[stevelup]

Ah yes. Good point. I had premium on my Max lines before which doubled the upstream.

[chevvron]

Quick aside, re-" estimated" utility bills.....they appear to deliberately inflate the bill by 30% on the first estimate and keep escalating it until the consumer squeals. I delight in reading the meter, calculating the correct charge and payingonly the due amount.
my theory has never been refuted in 40- odd (or should that be "forty odd ) years' residence.

We almost always get estimated bills, the gas meter is on an outside wall but the electricity meter is indoors where they need to gain access to read it.
I just check their estimated reading when the bill arrives and if it's wildly innacurate which it often is, I phone the correct reading in on their freephone number.
No need for a smart meter is there?

[chevvron]

In summary, you were on a legacy service with Plusnet.

You've binned Plusnet's good customer service for BT's awful offshore customer service instead of just asking Plusnet if there was anything they could offer you to improve your service.

Hopefully you'll never have to contact BT with a problem, in which case, no harm done!

Never got a straight answer with Plusnet. Loss of telephone was the last straw; tried to get them to explain without success (after being transferred to Plusnet with no choice when they merged with 24Talk) why they billed me twice for 'evenings and weekends' ie once as part of line rental and again as an 'extra' so when Mrs C said 'go back to BT' I didn't argue.
Yeah I know the BT call centre is in India but whenever they try phoning me, I just keep saying 'I don't understand your accent' and they eventually give up.

[rikur_]

Quick aside, re-" estimated" utility bills.....they appear to deliberately inflate the bill by 30% on the first estimate and keep escalating it until the consumer squeals. I delight in reading the meter, calculating the correct charge and payingonly the due amount.
my theory has never been refuted in 40- odd (or should that be "forty odd ) years' residence.

Less of an issue at the moment, but a few years ago when electricity prices were rising rapidly, I just treated the inflated bills as fuel hedging .... getting next year's electricity at this year's prices. Was better than the money would have earned in a savings account.

[chevvron]

Been on BT broadband for over 2 weeks now, in that time speed has varied to a low of 6.5 and seems to be stable now at just over 13, the 'low' reading being when we had a period of heavy rain for a couple of days so still possibly water in the works?

[Paul_Sengupta]

the 'low' reading being when we had a period of heavy rain for a couple of days so still possibly water in the works?

Either that or people were staying home and streaming TV/films.

[oldbiggincfi]

You would be amazed at some of the wiring underground.
Ours had paper and wax as insulation and because the council can't afford to clean the drains the Openreach Manholes filled with water.
Replaced cable a year ago and no bother since.
We are with Plusnet and getting 80 mbs down and 20 up using a BT router.
The only complaint is that the phone rings for a short time before going into automatic answer. Rectified, I believe as an inclusion in a package not required.

[Flyin'Dutch']

but a few years ago when electricity prices were rising rapidly, I just treated the inflated bills as fuel hedging .... getting next year's electricity at this year's prices. Was better than the money would have earned in a savings account.

Indeed.

I don't expect anyone to have exploited that with inflated meter readings!

[cotterpot]

the 'low' reading being when we had a period of heavy rain for a couple of days so still possibly water in the works?

Either that or people were staying home and streaming TV/films.

I had exactly same issue - when it rained, lost phone and most BB speed - and it was tedious trying to get OR to believe me and come and sort it.

Eventually, they did after 4 engineer visits, get a cherry picker in to go and look at the nearby pole connections, (pole was condemned for climbing and use of ladders) ,and found my dropwire insulation damaged by a tree rubbing on it. New wire and back to normal 17 mb/s. Plusnet also gave me a better deal when I phoned and told them there was an offer with BT. Result.