Phone line in properties which are rented

[Owens88]

Hello

I have looked at the computer/telephone FAQs but not found my answer.

I have a place in the Pyrenees which I rent out. There has been a phone line in there before now but it is dead. I perhaps use the place 4 times a year.

I wonder about the economics of having a phone line made live. For me it might reduce my mobile costs (inbound calls are most expensive). For renters they might like to use the net etc.

So the questions...

1) Is there a low-user tariff or the equivalent of a 'pay as you go' on land-lines in France ?

2) If renting a line is there an easy way of getting a notification of usage (costs) in a particular period (i.e. at the end of a rental) ?

I have asked France telecom but the salesman in the showroom did not have time to overcome my limited French abilities. I think the rental per month he quoted was 36 euros.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

[Alexis]

Are you talking weekly rentals here?  People wanting to phone the UK to see how the cat is?  Buy them a card......

I haven't heard about either of your questions but 36€ for rental seems a bit steep.  I have a 2hr phone call 'thingy' to the UK and I pay, I think, 17.50€ per month.  It has just been offered.  Before I got 25% reduction on my calls to the UK.  My bill was never more than 50€ for two months.  No friends, me!

In a tidying up frenzy I have filed my last bill and the cat is sat on my lap........  If no one else gives you the rental I will check later.

[Will]

I'm told that if your calls are billed through France Telecom (rather than OneTel or a similar provider) you can dial 3000, say 'Allo Fact', press 1 and get an update on your bill. I don't know if you could do this from outside France though.

[DMC]

France Telecom usage can be checked on line - I provide phone and internet access to guests and send an extract of call costs deducted from the security deposit at the end of each stay. The website is quite flexible and costs can be displayed and printed between any 2 dates.

Doug

[Owens88]

Many thanks

Indeed one of the pressures for doing this is to allow my renters (even the weekly ones) to access the net !

The account tracking on-line, or by ringing 'allo allo', sounds good.

Now if I could only get the monthly rental down so it is not costing me a lot when the place is empty ..

Cheers all

[Deby]

Hello,

Use Lesminutes.com as they have the same service as France Telecom and are far cheaper.  I believe their site also has an english language translation.  You can simply check on line and print out the bill for phone and internet usage and bill guests accordingly.  Our guests are always surprised how cheap it is, but most use it for incoming calls and internet.

Deby

[Owens88]

Thanks

 

When I looked at Les Minutes some time ago their service required you to have a France Telecom landline. Is that now still the case ?

 

John

[BJSLIV]

If you have a landline then in most cases  it has to come from France Telecom, unless you have one of the integrated Broadband/Phone Packages. The cost is 26 euros every two months.

You can then explore all the different options regarding call packages from both FT and alternative suppliers.

 

[JohnM]

[quote]France Telecom usage can be checked on line - I provide phone and internet access to guests and send an extract of call costs deducted from the security deposit at the end of each stay. The website is...[/quote]

Do you have to register for this or is it an included service? If it's included, please will you point me at the actual page on their web site (my French is getting better but I still struggle).

Cheers

 

[Frenchy]

[quote]Many thanks Indeed one of the pressures for doing this is to allow my renters (even the weekly ones) to access the net ! The account tracking on-line, or by ringing 'allo allo', sounds good. Now if...[/quote]

Tried to use the quote and it didn't work. John when you said you would like to keep the cost down when it is empty, France Telecom do offer a service for second homeowners. They allow you to have services temporarily disconnected when you notify them so for the times that it is empty there would be no charge. However, they do require you to have the service turned on for at least two months at a time though.

[Owens88]

Thanks to all.

I think I have once found confirmation of the 13€ per month tariff, though their site is so complex I cannot find it again.

There is also  tariff for occasional users (e.g. maisons secondaires) but to get on that you have to have  a primary account in France   (fair enough).

John

 

 

[JohnM]

[quote]Do you have to register for this or is it an included service? If it's included, please will you point me at the actual page on their web site (my French is getting better but I still struggle). Chee...[/quote]

Wow. My french is getting better. I found the links in the FT web site all by myself... sadly I couldn't get to work. Despite having my phone bill in front of me and checking that I was entering the "amount due" accurately, it still didn't want to know me!