Just rec'd a letter from them telling me they'll be rounding up the cost to the next minute.

"This change only affect the calls you make outside of your talk plan, so if you are on any of our phone packages, like Talk Weekends, Talk Evenings and Weekends or Talk Unlimited - the rest of your calls are still absolutely free."

I still think it stinks though as who's going to be counting the seconds?

I think Virgin are betting people don't count, and that's where they'll make money.

You need:

http://www.firsttelecom.com/resident...lPrices-CS.htm

Quick and easy to set up - they send a small box that goes between your phone socket and phone. I've had zero problems and small bills.

...or Call18185.

Use Virgin for the free calls and 18185 for others.

Though there is the 4p connection, but 1p/min, tough again they like all the other Telcos other than Primus now round up to the minute.

Use FT if you know the call will be short.

This is the letter in full:-




Full marks for honesty as far as it goes, but what really gets my goat, is that they haven't the common decency to treat their customers like grown ups, and tell us why such a price increase is necessary.

That's exactly what I do.

I have Virgin Broadband for £9.99 per month, which included free calls evenings and weekends.

I use 18185 for all landline calls during the day @ 4p, and for mobiles @ 6p per minute plus 4p connection.

I use an Orchid dialler using the Heinz programme, which works great. Total bill each month to Virgin - £9.99.

Yeah. I was VoIP only for 2 years, previously BT line 6 years previous as cable put their charges up back then to a lot higher than they used to be and dearer than BT. Only just had a VM landline installed at this address as a retentions deal, free install on master and slave socket, free line rental, free evening and weekend calls and free caller display, discounted XL TV package and L broadband.

So I now use VM for the free calls and carry on with VoIP for free daytime to calls, International calls and some other calls. I now spoof my VM number on my VoIP service, so even when I call from my VoIP account it appears to the person I'm calling to be my new VM number, that way when they call be back, they call back on my VM line and I then don't have to worry about QOS on the VoIP line (just when I want to make calls through it).

How do you spoof your VM number on VoIP please?

Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer using UK based First Telecom, with friendly, easy to talk to customer services; than an overseas company (18185)with no customer service! You don't need to remember to dial an access number with First Telecom, either. You might, but will anyone else in the family bother all the time?

You don't need to keep remembering to dial 18185 with an orchid Dialer. It does it automatically, when you want, and to whom you want.

Plus, in the 3 years I've been using 18185, I've never needed customer services.

what other call routing companies are compatible with virgin lines?

i assume that the 18185 shortcodes dont work on virgin, and you need to dial something like
0800 xxxxx18185

the orchid diallers are only about a tenner, which aint bad.

No. I have a BT line, but calls are routed thru Virgin as it's a condition of having their broadband bundle 3 for £9.99pm.

Previously, I had Virgin Broadband at £19.99pm until they introduced (for a very briefy time) Bundle 3.

Having just seen that they are putting up their connection charge to 7p, there is no way I would ever use them for anything other than free calls.

As I have itemised online billing from them,listing all my free calls, I'm wondering if I'll get the 50p discount now?

I presume the dialler box calls an 0800 or 0808 access number first in the background, as AFAIK cable operators don't support the CPS codes.

Does anyone know what the 080x access number is? I would like to sign up for the service for use on my Orange mobile (and before anyone quotes me wrong, I get free calls to 080x numbers on my plan)

Simon