BT overcharging me!!!

comp-uter_guy

:mad: I signed up with BT at the end of April of this year, setting up a direct debit of £12 per month (this is for the £10.50 line rental (including electronic billing) with £1.50 to cover calls). There was no installation charge or anything like that to pay. This was all fine until last month's bill when they upped by direct debit (without informing me!) to £31!!! I rang to enquire why and was apologised to and told that the DD had been upped to cover 3 month's line rental that you are supposed to pay in advance. I wasn't told this at the time of signing up, but I guess it's probably in the terms & conditions so I let it pass. I asked to make sure my DD was reset to £12. I check my bank balance this month (plenty of time for the DD to have been reset) and I have been charged £31 again. With money being extremely tight I am not happy at all. Can anyone give me any advice on what to do next?

Graham1

Ask them to do a quarterly direct debit for the actual bill amount instead of monthly direct debit. You'll still have to pay line rental in advance but at least the charges will match your actual expenditure.

syko29793

you have the dreaded monthly payment plan which means you pay monthly but get quartely statements.
change to whole bill direct debit to avoid the whole credit/debit issues

skint999

The monthly payment plan is designed so that a customer can make set monthly payments on a fixed date of the month towards their next quarterly by direct debit.
A common problem or misunderstanding is when a customer has opened a new BT account and sets this up is that the first or initial bill is usually sent approx 1 month after opening the account this will inclue rental charges from when you had a working line upto the invoice date, also the quarterly rental in advance. So if you have only made 1 payment towards the quarterly invoice, then you will fall into debit immediately.
The reassessment will only occur if the debit balance hits the 3.5 times your monthly payment amount (3.5 times monthly payment amount is your credit limit), this can then dramatically increase and usually customers are notified in the small print of their staments (but notified never the less), if you contact BT by phone to make any manual adjustments this has to be done 5 days before the payment is due as the request gets sent to your bank early.
You can make an interim payment towards your account anytime to avoid payments increasing.
Monthly payment plan has its advantages but beware when setting this up as the its always best to make an interim payment towards the next bill as the system is designed to make 3 monthly payements towards the next quarterly invoice.
The breakdown of the statement will give the payments made towards the bill at that billing period and overall charges raised that quarter, giving an overall credit/debit balance.
Hope this info helps and explains the process of this payment method a little easier to swallow.
But yes check the bill to ensure all charges raised are correct.

Speedee

Would I be right in thinking there is no such thing as a monthly whole bill direct debit, only monthly payment plan or quarterly whole bill direct debit?

Thanks, Speedee

topherxp

Speedee wrote: »

Would I be right in thinking there is no such thing as a monthly whole bill direct debit, only monthly payment plan or quarterly whole bill direct debit?

Thanks, Speedee

There is also the option for monthly whole bill direct debit.

Heinz

topherxp wrote: »

There is also the option for monthly whole bill direct debit.

I've been on quarterly whole bill direct debit for years.

Joyful

I pay my whole bill monthly. This covers my phone and broadband. I also keep a close eye online every couple of weeks.

twinklefish

I've just looked at my latest bill online and because they charge in advance for line rental, I'm £46 in debit! :eek: Grrr! But it says on my bill, no need to change monthly payments!!

I've been a customer for years but when I moved in August, they totally screwed up the transfer to my new property and in the end to get a working phone line I had to become a new customer. If they had asked me to pay a quarters rent in advance I'd have done it as I absolutely hate being in debt with utilities companies. I got myself in a pickle in the past when I wasnt reading bills properly so now I'd rather be in credit than debit!!

£46 is almost 4 times my monthly payment. How much in debt do they want people to get before they change their monthly payment? Idiots!

sarahconnor

Hi,

I had the same problem with BT where they upped my monthly payments from £12 per month to £29, i had spoken to the Helpline several times and was assured that my account was now back on track and that they would reduce my paymnts back to £12. This of course didnt happen and i ended up in credit. I decided to e-mail BT rather than phone up for another row and i have now had my payments changed back to £12 and my credit repaid to my bank within 7 days. I would strongly recommend you e-mail them rather than discuss over the phone as this worked for me. Hope this helps!