BT as an ISP / Gogol Bordello concert

[lethargic_man]

BT cold-called me yesterday trying to persuade me to take out a broadband contract with them. I keep getting mailshotted with this sort of thing; typically they'll offer £4.99 for the first three months after which it'll go up to the same I'm getting now with my current ISP, and it's not really worth it for me to save £30 at the price of the hassle of changeover. But this deal from BT sounds quite a bit better: it's £4.99 for broadband and telephone calls for an eighteen month contract. That sounds like it ought to be a better deal... but eighteen months is a long time to be locked into a contract. Before I decide anything, if anyone else here has experience with BT as an ISP, could you let me know how you find them? Do, for example, they have good customer service, or do they charge you 50p per minute to talk to support staff in India with poor grasp of English? Do they have good uptime? Do they have a good web mail interface? Etc.

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In other news, when I gave bluepork a CD by the Romanian Roma (Gypsy) band Taraf de Haïdouks for his birthday, he recommended me back the American Roma-rock band Gogol Bordello. I promptly then forgot about them until I saw a colleague at work wearing a Gogol Bordello top, at which I checked them out on YouTube, loved them, and spent the rest of the evening listening to Gogol Bordello on YouTube. Looking at (or even just listening to) the videos, it occurred to me a Gogol Bordello concert must be something to be experienced, so I'm currently nerving myself up to buy tickets to the concert they're playing in Edinburgh a week before my birthday.

This is unlike me, and a slightly crazy thing to do when I don't even have any Gogol Bordello music myself yet, and have only listened to a handful of their tracks once or twice yet on YouTube, but I decided a while back my life is too boring, and I ought to do crazy things more (such as the ballooning that will happen this year, I am determined).

Still, I'm still me and am nervous of committing to anything major, whether it's a change of ISP or spending money to go up to Edinburgh to see a Gogol Bordello concert. (Edinburgh's not quite as crazy a journey as it sounds, though: I'd go up to Newcastle to visit my parents for the weekend, so it would only be a 120-mile day trip from there.)

Comments

[liv]

I like Gorgol Bordello very much, and their concerts have a great reputation for being full of wacky fun. I didn't mention them to you because I thought them too obvious, I assumed you'd either be a fan already or have decided you didn't like them. I'm quite tempted to offer to join you in your crazy plans, though Edinburgh on a Monday night is a bit awkward.

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

They're also playing Bristol on the UK leg of this tour, which might be more convenient for you. <looks at map> Actually, it's more convenient for me, and indeed is closer to London than Edinburgh is to Newcastle, let alone London; but I'd already resolved to visit my parents more this year, so Edinburgh it is.

Would you like me to see if I can get you accommodation for Monday night, so you don't have to go all the way back in one go? (I can't guarantee success, but I can try.)

Ooh, we have a plan!

[liv]

It'd be enough more fun to go to the concert with you to make up for the fact that Edinburgh has more geography than Bristol. Don't try to arrange anything for me yet; I need to check I can get time off work. Regarding accommodation, are you planning to stay in Edinburgh or Newcastle on Monday night? Once I've sorted things out at this end, I'll book a concert ticket and somewhere to stay for myself.

Re: Ooh, we have a plan!

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

I think Edinburgh has roughly the same amount of geography as Bristol (though Edinburgh may be more crinkly); Fabien's probably the person to ask about that. What's relevant is the amount of geography between you (or me) and Edinburgh...

Anyhow, my plan is to return to Newcastle on Monday, and then back to London on Tuesday morning. I need to find out if I can know the concert's end time in advance, to know whether it's worth buying advance-purchase (i.e. fixed time) train tickets to Edinburgh and back, or whether I should borrow my mother's car (which itself might be a bad idea if I/we come back so late I'm tired).

As for booking concert tickets separately, isn't there a risk if we do that we'll be assigned separate fixed seats and won't be able to sit together?

logistics

[liv]

OK, so get myself to Edinburgh on Monday evening, stay overnight in Newcastle and come back here Tuesday morning. That means I probably need two half-days off work. How much of a hurry are you in to book a ticket for yourself to make sure you get it? Because it might take me a few days to jump through bureaucratic hoops about taking time off work. If you're willing to wait, though, then sure, we can make a single booking to be sure to get seats together.

Re: logistics

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

I've no idea how close the venue is to selling out; I shall 'phone them up tomorrow and investigate, as also whether I can reserve a seat next to me without it being paid for immediately. But I'd prefer to book train tickets to Newcastle as soon as possible, as the longer I wait the more likely the cheap tickets will sell out, and of course, prices have gone up in the new year, and so has VAT, so it's not going to be cheap; and there's no point booking the train tickets until I know I'm going to get a place at the concert.

[iddewes]

I didn't realise you didn't know about Gogol Bordello before. I've been into them for ages. I did see them live here a couple of years ago and they were great. And, after all, Start Wearing Purple is my signature tune...

BT

[bluepork.livejournal.com]

My advice is avoid BT. They're always being slagged off in Trusted Reviews etc for trading on their name and providing an overpriced poor service.

If you want an integrated phone and internet service I can recommend TalkTalk. Actually, I would probably get a tenner off them if I actually referred you. If you want a stand alone internet service, I seem to recall plusnet being spoken highly of.

Re: BT

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

My advice is avoid BT.

Linda disrecommended them (http://www.facebook.com/notes/michael-grant/bt-as-an-isp-gogol-bordello-concert/299992574989) too, on the Facebook importation of this blog post.

If you want an integrated phone and internet service I can recommend TalkTalk.

I have an account already with Pipex, which has now been taken over by Opal, which is part of the TalkTalk group. This comparison page (http://top10.com/broadband/packages/#products=sort%3Dbestsellers) suggests there is a TalkTalk broadband package for £7 a month (plus line rental), so why am I paying over twice that (plus line rental to BT)!? Somewhere along the way, broadband prices came down without me noticing, but I do need to have a talk with Pipex to see if I can be transferred onto the cheaper package.

Re: BT

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

My advice is avoid BT.

Seconded. I've found them pretty nightmarish to deal with. Also, their e-mail got a boatload of spam - I'd never given it to anyone, but it was out in the world in no time at all, and it was all on their end.
(Private gmail addresses stay private in my experience.)

I think I need to check out Gogol Bodello...

Re: BT

[curious-reader.livejournal.com]

I have plusnet but it is quite expensive. I bought the whole package phone and broadband. The BT phone installation was cheaper than directly from BT. I pay £15 for broadband with a limit of 80GB. I have not managed to get over the limit yet but was near to it. I pay about £11 for line rental that includes free evening and weekend calls. For cheap calls abroad and unlimited UK landline calles before 6pm I registered with 1886 online. I am quite happy with it. It was recommende by somebody from Ohel Avraham years ago.