When the contract drops on your welcome mat it might bear no resemblance to the prices and terms that you agreed but you are still contracted to those t's & c's. you might be told that the phone call is recorded but the company is not obliged to give you a copy. You can be well and truly shafted. It happened to me with a utility company last year. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted August 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 As far as I'm aware, by law there is ALWAYS a 7 day cooling off period...but I stand to be corrected!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted August 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 As far as I'm aware, by law there is ALWAYS a 7 day cooling off period...but I stand to be corrected!! P.S. I to have switched to XLN and named Lee as a recommendation...money in the bank/charity!! \:D/ \:D/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahamparker Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 Just read through this thread and went to the xln website,filled in the request for information form and recieved a phone call back within 3 minutes. Excellent service and i will be swapping all my three lines to them. Pricing is very impressive as well. =D> =D> =D> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k4mrc Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 I just had a local trader call in and tell me about 'Talk Talk' offering the world, cheap line rental, Free calls and internet - grass is not greener on there side though, apparently if you try to leave at any time even at end of contract they have a 'line disconnection fee' of anything from £150-00 for a domestic user upwards to £350-00 for business!I have a relative that recently worked for them he confirmed this .. so really read the small print. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted September 6, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2010 Haven't heard from XLN for a couple of weeks but went to log on to my BT email account and it won't let me. Will I get a new email address with XLN or should my BT remain active? I don't want to start using Hotmail or the like Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hakeemz Posted September 6, 2010 Report Share Posted September 6, 2010 michael..yes you would loose your bt email account, but you do get xln email account too not had a problem with xln in past 5 years, and as far s i know if you leave after 1 year there is no charge, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted September 6, 2010 Report Share Posted September 6, 2010 I'd double check the email thing, I canceled my BT lines (2) & BT internet when I switched to XLN about 18 months ago & although I don't use it & had even forgot about it, I've just logged into my btinternet email???????????????????????????????????/ it might be the link your using has changed as you no longer have an account???? I logged in via www.btinternet.com Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted September 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2010 Came in this morning to find my broadband was not connected and thought it was due to my switchover,even though I had not had a date confirmed by XLN.Decided to ring them just to make sure in case I had to ring BT and report a fault.XLN said it was BT because they weren't due to take over my line until the 20th Sept.Rang BT who said it was XLN who should have told me that once they had applied to take over my line it would cut off the broadband straight away and there was nothing they could do. So I rang XLN back and spoke to a very helpful guy called Darren in customer services who said he would conference call me with BT and get it sorted.After about 30 minutes on the phone and getting passed from person to person 4 or 5 times my broadband was switched back on immediately. Without Darren's help and insider knowledge of the telephone network I would never have got this sorted because big companies like BT just fob you off with people on the end of a phone line with minimal knowledge of the company they are fronting. =D> =D> =D> XLN TELECOM =D> =D> =D> ( Lets just hope I'm not deleting this post after 6 months of being with when somethings gone wrong and they have let me down. ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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