Redten

leebwk · Post by **leebwk** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 7:30 am

Just about to sign up with REDTEN internet 12.99 a month plus you get a free PC, spec seems ok as it's only going to be used by the kids for homework and it's a 3 year deal, has anybody had any experience with them? any advice appreciated before i sign the dotted line.

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 11:30 am

I have not even heard of them to be honest

There seems to be a few unhappy people on webuser though-

http://www.webuser.co.uk/forums/showfla ... ber/314459

leebwk · Post by **leebwk** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 12:01 pm

Thanks UHM i think i will hold fire until i've researched this a bit more

unclek · Post by **unclek** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 4:13 pm

http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/showflat.ph ... b=&o=&vc=1

Hoovie · Post by **Hoovie** » Wed Sep 26, 2007 7:14 pm

It sounds like a good offer - moving into the 'too good to be true' offer, so worth researching.

What I would say say is this:

The PC looks to be a previous generation to the latest systems - Pentium 4 and Windows Media Center is old (I have that combo on my laptop as it happens) - The fact it IS old to my mind is good! makes the offer more likely to be genuine as they probably have got a job lot cheap and that is how they can fund the PC (The PC is not worth £500 - maybe more like £250). And that PC /SW combo is fine for day to day use as well

The Broadband for £12.99 is ok too - the speed quoted is pretty good and they say unlimited (with ** by that

) - check what that means - I had Toucan "Unlimited" and every week they emailed me saying I had broken the fair useage policy as I downloaded over 1GB a week at peak time - THAT IS NOT UNLIMITED! Redten refer to a Fair Usage Policy but I could not find details - it is likely you could find Broadnband equalt to this for £9.99 and prices tend to drop, not rise on broadband.

so doing the maths, A "normal" BB package over 36 months would cost at most £360 and you would need to buy a PC for say £250 = total cost £610

Redten package is £12.99 for 36 months = £467.

So you would save around £150 with this deal if your research pulls it up as decent and genuine and your internet useage is not really heavy, but you are tied in for 3 years - is that tie in worth a £1 a week saving? - only you can decide

CORRECTION: I forgot the connection fee that I think is £50 - this is usually a waiver for new customers with most providers and brings the differential to below £100 over three years.

Final note - as mentioned, I was with Toucan and got fed up with their limited "Unlimited" broadband. I switched to BT and pay a lot more admittedly, but I use BB for work (#1 reason) and also - and this *may* influence your decision too - the advent of the TV companies making their programs downloadable means I sometimes download 3-4GB of TV a day (don't often watch it, but like a "Oh that looks interesting maybe" download) - and that kind of service is getting more and more common and a fair useage policy may become more and more restrictive?

Hope this helps

Hoovie

hamish72 · Post by **hamish72** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 6:12 pm

DO NOT GO ANYWHERE NEAR REDTEN

they are a complete disaster and rip off merchant look here to see why

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/sho ... l?t=297046

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 6:34 pm

hamish72 wrote:DO NOT GO ANYWHERE NEAR REDTEN

they are a complete disaster and rip off merchant look here to see why

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/sho ... l?t=297046

That is a massive post and has had thousands of views.

I must check MSE to see if anyone has complained about service from 123 reg as I have some serious issues with them!

Hoovie · Post by **Hoovie** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 9:07 pm

Old post but some New News .....

"Yesterday, ISPreview uncovered some bad news for RedTen broadband customers following an announcement by the RedTen supplier NJPServices, that they were ceasing supply of broadband services to RedTen customers at the end of the month. This followed news earlier this year where BT disconnected the service of RedTen customers due to repeated non-payment. At this point, NJP picked up provision of the service and has done so for the last three months.

RedTen have always had a controversial service--When first launched, the service offered a free computer with the broadband connection as long as you maintained the contract for 3 years. In February 2007 RedTen's parent company, Watford Electronics was bought out by another company known as Globally Ltd which operated from the same address as RedTen, but were a separate legal entity. It seems the free PC offer was withdrawn for new customers at this point.

Now it appears that a different company, Fatcat Communications, has started to contact RedTen customers after acquiring some of their assets. Again, the company appears to be operating from the address as Watford Electronics and the original company behind RedTen, with the domain name (fatcatinternet.com) being registered to the address of Clode Retail Finance, the finance company behind RedTen. Fatcat have told users that they will be responsible for provision of Broadband services.

In another twist, NJPservices have actually cut off service today according to users at moneysavingexpert.com, earlier than originally stated and have placed users in a walled garden (so the only webpage they can access is that with a copy of the message in the original e-mail).

Users caught up in this mess may wish to contact NJPServices and ask for a MAC code so you can migrate your service to another provider, although be aware that if you have received a PC your contract with Clode may still be enforceable so you should seek advice (from a Solicitor or the Citizens Advice Bureau) as to whether you are required to continue to pay for this first.

The letters sent to RedTen customers can be see at ISPreview"

Wonder if anyone here went with these cowboys

leebwk · Post by **leebwk** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 9:52 am

I'm with Redten Hoovie

and to be honest i've not had any trouble really (famous last words) but then again i don't use the computer at home too much, when it did migrate over to NJP we were without broadband for about 3-4 days but after phoning them it came back on when they stated it would.
I was on the internet last night so there was no cut off yesterday, but that may be a different story tonight, so i may well be on the phone tomorrow (thurs).

Hoovie · Post by **Hoovie** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 10:05 am

You did go with them in the end, then. Fingers crossed it stays working

When I first read about their Free PC offer, I did wonder how they could afford to do it

I did wonder also about a company calling themselves "Fatcat Communications"

RichieP · Post by **RichieP** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 9:42 pm

Unfortunately UK Company Law allows for too many of these crooks to operate. They are probably the same people behing the Savastore company (operated by Watford Electronics) that went bust and then started up again with a similar name.

These people shouldn't be allowed to be directors for another 2 years at least once they take these companies under, leaving people high and dry with paid-for contracts and warranties that are worthless.