phone calls with free

[squidge]

the first title that came into my little head for this post - 'free phone calls' would've given the wrong impression....

i think we've been really REALLY thick. we've had broadband access with free for a little while now and pay 29,99 euros a month. got confused when we had a letter from france telecom that seemed to say 'sorry that we're losing you', but as we've continued to get bills from them since then, just presumed that either a) i'd got the ol' translation wrong or b) they'd got it wrong and sent the letter out in error.

just been on the 'free' website and had a bit of a shock...... should i be getting everything from free (line rental and phone calls) and completely nothing from france telecom?! at the mo we're paying ft for line rental and call charges on top of the 29,99 for free for the broadband.

if i'm right, how does it work? what do we do? do we just pick a new phone number under the 'créer ma ligne téléphonique freebox' heading when i'm logged onto the 'free' website and then at some point in the near future the line automatically gets switched over to this new number and france telecom stop sending us bills? surely it's not that simple?!.........

errr thanks

thicko squidge [8-)] (and possibly thicko mark as well.......)

[BJSLIV]

Depends which option you have taken with Free.

You can sign up with Free 100% in which case your existing phones will stop working and you will make all your calls from a phone plugged into your Freebox.

OR

You carry on paying for the line with FT, and can continue to make calls on your old phones, and pay FT for them PLUS you plug a phone into the Freebox and make and receive calls on this additional number free from Free. I guess this is the create line option that you have identified.

It is not a good idea to opt for option two until you have proved that your Freebox line is satisfactory for your needs.

 

 

 

[squidge]

ooo thanks for that - all i can find about the type of service we have is that it's 'Haut Débit' (but that may just mean something standard)

did you mean to say that option one would be a bad idea until ...blahdy blah... rather than option 2? if not, i'm possibly even more confused!

as every cent counts, it would make sense to move everything to free wouldn't it? they advertise this as the standard package on their website for 29,99 so i guess we can do that. then we'd save 16 euros a month in line rental. i guess that there maybe some issues with fixing line probs though - free saying it's ft and you having no contract with ft..........

which option do you guys go for out there?!

[Clair]

I gave up my traditional FT line about 15 months ago and get free calls through most of the Europe and some other countries with Neuf.

I have had one period of bad connections (ADSL and tel), successfully resolved and no problem since.

[Martin963]

The advice that you should get Free ADSL telephone calls up and running and evaluate how reliable they are is good advice,  nay the best.

See if you can get the Free ADSL line running,  use it for a few weeks whilst not cancelling FT;  if it works well then consider going for the ADSL nu (ie no more FT payments).

Personally I - given our experience - would not ditch FT as our ADSL (and assocaited phone line)  goes off most nights - sometimes for only 10 mins,  sometimes for a couple of hours.  Whilst it's true that I'm so tight that I wait for the phone and internet to come back on before making any calls whatsoever,  one would feel a right muppet if a fire broke out and one couldn't ring out (we're very isolated so it would be very important in our particular circs).

I think people do what their connection allows them to do - ditch FT only if you're sure that the ADSL alternative is OK.

[Dave&Olive]

hi OK

 we are with free and have been for a while with no problems .although it does go off every night at 11 pm for about 3 mins

you cannot do away with FT line rental unless you are in an area of degroupage..more likely you are non-degroupage like us and have to keep the FT line and pay rental for it.

if you have had a letter off FT saying   'sorry that we're losing you', then you have opted for Free to take over the phone call charges for that line, a lower rate than FT but you are still charged for each call on that line to free and pay line rental to FT

But you should also have been given another nos for your Internet line . this is the phone that you plug into your Free box to make free calls on . but not to mobile nos or countries not in there list

eg our FT nos is a 0549.... nos

and the Free nos is a 0954 nos

 hope this makes sense

         Dave

[Clair]

[quote user="Dave and Olive"]you cannot do away with FT line rental unless you are in an area of degroupage..more likely you are non-degroupage like us and have to keep the FT line and pay rental for it.[/quote]

Beg to differ... [:)]

I do not live in a dégroupé area, but I do not have a FT line, as Neuf (as others also offer) take over the line from FT.

I pay €34 a month instead of their dégroupé rate of €29, but do not pay FT for line rental anymore.

[Dave&Olive]

[quote user="Clair"][quote user="Dave and Olive"]you cannot do away with FT line rental unless you are in an area of degroupage..more likely you are non-degroupage like us and have to keep the FT line and pay rental for it.[/quote]
Beg to differ... [:)]
I do not live in a dégroupé area, but I do not have a FT line, as Neuf (as others also offer) take over the line from FT.
I pay €34 a month instead of their dégroupé rate of €29, but do not pay FT for line rental anymore.
[/quote]

 hi ok

the question was for Free not Neuf

    Dave

[BJSLIV]

The same applies for Free. The rules changed about 18 months ago, so virtually the whole of France can now have ADSL without FT subscription. Its not the same as the original Degroupee in the big towns where you get even lower prices, faster service and in some cases additional services.

[Dave&Olive]

[quote user="BJSLIV"]The same applies for Free. The rules changed about 18 months ago, so virtually the whole of France can now have ADSL without FT subscription. Its not the same as the original Degroupee in the big towns where you get even lower prices, faster service and in some cases additional services.[/quote]

 hi ok

                I  stand corrected, like I said we have been with them a while so that option was not on when we signed up,

but just a little warning on opting out from FT. a mate of mine who is with Free his free box blew up about 3 months ago ,he can get adsl through his own box but not the free phone calls , he his having one hell of a job trying to get a new one from free, he has had his french friends to phone them etc but still no new box . the moral if you have no FT line and the net is down no phone .........result the wife would want to talk to me ................shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit

 dave

[:-))]

 

[Breton Networks]

[quote] and the Free nos is a 0954 nos [/quote]

Is that a 'premium rate' for anyone that calls you ?

[Dave&Olive]

[quote user="Breton Networks"][quote] and the Free nos is a 0954 nos [/quote]

Is that a 'premium rate' for anyone that calls you ?

[/quote]

 hi ok

             answer  duno phone me and find out but why would you want to phone that nos when we have the other line ?

                      Dave

[Bully]

I have had Free, totel degroupee, for about 6 montsh now and have not had any problems with the level of service at all. It certainly makes sense as far as I can see. As per an earlier post though I have had problems with people in the UK, when using BT, being able to connect to an 09 number in France. BT apparently say that they do not recognise an 09 number as being one that you can connect to from outside the country of origin. I haven't heard of anyone else having the same problem but if receiving calls is as important to you as making them then it may be worth checking this out too.......