Renewal and voice with elderly parent

[#1]

My Dad is now out of contract and paying around £65pm. He won't understand that if he were to re- contract to Plusnet he would lose his landline, or am I wrong? If he carries on with his horrendous out of contract price he can keep his landline until such times as PN stop the support altogether, or fibre comes along. The simplest option for him would be to migrate to a supplier with digital voice, but as he was without any service for over 3 months earlier this year, he will be worried about the changeover to a new provider. I did see somewhere about people classed as vulnerable being able to keep their landline, especially as fibre hasn't arrived at his house yet and he is still on a 10mb speed copper line.

Any suggestions out there of how he could proceed please?

Mark

[#2]

He won't understand that if he were to re- contract to Plusnet he would lose his landline, or am I wrong?

He should be able to recontract on the same product and still retain the landline. You probably have to do so by calling COT , it wont be shown as an option online.

[#3]

@Marksfish 

I believe it is possible to recontract (on exactly the same product) by phone with Plusnet.

Any change will trigger a loss of landline but my understanding is another 18 month contract is possible.

[#4]

You can recontact now and still keep the phone service until it's eventually turned off. You should be able to do this online through the member centre.

[#5]

Thanks everyone, i'll give him the good news. He is on holiday at the moment, so some good news for when he gets back 😀

[#6]

@Marksfish 

You should begin preparing your dad for the PSTN switchoff (or earliar if PN close their phone service first). Depending on howw you do it there may be a few days downtime on the phone.

I don't know the criteria but as an older person your father may be able register with PN as vunerable. Look under My Account in his Members page on PN.

You might also want to consider getting yourself set up as an "Authorised User" on his account so you can speak to PN on his behalf if required.

Brian

[#7]

He's already registered as vulnerable and I am already on the account, so i'll wait and see what results he gets when home.  Allegedly he also received no warning the contract was coming to an end, i'm not so sure about that though. Losing his home phone will mean he is unable to use the phone he has for his hearing needs, and not sure about explaining to him about VOIP adaptors and such. He would be better moving to a voice supporting provider (if PN won't let him keep his line) where it is just a case of plugging the phone into the router, much easier to explain to him!

[#8]

Does he make a lot of outgoing calls?

If not, and you're thinking of leaving PlusNet anyway, might be worth asking about BT Basic: they do a BT Basic broadband too. I don't know what the criteria are for getting onto it.

(I don't think PlusNet do any of the "social tariffs".)

[#9]

He relies on his home phone a lot and has the PN calls package. He has a special phone for his hearing loss and the 3 months he was without his phone was very stressful for him. I have tried to have him use his mobile for outgoing calls as they are included in his monthly package, but the signal isn't very good where he lives. I have tried to explain wifi calling to him, but as he has decided to get a Motorola phone now instead of a Samsung, I don't know where the settings are for it.

[#10]

@Marksfish 

Does you father use PN email? I ask because if he does it goes if he leaves.

As already mentioned he can re-contract with his current service by phoning PN. But you will have to prepare him for VOIP in the next couple of years. He has two choices - stay with PN an use and independant VOIP provider or move to an ISP which does both eg BT or Zen Internet. There will be others.

If staying with PN you'll need an ATA for the phone and consider power backup. Many on this forum have recommended A&A for VOIP.   https://www.aa.net.uk/voice-and-mobile/voip-information/  Once again there are others.

With A&A you can set the account up in advance with a new number to ensure it works and to cover the down time when his current PN service is ceased and the number ported to A&A. He would be able to make outgoing calls. They also sell an ATA which, while not the cheaspest way to get one it comes preconfigured to use A&A. However I believe A&A don't offer call packages.

Moving to a new ISP would be the least hassel and the phone shouldn't be down for long.

Brian

[#11]

No, he uses Gmail. If I can get his current landline kept, it gives me time to explore voip options for myself as I am moving my number to voipfone, so I can see how easy it will be for him. It would be sooooo much easier if he were to move to another provider who provides phone, but he believes in good old fashioned loyalty (even if it is to his detriment).

Mark

[#12]

@Marksfish 

AS a registered user on his account there's nothng to stop you from phoning the PlusNet Customer Options Team on 0800 013 2632 to see what's available on his account. Then let your father know.

If he's happy then I believe you can recontract on his behalf. If not he can do it asap when you returns. The faster it's done the quicker he get's back on contracted prices.

As you say, keeping his phone line as is buys you time to get VOIP sorted.

Brian

[#13]

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@bmc wrote:

AS a registered user on his account there's nothng to stop you from phoning the PlusNet Customer Options Team on 0800 013 2632 to see what's available on his account. Then let your father know.

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I'm on the account for if he has issues (like the recent issue with his lack of service). He is still very independent and would not be overly impressed if I started poling my nose in before he has had the chance. That said, if I hadn't, he wouldn't have realised the large increase in monthly payment!

Mark

[#14]

Hiya @Marksfish, 

I'm really sorry to hear this, can you PM me his username and I can see what suggestions we can make!! 

[#15]

@Marksfish is he in receipt of any benefits over and above the state pension?  Some providers offer a social tariff - e.g. BT offer a broadband (ADSL2+ or 40Mbps FTTC if available) and DigitalVoice package including calls for £15 pm. I have a family member that moved to that from Plusnet, and the switchover was seamless (they don't disconnect the existing land line until the broadband is working, and check via SMS that everything is OK). Your existing phone plugs into the router. My relative doesn't notice the difference - other than the price is a quarter of what Plusnet were charging.