ConsumerCast - Podcast #03

The UK Broadband war continues, with the big names continuing to fight for our Broadband business. In the show, we looked at four of the top offers from the big players:

• BT Total Broadband - Offers speeds of up to 8 Meg broadband for as little as £8.95 for the first six months. BBC Watchdog's viewers recently rated them number one. You can also get a BT Home Hub, free wi-fi minutes, Broadband Talk, and now digital TV with BT Vision (which we reviewed in show 12 of our podcast FrequencyCast). More at bt.com/btbroadband
  
• Sky Digital is offering over 100 satellite TV channels (that's all six of its Mix packages), free evening and weekend calls, plus 8 Meg broadband for £26 a month - competing with Virgin Media. Sky also offers up to 16 Meg download speeds in certain parts of the UK. More at www.sky.com
  
• Virgin Media's basic Internet offering is £18 month for speeds up to 2 Meg. At first glance, less competitive than BT, but their basic service offers unlimited downloads, vs. BT's 5 gig monthly allowance on their basic package. Virgin gets more competitive when bundling their cable TV and home phone service. Also, Virgin offer speeds of up to 20 Meg over their cable system, beating BT's 8 Meg. More at www.virginmedia.com
• TalkTalk's "free broadband" offer is still a contender. With their £8.99 "Talk 3" home phone service, you get up to 8Meg internet with a 40 gig monthly allowance. With line rental, this equals £19.99 a month for net and phone, which is cheaper than comparative BT, Tiscali and Virgin packages. More at www.talktalk.co.uk.
  
  

If you've ever been charged by your bank for going overdrawn or having a cheque bounced, you may find that you're able to reclaim some or all of the charges. There's been such discussion of this in the press recently, and it seems that if you challenge the big banks that their fees don't represent the cost of their work, the banks aren't willing to go to court, and will often settle.

If you've ever been charged unfairly, for example £20 for an overdraft letter, or £30 to bounce a cheque, then try to get your money back. There are a couple of sites offering downloadable letter templates that you can use, and millions of these letters have been downloaded. If you think you've been unfairly charged in the last six years - do what thousands of others in the UK have done, and try to claim those charges back.

Here are some useful links to set you on your way to getting back your fees.

• MoneySaving Expert - Great step-by-step guide, with template letters
• Bank Charges guidance from Thisismoney
• BBC - Claim back your charges , includes letter template
  
  

• Alliance & Leicester is still one of the top current accounts around, offering great interest rates, and at the time of recording, £50 if you refer a friend.
  
  
• If you're a Nectar Point collector, consider the Nectar Credit Card from American Express. You can earn 5000 Nectar points when you first use your card and spend £200 - you also get up to 4 points for each £1 you spend.
  
  

For all those girls out there looking for a new phone there are 2 great girly models on the market at the moment:

• The Samsung E570 is a beautiful pink and silver phone packed with features - like a built-in megapixel camera, music player and Bluetooth for handsfree calling, you can get this free on contract with Virgin Mobile.
  
  
• You can also look at the LG Shine and have a mirror with you where ever you go. The LG Shine is all about seeing and being seen. Its stunning looks and huge screen are combined with serious features, including a 2 Megapixel auto-focus camera and multi-media player. This is free with 02 on their Online 30 package - see shop.o2.co.uk.
  
  
• If you're looking for something to carry your new phone in we love the Radley Moccasin Grab Bag which you can pick up from John Lewis for £80. Smooth soft leather with features a zip top fastening, woven front pocket and interior zip, and of course, the little Scottie Dog.
  
  

Some other mobile phone news:

• If you're a fan of getting Internet and Email on the move, you may want to look at T-Mobile's Web-and-Walk. This offers unlimited net surfing on your mobile for £7.50 per month, or 25p a day. A lot cheaper than some network operator's we could mention. More at www.t-mobile.co.uk
  
  
• Free SIM cards from o2. You can get your hands on up to 4 FREE O2 SIMs, each with unlimited O2 to O2 free calls and texts when you top up just £15 a month. More at freesimo2.o2.co.uk
  
  

A summary of a few other offers worth a look:

• Regular Amazon shopper? Before your next order, take a look at Play.com - top range of books, CDs, games and electricals with free P and P. www.play.com
  
  
• Comet money off vouchers - See our UK Offers section.
  
  
• TomTom One SatNav, an amazing steal at £141 - See our UK Offers page.
  
  
• Slingbox, which lets you access your home TV over the net, is now available with cash off - UK Slingbox Info.
  
  
• Pigsback - Enjoy hogging your Internet connection? Now you can make money by surfing. Pigsback is an online reward scheme that lets you bank Piggypoints by filling in surveys, shopping online and writing reviews. The points can be exchanged for vouchers to be used at Waitrose, John Lewis, Boots and Costa Coffee. Sign up at www.pigsback.com.

Check our Offers Page for other UK bargains and deals

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