imagine.ie

rondeco

Has anyone used imagine yet? They are promising very low prices and as I'm trying to choose a provider, I was wondering for some advice. Is smart the best option??

RangeR

Probably best to stay away. Search this forum for Imagine for more details. They don't seem very "up front" about their costs.

jor el

Smart is probably the best option, if it's available to you that is. Next would be BT.

If you look hard enough on Imagine's website (go thtough the sign up process to see what I mean) you eventually see exactly what the charges are, and they are certainly not cheap. Compare to Eircom for line rental, calls and broadband and it actually ends up almost as expensive with Imagine. Shower of cowboys IMO.

Ciaran_Dub

Can someone please explain the hidden costs and how they will end up working out the same as Eircom to me please. Currently my Eircom bill runs to about 150 every two months, which is for BB, line rental and calls.

From what I worked out on the imagine website is the line rental package of 27 something which includes 5 hours of evening and weekend calls (which is the only time I use my phone) plus 19.99 for always on BB comes too around 94/95 euro every two months. I can use the modem I have already so no extra charge there. The only other charge I can see is 44 for the BB connection fee.

As far as the calls go, like I said I dont use the phone much apart from ringing back to mammy in Dublin from Drogheda which is included in the 5 hours. A landline to mobile call is kept to a very bare minimum, along the lines of "Are you on your way home? right see you soon" and the only other call is to the UK (which is 10cent a minute anytime day or night) once every two months max!

So were are the hidden costs?????

Sponge Bob

ask them to explain it on their website , clearly , like everyone else.

paulm17781

You will get better value all round from Smart. BT would probably be better also as this is a timed product it could end up costing you more than you think!

Ciaran_Dub

Paul,

I live in Drogheda so Smart is not an option, plus whe i worked for Eircom Smart certainly werent the cheapest when it came to calls, although things do change. What do u mean by a timed product?

Sponge_bob,

Sorry but I have no idea what you mean, could you expand on what u said please.


Ciaran

rondeco

thanks for the advice, i had a bad feeling about imagine and it's still lingering. Will most likely go with smart. Up up and away!!

paulm17781

Ciaran_Dub wrote:

Paul,

I live in Drogheda so Smart is not an option, plus whe i worked for Eircom Smart certainly werent the cheapest when it came to calls, although things do change. What do u mean by a timed product?

Sponge_bob,

Sorry but I have no idea what you mean, could you expand on what u said please.


Ciaran

They only give you 20hrs internet access for 9.99 then you pay per minute for it. :eek: For I think 5 Euro more you could get BT unlimited (12Gig cap). Far better value and probably better call rates!

Ciaran_Dub

Paul,

Thats not the one I was looking at, I was looking at the 19.99 package which is the same as BT's package of 12 gig download plus unlimited upload.

As for the call's if you are going to just pay for each call as you make it yes it could work out more expensive but they do have a call and line rental package for 27.49 pm, which entitles you to 5 hours of calls to any irish landline number including the North. Plus another 2 hours to a nominated friend. My calls through Eircom dont even come to 12.70 per month (on the options package!).

I kinda feel that there is a certain amount of Irish sceptism (SP) when a new company comes on the market that can do a product for a much lower price. All Imagine seem to have done is offered, line rental and broadband and what I can gather a much more acceptable price. Unlike Eircom and BT who are creaming off a major amount of profit. Yes Smart seems to be a good option but its not for me as it is not in Drogheda yet or certainly as far as I know, which I cant understand considering that the Drogheda exchange is BB enabled.

flamegrill

Ciaran,

They are not a new company, they have a tainted history hence why people are being stand offish. They do also appear to try and hide costs of various bits n bobs on their website. They are not clear and their pricing isn't very transparent like all the other providers.

paulm17781

BT BB and Line rental is only 40 Euro per month. That is still cheaper than imagine are offering.

lucernarian

Drogheda does have BT LLU if that interests ya. Smart have no short-term intentions to go to Drogheda, despite it being in the same category as the likes of Mervue, Churchfield, Tycor etc., the biggest exchanges outside of Dublin. I don't doubt that Smart will come to Drogheda, eventually...

One other thing, whereabouts in Drogheda are you, roughly? I know a significant amount of Drogheda on the southside cannot get broadband because the exchange is in the northern part of the town. Quite a lot of the new estates on the southern edge of town do not have a single line that passes for b/b.

Ciaran_Dub

Flamegrill,

Thats fair enough wasnt aware that they were an older company.

Paul,

I thought it was 49 with BT for line plus bb? I think what I read on the BT website was its 40 for the first 4 months if you never had a BB service b4. They dont make it clear (seems to be the done thing for telecoms companies, I should know I used to work in sales for Eircom) whether that means a BB service with any company or just with themselves. I will stand corrected on that though

To_be_confirmed,

I live up Rathmullen Road, BB is there already as I have it with Eircom. Not sure about the whole Southside thing as I know of someone beside Boyne Valley hotel has BB.

I am beginning to think my only real option is to go for BT then. Does anyone know what router you get with BT is it a standard router or a wireless one like you now get with Eircom as standard?

Cheers,

Ciaran

lucernarian

originally posted by Ciaran_Dub

I live up Rathmullen Road, BB is there already as I have it with Eircom. Not sure about the whole Southside thing as I know of someone beside Boyne Valley hotel has BB.

Oh? My source of that info was no less than a Drogheda based eircom engineer who said that the phone lines fail the test beyond a cabinet across from the Black Bull on the Dublin road. (He also said that there would be a new exchange on the southside of town; mabye it has opened now?) Anyway, the houses there, especially the ones facing the river at the top of the hill have a very good chance of wireless bb. You could then dump eircom altogether and use a mobile for those infrequent calls.

gsand

Wouldnt touch them with a bargepole

Dodgy history, fake advertising, pretty crap overall imo