Cheapest Home Phones Article Discussion

Ivy_Bank

I took BT broadband Option 1, and was happy with it till I got an FUP charge of £35 on my direct debit. When I queried this I was told that they had informed me that I was nearing my limit, and, as I had then exceeded it, I had to pay the charge. They had sent the message to my BT email address, which I haven't set up. I've checked, and they are supposed to also inform you at your preferred email address. My preferred email address is the gmail one to which they happily send my bill notifications and all other correspondence, but when I queried this, they told me that they had my pref/ad as an NTLWorld one, which I certainly hadn't given them when I set the broadband up a few months ago, as it has been decommissioned for years, and since then I have used gmail exclusively. They must have had the NTL address on file from my old landline account. They changed my pref/ad, and tried to sell me option 3, but I took option 2, which has proved adequate. I had only exceeded the usage by a minimal amount in the two months before I got the bill, and realised what was happening, but even though I am convinced that it was their communication failure which caused this, they will not refund the £35 x 2 =£70 excess charge, which spanned two billing periods.

Is there anything I can do, any one who can help me to get the £70 refunded? It is totally punitive, and if they had done their job properly I wouldn't have been liable for it. I feel seriously ripped off!

Victor_Delta

Ivy_Bank wrote: »

I took BT broadband Option 1, and was happy with it till I got an FUP charge of £35 on my direct debit. When I queried this I was told that they had informed me that I was nearing my limit, and, as I had then exceeded it, I had to pay the charge. They had sent the message to my BT email address, which I haven't set up. I've checked, and they are supposed to also inform you at your preferred email address. My preferred email address is the gmail one to which they happily send my bill notifications and all other correspondence, but when I queried this, they told me that they had my pref/ad as an NTLWorld one, which I certainly hadn't given them when I set the broadband up a few months ago, as it has been decommissioned for years, and since then I have used gmail exclusively. They must have had the NTL address on file from my old landline account. They changed my pref/ad, and tried to sell me option 3, but I took option 2, which has proved adequate. I had only exceeded the usage by a minimal amount in the two months before I got the bill, and realised what was happening, but even though I am convinced that it was their communication failure which caused this, they will not refund the £35 x 2 =£70 excess charge, which spanned two billing periods.

Is there anything I can do, any one who can help me to get the £70 refunded? It is totally punitive, and if they had done their job properly I wouldn't have been liable for it. I feel seriously ripped off!

Don't give up - be persistent! Complain to the Customer Relations people. Given what you say about the changed email address etc., I suspect they may be willing to refund some or all of the £70 as a 'gesture of goodwill'. At the end of the day, I've always found BT people pretty reasonable in such circumstances.

elektra

jhp wrote: »

Cancel it with BT and they will possibly send you a bag to return it.

Just phone and cancel the rental, in my experience they won't bother with wanting you to return it.

Doc_N

There's a way (and Heinz will know it) of getting BT's unlimited evening and weekend calling plan, without paying the extra £3 pm for it - just the £120 up-front annual line rental. I know that, because I've got it.

What I can't recall, though, because it was so long ago, is just how I got it.

Can Heinz or anyone else help, please? Someone else in the family wants it, and I can't remember how I did it!

Victor_Delta

Doc_N wrote: »

There's a way (and Heinz will know it) of getting BT's unlimited evening and weekend calling plan, without paying the extra £3 pm for it - just the £120 up-front annual line rental. I know that, because I've got it.

What I can't recall, though, because it was so long ago, is just how I got it.

Can Heinz or anyone else help, please? Someone else in the family wants it, and I can't remember how I did it!

Is this what you are referring to? Otherwise, more general info here.

V

Doc_N

Victor_Delta wrote: »

Is this what you are referring to? Otherwise, more general info here.

V

Thanks - not sure, though. There are two apparently conflicting statements in there:


For example, BT's standard package has unlimited "weekend" calls to landlines, though agree to a year's contract and it'll include "evenings (after 7pm)" too.

and


If you prefer to stick with BT, it's possible to vastly slice your line rental costs. It is offering reduced line rental if you pay up front.
Pay £120 for its BT Line Rental Saver* which includes free weekend calls and over the year's contract it works out at £10/month.

Heinz

AIUI, you can sign up for a 12 month 'auto-renewing' contract for BT's Unlimited Evening & Weekend calls plan and they waive the £3/month fee.

OTOH, if you opt for the Line Rental Saver, you pay £120 up front (so your line rental is effectively £10/month instead of £13.90) but then you have to pay £3/month if you want their Unlimited Evening & Weekend calls plan instead of the basic Unlimited Weekend plan.

If I have that right, what they give with one hand, they take back with the other. Just like the government really.

stevephoto

Go to the main BT site. Choose BT Life, then choose Love Your Landline, Then View or Change My Calling Plan half way down the page.

BT will remove your calling features such as Caller Display so you also need to reinstate those at the same time.

stevephoto

You might need the option Switch back to BT then choose Unlimited Evening & Weekend Plan for £0 per month. I can't remember which way I did it now and as I already have it I can't tell now but you might get slightly different options which ever way you try.

Doc_N

stevephoto wrote: »

Go to the main BT site. Choose BT Life, then choose Love Your Landline, Then View or Change My Calling Plan half way down the page.

BT will remove your calling features such as Caller Display so you also need to reinstate those at the same time.

Interesting, but what's the purpose of the exercise please? Apologies, but I seem to be missing something.