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Original poster

2 questions in 1: Best HD Freeview box and Is TalkTalk any good?

11 replies

Pavlovthecat · 04/08/2011 15:30

ok, s after a long time of crap tv, crap broadband speed which i pay a fortune to receive, problems with billing and the wrong service continually being offered, not to mention the terrible customer service from both Sky and now Virgin I have decided to just leave them all, I watch mostly shit on tv. DH will miss the footie but i am sure he will cope.

So we are getting a freeview box and want to know what the best HD capable ones are? I don't want to spend a fortune but accept that this is likely to cost more than a tenner!

And we are considering TalkTalk for the phone/broadband, they seem to meet out needs the best - but what are they like for customer service? broadband services etc?

OP posts:
thereinmadnesslies · 04/08/2011 15:46

Can't help on Freeview but we have TalkTalk for phone and broadband.

Getting connected when we joined was a nightmare, something was messed up at the exchange leaving us without any service for 2.5 weeks. Most of their call centres are India based. Spent hours on hold trying to sort it out, and they must have the most irritating hold message ever. Call centre staff were difficult to understand and several times hung up on me if I asked to speak to a manager etc. No-one seemed to understand why no service was a problem, even tho we live in a mobile signal blackspot so we had no means of making a phone call.

BUT ... when we finally got connected the service is fine, broadband is reliable and DH has found the (UK based) technical support team really helpful. Bills are definitely cheaper than BT. I just dread the stress if I have a problem in the future ....

Original poster
Pavlovthecat · 04/08/2011 15:51

I think i can cope with shit customer service if the bills are cheaper. Currently with virgin I am experiencing high bills AND bad customer service, with the bills being a problem due to their mess-up which they are refusing to sort out.

I guess, if I only have one out of two then I will accept cheap and shit CS!

What do you do for tv?

OP posts:
Original poster
Pavlovthecat · 04/08/2011 16:53

oh how funny! I have just spoken to a guy at TalkTalk who then passed me on to a colleague as he did not know what I was asking, and then got passed on to a manager after arguing with me about how much I will save with them versus BT, and that manager also felt that the best way to ensure I chose them over another company was to argue with me a little more !

I think therefore that this thread is null and void as I will be going to BT after all other options are exhausted Grin

OP posts:
thereinmadnesslies · 05/08/2011 12:46

I could tell you horror stories about BT too Grin. We do Sky for just TV, because DH can not live without all the sports channels Hmm

JarethTheGoblinKing · 05/08/2011 12:52

IMO the best Freeview+ box is the Humax No experience of hte HD one but the 9300 standard box has been excellent.

jamaisjedors · 05/08/2011 12:58

Yes I just set up my new Humax box yesterday (with 500G hard drive for recording) - it is amazingly easy to set up and use.

My parents have some kind of service through BT where you can record TV etc and have pay on demand films - it is great - but my humax box does all that apart from the films.

LawrieMarlow · 05/08/2011 12:59

I have plusnet for phone and broadband and am v happy with them. There was a problem when we moved house with reconnecting broadband but that was due to a BT problem and once they flicked a switch it worked.

We have a Humax PVR - have had it a few years now so there are probably more up to date ones. But again it is v good.

Original poster
Pavlovthecat · 06/08/2011 20:33

lawrie oh i might check out plusnet.

I really do not want to go to BT, honestly. As far as I am concerned Sky/Virgin/BT - they are all the same. But i guess, someone is going to get my money, it is just who.

I have been looking at the Humax freeviews and they look good, glad to hear others have got them as I have not heard of them but they do a lot of good stuff on their boxes. Will look into this more.

OP posts:
Original poster
Pavlovthecat · 06/08/2011 20:51

ah plusnet is not good, international costs a reasonable amount and I need options for cheap calls. Oh well. Worth a look.

OP posts:
MaryBS · 06/08/2011 20:54

DON'T go for talktalk. Customer service is dreadful, and trying to get rid of them is worse than trying to get rid of headlice from long curly hair!

JarethTheGoblinKing · 07/08/2011 11:51

We have plusnet for broadband only, reasonably happy with it but thinking of switching to virgin for the higher speed.

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