cheapest time to ring u.k.

[Frogslegs]

I do not use the telephone often but when is it the best time to ring u.k.

thanks

[Barrym]

if you use an alternative supplier (I use phonexpat) calls to the uk are the same price (3 cents aminute) all the time

 

I should have said I did use phonexpat as I've now signed up for voipcheap which gives free calls to uk and french landlines (if you and a pc running windows xp and a broadband connection)

[Frogslegs]

I should hav send ... we are with france telecom and we are not broadband .

[Deimos]

Unsure about France Telecom as I don’t use them for International Calls. However, there are other phone suppliers that you do not need to open accounts with (i.e. just use them), do not need ADSL (i.e. use your standard telephone) and prices a lot cheaper than FT (cheaper than Phone Expat as well).

If price is important then I’d have a look around. I pay 1,4 cents per min to UK evenings and weekends (no account, no prepayment, standard telephone, etc. 2,8 cents per min peak rate to UK).

There are loads of these things around and which is best will depend on how you use the telephone.

Ian

[Teamedup]

Isn't all this info on their web site, or they have a free phone number that is on your bill too and they will be able to tell you.

[Katieb]

Deimos,

I am interested in the info you have just given. Are you able to tell us which supplier you use? You say that you don't need to have an account with the supplier (we have an account with FT but i'm sure we could do better if we tried), am i right in thinking that we would have to prefix the UK number we are dialling with some other digits? Sorry to appear dim - but setting up the phones and PC is the "man's" department in our household.

 

Thanks Kate

[Richard-R]

If you have a mobile phone here in France (esp-pay as you go). This can often work out very good value af 7pm.

We use our left over credit (before it vanishes) to call the U.K.

[Rob Roy]

We have signed up to Phonexpat and have just had our first bill - 13 euros 71 for 530 mins of calls to the UK and France, which we are very pleased with . Of course you still have to pay the France Telecom standing charges for the line on top of that.

[Frogslegs]

was it really easy to sign up?

[Deimos]

[quote user="Frogslegs"]was it really easy to sign up?[/quote]

Why “sign-up” when there are cheaper providers that require no account, no prepayment, no commitment, no cancellation, etc. – just use as and when you want and cheaper calls than PhoneExPat.

Ian

[Rob Roy]

Perhaps 'sign up' was the wrong expression, you can fill out a form on line and it takes about 2 days for your account to be activated. No fees, no changes to your number, no standing charge etc etc.

[Deimos]

It’s what I meant anyway. Why “commit” and then need to cancel at some point in the future. Why open accounts, etc. (even online) when you can get cheaper calls by using alternative providers (that require none of that stuff).

Maybe ask yourself what benefits PhoneExPat gives you – more expensive calls, another account to cancel at some point, another set of bills to pay, two day wait, and did I mention more expensive phone calls.

Ian

[Rob Roy]

Surely whoever you use you have to give them some information about yourself and your phone number in order to use them? The price of calls to the UK are the same 24 hours a day with Phonexpat so no 'prime time', but horses for courses and we are happy with what we are getting, as i am sure you are with your provider, whoever that is.

[Tourangelle]

FT off peak used to start at 19.00, but I don't know if this is still the case

[Deimos]

[Rob Roy commented]: “Surely whoever you use you have to give them some information about yourself and your phone number in order to use them?“

Not the case these days. Opening and maintaining accounts, etc. all costs money which at the end of the day you have to pay for it. The industry has in many cases “moved on” and companies offering lower cost call have no requirement to know who you are before, during or after you use their service.

[Rob Roy commented]: “The price of calls to the UK are the same 24 hours a day with Phonexpat so no 'prime time'”

Having no “Peak Rate” and “Off peak” rate (e.g. PhoneExPat) is not too important if the provider is charging higher rate 24 hours a day than other people charge for their “peak rates”.

Ian

[Miki]

Around and around we go................. !

I use phone expat for the UK and for all our business and personal

calls local and national. I don't want some two bob company that say

this and that and make little mention of the numerous sous clauses in

mini print.

I will stand up and say we have used phone expat for some while now and

have found it superb. If anyone wants my code number they can have 240

minutes free to the UK (and, so I make it quite clear, there is something

in it for me, yep, I get the same as well !). Now I don't know for sure

if it is the cheapest, the most average or whatever, all I know, is that

it has saved us a fortune that's all I do know for sure.

Now when someone comes on and say they know of some better or cheaper

or whatever, then perhaps they would have the common decency to name the companies on

here, so that others may benefit. By simply saying "I know, I know" is

not much use at all, people want to be able to make their phone calls as

cheap as possible and from what I have read, all those computer

orientated calls with Skype etc and the like are almost totally free or

indeed  free, so that has to be the cheapest but having used one,

the quality was iffy and the slight delay was quite comical,  10/4

and all that came to mind !!  So although it is cheap, it would not suit my purpose overall.

So one really has to ask what one requires from a phone and I for one

personally need clear calls, no prefixes etc I need cheap calls within

France and abroad and until I can be convinced by someone, who at least

can show, that overall and for the same kind of package, I can save a

fair amount of money and I don't mean a centime here and there per call

either.

So you will have to wait two days, hardly a big deal is it ? Phone

expat can even take over and cancel any other deal you may have going And

speak English at their office....another account to cancel.....with expat, they do all that for you....... another set

of bills to pay,.......another set ?? You pay ONE

bill monthly, very simple...........and it is automatic, now how 

hard is that ? Oh and expat do all that for you, you just have to sign,

..a two day wait ?........So ? Two whole days to wait, what problem is that ? I think that perhaps you have something against this company ?

Sometimes I find it pays to stay where you are happiest and let others chase their tales to save a centime or two.

Just like Tescos and Asda and Morrisons, or the many ferry discount

companies, hard to be the cheapest overall, tweak here, a tweak there

gives them all something to boast about !

[Deimos]

I have stopped publishing specific companies on the open forum after having been rather aggressively “attacked” in the past. I do tend to answer PM’s from people asking and who are interested.

Ian

[Miki]

Strange reply.

What ? you mentioned in all simplicity some places where one could find

calls cheaper and who attacked you ? The other cheap companies in

competition. There will as  ever, be more than meets the eye here,

I'm sure !

[BJSLIV]

Miki

I seem to remember that the last time this subject came up Deimos suggested that Xphone might be a good  one to use, and immediately someone came in and said that Yphone were much better, and were at least 0.01Euros a minute cheaper, especially if you were ringing when there was an R in the month. And so it went on.

Oh and then for good measure  Skype probably cropped up as well!

You probably know the sort of debate / slanging match I mean.

It seems to me that unless you spend your whole life on the phone, there are a good half dozen ways of ringing the UK pretty cheaply. The important thing is not to use FT.

 

 

[Miki]

I totally agree BJ, especially about FT, although we still of course, have to pay them for line rental.

I started with "around and around" because I remembered we had been here before.

But just saying something is cheaper and nothing more, just slapping

one company down, is like me posting that I know the winner of the

15h00 race tomorrow. Now if I name it, then it is fair enough that

others can say, yes or no, or name their own selection, that surely is

what the forum is for.  By not saying the name, it becomes close

to trolling as far as I am concerned. Why even bother to say what was

said, if the person knew damned well that last time he posted about

cheap calls, it did cause a little contretemps ?

Seems strange to me.......

[Quillan]

We don't phone the Uk very often. Our daughtr phones us from work and all we have left in the UK is my father in law. We use Teleconnect and have our Mobile phone with them. Our calls are typically within France and we use Skype to call Spain where both my brother in laws live. Our typical bill is arounf 17€ per month for all this plus our line rental from FT. Our answerphone is in English for both our landline and mobile. All our bills are in English although I think most of these companies have their bills in English. I think at the end of the day, like Miki said it depends on what you want from your phone subscriber. My main thing was a mobile that was cheap to run, the call rates are the same for both landline and mobile with our contract with Teleconnect. We do get a 'happy hour' every night for very cheap rate to nominated numbers both in France or abroad and again it's the same rate for both phones. I suits us and we are happy. Horses for courses I guess at the end of the day.

[jehe]

We have just gone with Teleconnect thinking that calls would be cheaper - our first bill for 1 week was 138 euro's. A lot of the calls were to a U.K. mobile but the bill was the highest we have had from anyone for just 1 weeks calls. Am now looking for a way to phone my daughter (U.K. Mobile) without having to mortgage the house !!! Any sugestions welcome...

[Quillan]

Phoning mobiles will always be expensive because it's the mobile couriers that set the prices. It's then up to your phone company how much they load the price. I know two people who use Skype nd they swear by it but it does depend on many things. It would no however been much use for calling a mobile I don't think. I think your daughter having a mobile number for you to call is a large part of the problem and perhaps you may not have always used the 'happy hour' every night?

[Deimos]

Depending on the country (from and to), you can call some mobiles reasonably – but always check if the person receiving the call is having to pay to receive international calls (as can be the case in some countries). There are providers who will provide France to UK mobile calls at 18 centimes per minute (another at 15 centimes per minute). Probably some others cheaper (Skype is a bit more expensive).

As Quillan says, mobile tend to be more expensive than landlines

Quite a few out there to look at (or I can PM details of specific providers).

Ian

[Russethouse]

What would be nice in France  is a Money Saving Expert site, its really good for keeping up to date with these things and weighing up the pros and cons, I saw Martin Lewis on a program yesterday who said that phone tarrif comparisons can take up to 400 hours to calculate and compare..........

Anyway as France doesn't seem to have a guru dedicated to these things would using something like Kelkoo.fr help and if so what search terms would you use (or just google ) ??