Hi, need some advice.

Have had Homechoice for a little while but they haven't really added anything to their packages for a while for those on the 'Max' pack and it's looking a bit ordinary now.

Called them up and was asked if I wanted to be put through to cancel and that was pretty much it. Spoke to the liaison team and was given a vague promise of 'more competitive' products being on the way. Not too encouraging when they are losing content rather than adding it.

Anyone have any idea what these could be, and when they might happen? I've read elsewhere that leaving Homechoice is a pain so would prefer to avoid it but after speaking to a somewhat disinterested member of staff and there being nothing but vague promises I'm not sure if I should continue to provide custom to a company that isn't even trying to compete in a very rapidly changing market. TV has already moved to Sky, though I still have Homechoice on my phone line. As there's no broadband only package paying £27.99 for 8meg isn't fun

Being the size Homechoice is you'd expect it to be at the forefront not having the issues with scale the bigger players do

Forgive me the daft question, but why do you subscribe to a TV+broadband service when you only need broadband?

At the time I subscribed nearly a year ago I needed TV and broadband. Now I don't as a communal dish has been installed.
Last edited by HomerChoice : 22-10-2006 at 20:00

Homechoice have been swallowed up by Tiscali and will be going national with the launch of a new set of packages and new pricing. This is supposed to start at some point in November.

If you only use the broadband however I would seek another provider as the new pricing/packages will surely be geared to people having or using at least 2 of their services. Be for instance will give you more speed for £24, so this may be an option to consider if you only use the broadband side of things.

I've been with Homechoice for just under 2 years, but am now in the process of cancelling and going to SKY+.
Phoned Homechoice, who were completely indifferent. Their response to my answering why I was leaving was well you have to give 1 month notice and no you can't have a MAC code. Well I must say I'm glad to give them the push. Their attitude stinks and the service hasn't progressed in anyway.

In the end I decided SKY was cheaper had better channels and I can choose what to record and not on the whim of what replay service Homechoice decide to have.

Aha, so they've changed their policy now they've been sold - not unexpectedly... (Before they were giving 4 months free)

twas only done to secure the tiscali deal which is much how homechoice have flown by the seat of their pants for some time now

Understandable, it is in the contract, and I wouldn't expect a MAC from them since they're an LLU provider.

Yeah, but clearly it's really, really bad for the consumer that LLU ISPs can't issue MACs? I know BT have been working on a system for some time, but now there are such a high percentage of people using LLU it seems bananans...

why not give a months notice but ask for the line to be ceased forthwith, that way you could get on with new order

Its Ofcomms fault, they don't seem to though through LLU properly. How many people are willing to go without broadband for weeks so they can switch provider?

Yep that bit does suck.

It's crazy that to move from an LLU provider to another can't be done with one action of rejumpering a line to new provider instead of disconnect and reconnect cycle.

It's the whole Openreach equivalence of access thing *sigh*

It's not in Homechoice contract that they won't give MAC codes. When questioned why I was told because other suppliers just disregarded the ones Homechoice supplied so they don't give thme out anymore. A phone call to OfComm said that doesn't make sense and in summary Homechoice don't sign up to some code of contract. To me it's them being as obstructive as they can rather than any technical reason.

My biggest observation is that they are completely indifferent losing customers. I guess the call centre staff may be on notice and don't care if the customers go elsewhere as they don't expect to be around much longer.

I would've stayed but after seeing alternatives in action, I realised I wasn't getting a service especially in terms of TV content and picture quality that was worth paying more than Sky.

my understanding re mac codes is that the homechoice service is akin to an old bt product (videostream) with internet bundled in and as such is not a comparable product with other pure adsl providers, making smooth transition difficult
Last edited by johnnyrocker : 26-10-2006 at 09:51

Homechoice cancelled.

Just to let you know they did offer me the 4 months free Max pack so I guess they are still doing that retention deal.

oh really... nice! i doubt they'd offer it a second time though

That was the old Homechoice service years ago.

They are now completely LLU, and as such cannot offer MAC codes or something similar as no system is yet in place for it. This is the same for any LLU provider (Be, UkOnline etc) not just Homechoice. Ofcom were supposed to be looking into implementing something, lets hope this happens soon, as more and more people use LLU this becomes more of a problem

Surely if you have not had HC take over your line they could still provide a MAC, only users who have been unbundled should not be able to get one, no?

All HC lines are unbundled aren't they? the unbundling is for the DSL. Taking over the voice-telephone billing is called something else.

>HomerChoice

Come back and tell us how long it takes to get your DSL service back.

No-one said it was, I only said the 1 month cancellation notice was in the contract No MAC is just common sense with them being LLU.

Yes there is such a thing as an LLU MAC. Only becomes problematic when moving from LLU to LLU.

Zen are an operator that takes LLU MACs and a fair few people have used them as an intermediatary to ensure no drop in service, giving them the LLU MAC then getting a standard MAC from them and using it to migrate to another OLO.

I'd be interested in seeing how long it takes to get Homechoice off the line.

I remember them telling me they had put the cease in to BT however BT said otherwise and the cease did not in fact go in until the day my service ended.

Looking pretty bad so far.

Today is the day I left Homechoice and I've had no dialtone.

Purely a coincidence of course that my PSTN goes to Homechoice gear then to BT's and I lose it the day I leave Homechoice.

I think that someone in Homechoice messed up. I was still connected to their kit but had no dialtone.

I'm waiting for BT to give me an update. They've spent 3 hours on it so far

this always happens to me when i migrate from one ISP to another, actually happend 3 times out of 3 migrations 100%

I did call them yesterday to cancel and I was "only" offered 2 free months on the big pack (not max)...