UTV Talk - too good to be true?

RicardoSmith

sceptre wrote:

From the FAQ it appears that anyone can sign up - you don't have to be an existing customer of any sort

What I really mean is it included in your existing telephony/internet charge? or do you have to pay it in addition to your existing subscription?

sceptre

RicardoSmith wrote:

What I really mean is it included in your existing telephony/internet charge? or do you have to pay it in addition to your existing subscription?

Sorry Ricardo, you've lost me.

The way I understand it is that we're paying 24.18 a month to Eircom for line rental.

I'm also paying UTV 29.99 for BB

You're paying UTV whatever you're paying them for UTVipXL

If I go for this, I pay Eircom no more money and pay UTV 24.18 plus 29.99 a month, then I get my free off-peak calls as long as I commit myself to paying them that 24.18 a month for the next year (my BB contract runs out next March so I can continue with this part or drop it at my whim). As far as I can see it's as simple as that.

In your case you do the same if you go for this.


Sorry if I'm stating the obvious and your question's a little more complicated.

RicardoSmith

Sorry, I'm being stupid. I didn't realise this was line rental, not phone charges etc.

Paddy20

Naturally, you will also have to pay 'peak time telephone call charges' as well, but at least they are Cheaper* than EirCon

Nothing in this world is really free !. Except U.TV TALK off-peak and all weekend local & National, and UK Mainland telephone calls, of course.

Lissavane

I note that while call charges under the existing UTVIP phone service are generally about 25% less than Eircom at all times, peak calls under the new Talk package are just 10% less than Eircom - eg National Peak call with existing package 6.15cents/min; with new offering 7.35cents/min.

It will suit me fine though as nearly all my calls are evening and weekend.

Paddy20

Yep, did notice, but what do we want ?.. "Jam on it"

Cork

So, is there one bill for phone and internet?

Do they send out hard copies?

Paddy20

1;Yes [one bill from U.TV] No more line rental bill from EirCoN

2;Itemised bill available on account website, or hard copy upon request {If you do not have a printer or computer filing system}

I will forward my bill to you later ?..

Our man in Havana

do they support isdn rental?

Paddy20

Why not ask them?.. Mr Bond :rolleyes:

chump

Somebody who was dissing the Esat Product

I thought the Esat deal @ €25 was for all local and national calls (not 'mainland' UK?) not just off-peak/weekend?

http://www.esatbt.com/ie/residential/homephone/index.html

You just need to spend a minimum of €15 (Incl. VAT) per month on calls to Local, National, International and Mobile numbers!

The important thing being the mobile calls, as these are the calls that vastly make up regular users home phone bills.

I still believe no provider offers really competitive mobile rates...

You can bundle IOL BB with the Advantage package and get charged a monthly €33.15, which is very good for the 8GIG limit.

Only thing is after the 3 month free trial you must pay the installion charge of 90E I believe.

Back on to the mobile rates topic... who offers the best deal at the minute? Anyone know?


after reading again I may have got confused as to the point, ie. Esat charge for what UTV offer for free...

* For €25 per month, you can call any Irish fixed line local and national (32 counties) phone number for up to an hour each call as many times as you like!

That seems to mean on peak as well!

sorry

Ripwave

Paddy20 wrote:

Yes, I spoke this evening to U.TV TALK, and they asked me to send an e-mail raising my plight with: support@utv.com

I was assured that within a few days this "Oversight" which is not answered in their FAQ's section would be resolved in favour of people in my position.

I raised this issue with UTV about two months ago, and was very disappointed with the response - "Never heard of this - you should check with the Dept of Social Welfare".

I pointed out that there are over a quarter of a million such "free" telephones provided by the Department in Ireland (all people over the age of 70 are entitled to the free telephone allowance), and that it really would be in UTVs own interest to figure out how the system works.

I didn't get any response.

By the way, the Department changed the rules on how this benefit is paid this time last year to make it much easier for companies other than eircom to take part in the scheme - it's not an "eircom only scheme", but eircom have managed to make the way they include it in the telephone bill look so complicated that it may well be scaring some people off from selecting other providers.

chump

Ripwave, why would the other telco's bother with the OAPs?

Even with the line rental being paid by the govnt. I can't see any great earning propects from these type of customers. They also are dodgey enough payers, none being DD, and them paying like 5-10euro a week in the post office, this kinda thing.
They also phone the helplines alot...

I think the new telco's want to aim towards the younger generations who spend huge amounts on calls to mobiles, or calls abroad, internet packages and the like...

Ripwave

chump wrote:

Ripwave, why would the other telco's bother with the OAPs?

Even with the line rental being paid by the govnt. I can't see any great earning propects from these type of customers. They also are dodgey enough payers, none being DD, and them paying like 5-10euro a week in the post office, this kinda thing.
They also phone the helplines alot...

I think the new telco's want to aim towards the younger generations who spend huge amounts on calls to mobiles, or calls abroad, internet packages and the like...

Frankly, that's one of the most ignorant and ill-informed comments I've seen on Boards in a long time (and that's saying a lot).

Not all of the 280,000 people that are in receipt of the free telephone allowance are OAPs, but many of the over 70's who do receive it are quite well off (especially in this age of soaring property prices, a person with an established house free of a mortgage can release a considerable amount of equity).

"Silver surfers", as they are sometimes called, are a very significant sector of the market in the US, and proud grandparents of grandkids who live half way round the world are often very interested in how the internet can help them keep in touch.

Not to mention the fact that retired people living at home are more likely to make use of their phones during the day (when the calls aren't free) than younger people who are at working during the day.

Even if 1% of the people in receipt of the free phone allowance switched over to UTV, it would generate cash-flow of over €75K a month. It's not the sort of market that any self respecting telecoms company can afford to ignore.

gurramok

I'm an existing UTV telephony customer.
Tried to fill in the online form but it gives an error
"AN ERROR HAS OCCURRED: Number already registered on this or other conflicting UTV product. Please contact us."
Guess I have to wait for the migration link to appear in the 'myaccount' section as they say in FAQ, can't be bothered being put on hold over a phone .

Our man in Havana

Does anyone here think that ESAT will move to counter this move by UTV? I am with esat and i am tempted to move.

JTMan

chump wrote:

I still believe no provider offers really competitive mobile rates...

Telestunt are. 4C calls to mobiles. www.telestunt.ie

Speaking of which are 0818 calls included in your allowance with the unlimited Esat BT package?

Paddy20

Good on Ya, Ripwave* .

I'm with you, what a "Chump" that poster is

Tom Dunne

Bond-007 wrote:

Does anyone here think that ESAT will move to counter this move by UTV? I am with esat and i am tempted to move.

I don't think so.

I'm with Esat also and I am very tempted to jump. I think I'll hang on for a month or two to see, but I really can't see them matching UTV.

asmith

Paddy20 wrote:

Yes, I spoke this evening to U.TV TALK, and they asked me to send an e-mail raising my plight with: support@utv.com

I was assured that within a few days this "Oversight" which is not answered in their FAQ's section would be resolved in favour of people in my position.

Paddy20, have you had any more joy with this? I've just seen this http://u.tv/talk/search.asp?faqid=62 on their website so it looks promising. I rang them to confirm if the department would still pay the line rental but the sales rep said "yes" a bit too quick, as if she wasn't really listening to the question.

I dont' want to start the process of moving from Eircom only to find a month from now that UTV aren't really in the department's scheme at all.

_Kaiser_

Hey all,

Just thought I'd let ClickSilver users know that there's now a "Get UTV Talk" option in the Your Account screen on UTV's site...

Paddy20

asmith wrote:

Paddy20, have you had any more joy with this? I've just seen this http://u.tv/talk/search.asp?faqid=62 on their website so it looks promising. I rang them to confirm if the department would still pay the line rental but the sales rep said "yes" a bit too quick, as if she wasn't really listening to the question.

I dont' want to start the process of moving from Eircom only to find a month from now that UTV aren't really in the department's scheme at all.

Asmith,

Yes, I am happy to confirm that UTV were true to their word and people receiving DSCFA free telephone line rental allowance here in the ROI, can now from today sign up for UTV TALK and the line rental will be paid by the DSCFA direct to U.TV TALK, instead of Eircom.

Even better, if you are already a U.TV Internet & telephone call service customer as I am. You can sign up online today on your U.TV Account page by simply clicking on the "Get UTV TALK" link on the lefthand side, and you will receive the "Free calls benefits" from 1st September 2004. Yes that fast!.

For other applicants the process takes 10 - 15 working days.

I have now signed up online and already received an e-mail confirming that my UTV TALK service will be activated on September 1st. They are also sending out a form for me to sign authorising the "Free line rental" payments from the DSCFA to be transferred from Eircom to UTV TALK. However, this will not hold up my (free offpeak local and national all Ireland & UK calls+ free calls at all times during weekends). Active from this Wednesday, how about that for service.

RicardoSmith

I'm on UTVip XL and have been given the date 01 October 2004?

_Kaiser_

Originally posted by RicardoSmith
I'm on UTVip XL and have been given the date 01 October 2004?

The automated mail I got when I signed up through "Your Account" on their site (I'm on ClickSilver) said:

We will be sending you a customer authorisation form which you must sign, date and return in the prepaid envelope as soon as possible.
Provided we receive your signed and dated authorisation form your UTV Talk settings will take effect from 01 September 2004.
If you need any advice or wish to change this setting then please contact our administration department immediately
on 1890 926 000.

so maybe calling em and see if they can speed things up might be worth a go?

tipperaryboy

That offer is like what a company called TalkTalk in the UK are offering.But in the talktalk adverts which (always came on before & after big brother) it said BT line rental required.So to take up the UTV offer,do you have to have Eircom line rental?

Paddy20

Should not think so Why not call the number listed above and ask ?.. Oh, hang on, just noticed on their website for ROI it states that "The only requirement is that you have an Eircom line at your residence or place of business" :eek: That makes no sense to me.

If I were you, I would call them, pronto.

Tom Dunne

tipperaryboy wrote:

That offer is like what a company called TalkTalk in the UK are offering.But in the talktalk adverts which (always came on before & after big brother) it said BT line rental required.So to take up the UTV offer,do you have to have Eircom line rental?

Well that's the point! Up to a week or two ago, you didn't have a choice in paying line rental to Eircon.

I think what the advert said is that you must have a BT line rather than be paying BT line rental. It's the same case here, you must have an Eircon line as opposed to, er, well not having one.

parsi

Paddy20 wrote:

Should not think so Why not call the number listed above and ask ?.. Oh, hang on, just noticed on their website for ROI it states that "The only requirement is that you have an Eircom line at your residence or place of business" :eek: That makes no sense to me.

If I were you, I would call them, pronto.

It means that you have to have an existing phone line - i.e. UTv won't go and install one for you..thats still left to eircom..

HelterSkelter

fatherdougalmag wrote:

Actually now that I look closer, they just define the term "minimum term" but they don't use it anywhere in the terms and conditions. Must look into that.

From http://u.tv/talk/tc.asp?loc=ie ...
""Minimum Term" means a minimum of twelve months from the start date"

Then further on down...
"6.5 Save as provided for elsewhere in this Agreement, this Agreement is terminable by either party upon giving to the other at least fourteen days written notice."

So what is it, a 1 year contract or 14 days notice to cancel??? :rolleyes:

HelterSkelter

OK, I just called them on 1890 927111 and the guy said there is a minimum contract of 12 months

I don't fancy getting tied down for 12 months. What if someone else comes out with a better deal two months down the line.