I would like to know if anyone has Toucan as their landline provider, if they could tell me what are they like. Is there customer services any good. How long did it take to get your line from BT to Toucan. Are there services any good.

I am looking to move my grans landline that she has from BT as they are totally and unless. She has a thing on the line that if she pushes a button then it goes straight to the warden that does the area that she lives at. Because of her direct debit failing they have cut the outgoing part of the phone and that is the part that she needs to contact the warden. The bill was £27.00 which was going to be paid when she gets her pension tomorrow. I phoned BT and was calm explained everything and all I got was some snotty bastard telling me it had to be paid before they would put the phone back on with the outgoing part. This is why I'm asking about the above.
Last edited by micksea241 : 08-08-2006 at 23:21

I am with Toucan and they save you money. I also like them as you can phone other Toucan customers for free. You can also phone people free during the weekends.

It took some time to transfer. I think it was 2 weeks to a month. I still kept my BT line.

Customer service is good. Accents are a bit thick though and hard to understand as they are Indian so you need a bit of patience.

Thanks mate I'll be on the phone to them tomorrow.

If you move your line rental to them for £8.99 a month.Beware its a 12 month contract.

I've been on their website and I was looking around, so it looks like I might be moving over to them. I also sent an e-mail to one of the heads of BT and let's see what they have to say.

As always with voice telephony, the choice of provider depends on an individual's (or a family's) use.

Checking Toucan's website, alarm bells rang for me when I saw that evening calls to UK 01/02 numbers are charged at 2p/minute unless the called party is another Toucan subscriber. Compared with BT's price of 5½p for up to an hour for the same call, that's pretty poor value and, compared with Primus Saver Option 2's price (nothing for up to 90 minutes) it's very poor.

So, taking that sort of thing into account, it's really a question of deciding whether the saving of about £2 saving per month on line rental is sufficient to outweigh such higher call charges and, possibly, losing the ability to use prefx providers like 1899 and 18185 (only BT are required to alllow their subscribers such access).
Last edited by Heinz : 09-08-2006 at 10:12

No caller id service on toucan either

Yes, very rare that using anyone other than BT for line rental works out cheaper once you add in the extra costs of calls and services.

As pointed out other line rental providers can and do block you access of cheap call providers, so unless you only use the phone for incoming calls and don't have or need caller display (can't see why) then it's not worth switching line rental provider.

toucan are simply TISCALI resellers so read about tiscali isp's before signing

There is if you keep a BT line like I do.

micksea241, if it is a lifeline then get the local authority to make BT aware of this, if she is going to continue with BT that is.

Either that or call BT and ask about 'Protected Services'. That way if a bill goes unpaid BT will contact a 3rd party to make them aware of the situation.

yes toucan are brilliant!!! bloody cheap calls and thier internet service is top notch my in laws are with them and i myself have spoke to the customer services and it is good very good better than big t@ats (bt) internet service 100% better than wanacrap or aopants so yes i think toucan are good you should def join them!

Must be reading a different hymn sheet to the one I read!

theyare always phoning our house up
askng for direct debitsand stuff

My phone bill is now next to nothing. With BT my phone calls were about twenty pounds a quarter.


With Toucan my phone calls are about 2 pounds a month.

Fine. A reduction in your call costs of over 66% (I assume most of the people you call are also Toucan customers so the calls are free) proves Toucan works for you.

It wouldn't work for me and I certainly wouldn't move my line rental from BT because the options for using other providers for my calls would be restricted.
Last edited by Heinz : 21-09-2006 at 10:16

Yes, many people get caught like this, moving line rental to another provider and the discovering that they do not allow you to route calls anywhere other than through them!

Only BT are required to let you choose your calls carrier whilst renting a line from them (BT)

A friend of mine was with Toucan and she soon swapped back to BT. Within a week of her commencing service with them they cut her phone off and she couldn't make or receive any calls! When she queried it she had to wait two weeks before they could reconnect her - she called BT and they offered her service back within a week.

I am a bit wary of companies other than BT because you hear of nothing but nightmares. I was going to change my evenings & weekends call provider to Talk Talk about 18 months ago but changed my mind because it actually worked out to be more expensive considering that I had to pay for my caller display service.

Yes, it's never wise to move your line rental away from BT.

The best solution is keep line rental with BT and get free caller display.

Then CPS (Carrier Pre-select) you calls to Primus Saver 2, these for no monthly fee give you free evening and weekend calls.

Daytime calls can go via 1899 at 3 pence per call, no matter how long you are on the phone for.

Calls to mobiles can go via 18185 - 2p/min weekends and 5p/min weekdays.

I've not know Primus to go down, but as you have line rental with BT, you can still use them to make calls if you need to by simpy dialing the BT access code 1280 before a call.

www.call1899.co.uk
www.call18185.co.uk
http://www.planet-talk.co.uk/SaverPr...x?source=saver (Primus 2).

This is the only real way you are going to save money, moving line rental away from BT nearly simply means at best you will save a couple of pence a month and that's only for a very few people who don't use their phone to make calls and don't use Caller Display for everyone else it will cost more.

i've got caller id on toucan

Toucan rip you off on the cost of calling mobiles and internationally, if you want cheaper costs to these you have to pay an monthly fee and they are still dearer than elsewhere.

If you don't plan on using the phone much and aren't interested in caller display, then maybe it could work out cheaper, once you add on the cost of caller display and if you make calls then you ain't going to be saving any money compared on what you could with paying BT for the line rental, getting caller display for free, get free evening and weekend calls and get international calls from 0.5p/min and calls to mobiles at 2p/min weekends and 5p/min daytimes.

Again transfering your line rental to someone else only works out cheaper if you don't use the phone and have the extra services.

Yes, but you pay for it, it's free with a BT landline.

So once youhave added on the cost of the caller display and then pay for calls you could have got free for no fee elsewhere and when they prevent you using cheap call providers to get cheaper calls you end up paying more.

From what i understand, if you were to keep B.T. for your line rental, and go elsewhere for making calls,(1899,18185, etc), you still would have to make some chargeable calls with B.T. to get their caller display service for free.

This taken from B.T's latest terms and conditions:

Revised BT Privacy Terms & Conditions.

From 1st October 2006, customers who do not make some chargeable calls with BT will be charged for BT Caller Display.

Customers who bill monthly must make at least two chargeable calls with BT that month, otherwise BT reserves the right to charge £1.75 a month for caller display.

Customers who bill every three months must make at least six chargeable calls within those three months, otherwise be charged £5.25 a quarter.

Hope this is of help

Yes, 2 calls per month, maybe an 0845 number if you can find an alternative, or even an evening or weekend call. OK means paying BT 11p for the 'free' caller display each month.

My line is with BT. Caller ID is with BT. Call Minder with BT. I only use Toucan for the phone calls.