BT 'Pay and Call' - info needed

saintstreaky · 9 August 2005 at 5:53PM

Hi all

I apologise if there are any threads about this, but I couldn't see any. If so, maybe someone could point me in the right direction.

I understand that BT have a payment method called 'Pay and Call' which gives you a BT landline that you pay for on a pay as you go type basis. I have a friend who has a tendency to run up huge phone bills, so this sort of thing might be ideal for her, but there's very little information I can find on the BT website so would welcome advice.

Does it work?!
Do you still pay line rental, and if so how much? Can this be paid direct, and only calls paid for on a PAYG basis?
Do you pay over the odds (compared to other BT packages)?
Can top-ups be made remotely by a generous third party
Is there an alternative with another provider, without any risk of running up a big bill on your BT line?

Thanks

Richard

Fatboy_NSS · 9 August 2005 at 6:07PM

The only prepay that BT do themselves is In Contact Plus (http://www.bt.com/btcom_redirectLink.jsp?action=redirectLink&targetLinkID=PIS_In_Contact_Plus&vStore=1314&obsPage=%2fPricing%2fpis_summary.jsp%3fshowsub%3dPIS_Residential&obsOID=30181&obsType=LINK). Seems quite pricey though, your friend may as well just get a prepay mobile! I think I remember the service you mention, but it was offered by one of the chains of phone shops rather than BT directly. However can't remember which one or what it was called.

Browntoa · 9 August 2005 at 6:42PM

think this was a trial thing for a while...don't think it was ever fully launched

Inspector_Clouseau · 12 August 2005 at 12:05AM

Get a PAYG mobile instead, your friend will be a lot better off.

gt94sss2 · 12 August 2005 at 7:35AM

BT Pay and Call exists - details are at http://www.serviceview.bt.com/list/current/docs/Exch_Lines.boo/1612.htm

Regards
Sunil

saintstreaky · 12 August 2005 at 9:49AM

Thanks Sunil, that was helpful. You still have to pay your monthly rental out of your top-ups: £11.50 before you've even made any calls. Plus if you can't keep up with the rental you get a £10 penalty charge :mad: The good Inspector is right - a good PAYG mobile deal is probably going to end up cheaper unless she makes an awful lot of calls - which she can't afford to do anyway. I guess the main advantage of BT would be keeping the cost down for incoming calls.

Thanks for all your help. At least now I can discuss the option with her knowing something about it.

Richard

karin · 13 August 2005 at 9:32AM

Your friend will not pay for incoming calls on a payg mobile phone, unless she is using the phone abroad.

She should be able to get one for less than £30, ( mobile phome board on this forum for ideas), and as long as she doesn't use the ''3'' network there shouldn't be any limit on how long her credit lasts as long as she makes one call every 180 days at least.

It's worth checking the websites for Orange, Virgin, o2, vodafone,Tmobile to compare tariffs.

P.S.There are also some offers from Tesco, Easymobile and a couple of tarrifs,(Fresh and Mobile World), from Carfone Warehouse, though I think there are some conditions as to how long the credit lasts on these deals.

Edinburghlass_2 · 13 August 2005 at 3:01PM

saintstreaky, in your first post you mention top-ups being made by a generous third party.

Assuming that this is you, one idea would be to sign up for this BT service and see if when using it you can still put calls through https://www.call18866.co.uk in which case the persons' BT number could be put onto your 18866 account and you would be paying for the calls.

Just a thought but as I haven't checked the T&Cs on this BT service, not sure if they would allow it.

saintstreaky · 14 August 2005 at 9:21AM

karin wrote:

Your friend will not pay for incoming calls on a payg mobile phone, unless she is using the phone abroad.

Sorry, my fault for not being clear: I meant keeping down the cost for me, her parents, other friends who call her quite frequently.

Thanks Edinburghlass, I'll investigate that.

slenderkitten · 17 July 2007 at 8:17PM

Sainstreaky,

i use BT PAY AND CALL it works like a mobile, you get a top up card you put a minimum of £5 on it as it wont accept anything lower.

Your tariff bt together 1, 2/3 or whatever it is line rental will be divided per week and deducted from your balance every week, month or whatever frequency. for BT together option one it is £2.76 per week if you have it weekly.

If you dont have any money on the phone you CANNOT make a call accept 0800 free ones and 999 emergency services it just puts a block on the line it doesn't stop incoming calls.

You will get disconnected if you dont put money in the account after 21 days and may pay a reconnection fee.

You have no paper bills your account is accessed by a specified 5 digit telephone number for dialing on your house phone and a longer one for dialing from another phone (such as a payphone and is FREE to call) and a security pin number picked by you.

It gives you a verbal warning on the phone line after you dialled a number if your balance is below £3.50 (also tells you how much your balance actually is) and asks you whether you want to carry on with the call (threshold used to be £2.50 but people complained and it was raised.)

Its a 12 month contract to have the service, after that you can change it again.

i did hesitate in the begining and took a couple of phone calls before i finally said yes but i am glad i did as it is one LESS bill i have to think about and it is peace of mind.

I have never had any problems with it and in NO WAY will i go back to paper billing, having it this way it is impossible to run up expensive bills as you will only be charged 21 days worth of line rental - you do the math!

You also wont get charged £4.50 whatever it is for not having direct debit as this scheme is targeted to low paid workers or people on benefits as it easy to manage and you know how much you got on your account 24/7, so NO nasty surprises in the post.

WARNING - it is NOT compatible with other services like broadband. so if you have bt broadband you may not get bt pay and call as i dont think they can charge the services seperately.

BT 'Pay and Call' - info needed

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