A late interection vis a vis Phone Coop. (PC)
I used Phone Coop until about 10 years ago. Their were totally useless proving a phone service.
A contractor dropped a bundle of phone cables in a man hole by the local exchange and damaged all the pairs. A hundred or two I was told later. I reported line down. PC took me through the palaver of tested everything in the property. Replace handset, removing wall socket cover. A week later I heard what the problem was in a chance conversation. PC did nothing to communicate with me or advance the problem to OR.
Three weeks later no movement at all. In desperation I called in a favour of a family member who worked for OR in a different region and asked them for their help. Their spoke to their counterpart in our region and the line was fixed within the next 48 hours. NO compensation, no apologies. I think I could be waiting today for PC to act.

In reply to a post by tdw42:

Only a little less than EE (£26/mo for Full Fibre 74Mbps + £18/mo for unlimited calls to UK landline & mobile numbers last I looked a couple of months ago) so may be worth looking for offers from them too.

The BT2000 by default has 1571 programmed into speed dial 1 but you can reprogram it (page 30 in the user guide) if that is being used to access voicemail

I did have a look at EE and I think it was much the same, however Sky did not seem to suggest (at least up front) of any price increases where as BT/EE do state it will be increased. Maybe worth me ringing them.

OH I was never aware that was an option. I guess if needed that's an option and she then just has to press 1.

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

Got it. Presumably she prefers / is used to manually dialling 1571 instead of holding down a speed dial button like “1”?

She preferred to dial 1571, however I was never aware the speed dial option was available let alone it could be changed!

Something to think about.

Having read their reviews on Trust Pilot I am feeling they are not one to be considered sadly.

I don't need to be sent around the houses trying to deal with issues miles from the source

In reply to a post by CJT:

I did have a look at EE and I think it was much the same, however Sky did not seem to suggest (at least up front) of any price increases where as BT/EE do state it will be increased. Maybe worth me ringing them.

The large providers have all gone for fixed annual increases, EE is £4/mo each April (£2 for broadband, £2 for phone service), Sky is the exception so they notify you of the increase in February and you can leave the contract within 30 days with no cancellation fee https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/guides/sky-increas...

Apparently the price rises don't apply to Sky customers who are vulnerable (you'll likely have to talk to them to see what they class as vulnerable), or on a social tariff (eligibility for these includes receiving pension credit)

Sky according to their Ts&Cs can increase your charges in contract at any time. They use the old method where they will tell you that they are increasing it in 30 days and allow you to cancel your contract without penalty.

Other providers mostly now bake in an annual set price rise and do not give the option of breaking the contract without penalty as they told you when you took the contract out.

The 'essential digital voice phone' from BT has a dedicated 1571 voicemail button. As does the advanced model

https://www.bt.com/help/user-guides/phones/digital-v...