Phoned up homechoice today to see if I could get a deal, I live in a rented flat so homechoice seemed to best option because I would not have to have anything physically installed in the flat (no drilling through walls etc..), but the prices online are not as competitive as the competition.

Anyway this is the deal I got.

Big pack + music
2MB broadband
Free weekend and evening calls

All this for £28.99 per month (£22.99 and 4MB broadband for the first two months) . This seems to be inline with what Sky and Telewest are offering at the moment.

This is maybe a clue to what the new price structuring will be which is meant to be happening in November.
Last edited by bushbox browser : 14-09-2006 at 00:47

Erm, that's not *that* good IMO - big pack vs max pack is very little difference (unless you actually want the music and kids stuff), so better to go for faster BB, no? (Obv this all depends on what you use)

Not sure that offer is gonna entice many of us
Already get free calls
2MB standard
Have free view
Free music is not worth 28.99 in my view (£40 if include line rental)


Not sure how this competes with Sky who are offering free broadband aren't they?

Telewest are offering a similar package for only £20 (no line rental)

Also what about the free broadband option carphone warehouse where you get free daytime calls, max broadband and line rental for £20. If you want free music use Youtube for your videos on demand

Have you read the terms & conditions on these free broadband offers? Sky's is capped at 2Gb a month - you won't be watching much YouTube on that, I can tell you

(although granted the £5 upto 8Mb / 40Gb deal takes some beating.....)

I think this package is in line with Sky and Telewest.

Telewest leisure combo pack is £26, this includes 2MB broadband and the essential TV package.

With Sky you can get all the packs plus 8MB broadband without a cap for £26 per month. (packs £21, broadband £5)

To note these prices for Sky and Telewest do not include free evening and weekend calls.

Sky is obviously the best offer and I would jump at the chance to join their service but unfortunately I can not get a dish installed in the flat that I live.

All in all I think this deal is good, it is not amazingly cheap but it seems roughly in line with what sky and telewest are offering, and much better than what is on offer on there own website.

Also in answer to mbear, I only really use the Internet for site browsing so 2MB is more than enough for me. Also I wanted the music pack but not the kids so thats why I went for the big pack with music added on.
Last edited by bushbox browser : 15-09-2006 at 02:56

The music pack is not free, it is £6

The big pack has more channels than freeview. The big pack, 2MB broadband and free evening and weekend calls would be £22.99 if your not interested in the music. Not a bad deal I think.

You can get a freeview style TV package plus 2MB broadband and free evening and weekend calls for £17.99 on there website but might even get it cheaper if you phone up because the big pack is £27.99 on there website but £22.99 if you phone up.

Also the comparable Telewest package is about £26 not £20.
Last edited by bushbox browser : 15-09-2006 at 03:16

The Sky price you quote is capped and doesn't inlcude the cost of a BT phone line, so it's Sky £37 and TW £26. If you want uncapped (subject to a fair usage policy) Sky is £42 and TW still £26.

Sky offers 24/7 UK calls for £5, making it £42 (capped) or £47 (uncapped)

Add 24/7 UK calls (Vonage) to Telewest's £26 tv/vod & broadband package and its £33.99 (uncapped).

Your right, sky's price is actually capped, still it would be a good deal for me though as the cap is quite reasonable.

All the prices I quoted are for similar services so making a fair comparison, none included line rental . You are right though, if you use a voip company over a telewest broadband connection you can get a very good deal.

Just to update you all on what has happened with homechoice. Got my contact sent through the post and it had no sign of the offer on it, so I phoned up to enquire what was happening.

It turns out that there is no such offer, the price is actually £33.99 (not such a good deal), so I was actually lied to by the sales person. On top of that the first person I contacted at coustomer care about this put the phone down on me. Thinking of cancelling already, even before I have signed the contracts.
Last edited by bushbox browser : 17-09-2006 at 23:01

Doesn't bode well does it!

You don't actually need to sign the contract - if the engineer doesn't ask for it when he calls, don't volunteer it... worked for me

Not a bad idea. Will probably give it a go, even if they do ask for the contracts you still have a cooling off period after the install so might as well see what its like.

Indeed. I still have my contract here, unsigned. So I can cancel anytime since I haven't signed a 12 month contract

Nonsense,
You have a contract regardless of whether you have signed a piece of paper!

HC perform their side of the contract by supplying services and we perform our side by paying our monthly fee and abiding by the T and Cs.

If HC didn't provide TV or broadband you would of course complain that HC wern't fulfilling their contractual obligations.

Whether HC enforce contracts is a completely different question of course

Of course, any contract HC would seek to enforce would surely be on the basis of what bushbox browser originally agreed.

If Homechoice seek to deviate from that BB is perfectly entitled to tell them to get knotted - no consensus ad idem you see...

The problem is I have nothing in writing showing the offer they made me over the phone. Having the service installed would mean I was agreeing to the service at full price.

By the way, customer service told me it was policy not to put any offers on the contract you sign. This seems quite a convenient way to miss sell to people over the phone as there is no way of proving the offer you were given. This is exactly the problem I have now, I feel that I was lied to in order to get me to subscribe and then I have nothing to show what they offered me.

Seems a bad way to treat customers, especially ones that haven’t even signed a 12 month contract yet and can cancel at anytime.

My advice to you is to stop the contract right now unless they are prepared to honour the offer they made you. If you sign the contract (or even if you don't cancel it) they will hold you to the subscription. I'm not sure about the "cooling-off period" after installation either without seeing the full Terms & Conditions.

If you cancel now (and tell the Bank you are cancelling the Direct Debit) it will be for them to chase you for their money. And if they do you can threaten them with Trading Standards. If you wait they will claim you have accepted the revised terms!

Good Luck!

afaik there is no cooling off period apart from the five days quoted in the paperwork which arrives prior to install, once installed that may well be it

Not according to my father who is a lawyer


That's poop, my max pack + line rental + free anytime calls contract states that my first 6 months are to be billed at £13.99, then £48.99 for the next 6.

I was under the impression that by law there would have to be a cooling off period.

The reason is that you have no way of knowing what the service is like until you have tried it. So even if it doesn’t say anything in the contract you would be able to cancel in a reasonable amount of time, what that is however is a different story unless stated in the contract.

To isix, your right it dose say an offer that I am receiving for the first 2 months, but like I say I was offered the pack for less than on there website for the remainder of the contract. This amount obviously doesn’t show up because I am not getting it. I was told by more than one customer service representatives that offers do not show up on the contract.

This is all getting bizarre now, it seems I have been lied to on several occasions. Think I may as well just cancel and stick with freeview, then get a broadband from someone else.
Last edited by bushbox browser : 19-09-2006 at 22:46

[quote]

With respect your father must be a crap lawyer ask him about implied terms.

I think you'll find that allowing HC to install a named product constitutes an intention to create legal relations, which is achieved through a contract.

clarification on cancelling contracts can be found on the HC website



Last edited by aprec : 20-09-2006 at 17:13

I think OP you are screwed unless you can prove that you were sold the product under false pretences in which case the contract is invalid.

I'm not a lawyer so I've no idea what burden of proof is required here.

[quote=aprec]
I was thinking that and I think you are right on this one. The terms are set out to you and as long as you have the service installed then you are agreeing to those terms. The only time you could argue this is if you did not know what the t & c's were, and as they say on the phone and through the post it would be hard to argue that.

Think this makes sense really.

I didn't though

Very sensible