BT opton 2, 12 mth renewable contract billing

bill888

Both myself and my relative received our latest bills from BT over the weekend. We both signed up to BT option 2 free evenings and weekend calls with 12 months renewable contract - due to expire in mid and late February respectively.

I'm on quarterly billing and noticed the line rental had apparently increased to £40 for the next quarter. I examined the online statement and it was clear as mud and the figures didn't make any sense and looked incomplete.

I then downloaded and viewed the PDF version of the same bill. This made a bit more sense.

I am billed quarterly so I am paying line rental up to mid March. My renewable contract expires in February.

I deduced from my PDF bill that I had received all 12 credits (2 on this bill and 10 from previous bills), and it looked like I was not going to receive a credit for the period, Feb-Mar09. Fair enough, as 12mth contract expires in mid February.

But that still did not explain the remainder of the hike in my line rental. I then noticed BT have changed the billing period for line rental. They used to charge line rental for complete months eg. 1 Dec to 28 Feb

Now they are charging line rental for actual billing period. eg. 10 Dec to 10 March. As a consequence, there was now an additional amount due on line rental. ie. 1 Dec to 9 Dec in my case.


My relative is on monthly billing and he too noticed he wasn't receiving a credit on his new bill, but it transpires he had received his 12th credit in the previous month's bill.

I checked the original Welcome letter which BT has sent back in February, and it advised they would write to us one month before the contract expires, but it also stated we did not need to do anything for the 12 month contract to be automatically renewed.

I'm guessing the credits will be reinstated and back dated where necessary on bills that we expect to receive after February when contract is automatically renewed.


I thought I'd bring these two issues to the attention of other BT option 2 customers on 12 month renewable contract who may be similarly confused by their bill this month.

AndysDad

I've just a similar experience with BT.They have added another 2 weeks on the rental period but have only credited us with 2 x £2.64, instead of 3 x £2.64 and pro-rata amount for part month.I rang them up and they have agreed its a billing error and are making a refund but not until next quarter.I suggest that people check their bills in case its not just a one-off case.

elektra

received a similar bill as well.
'Please note some improvements we've made to make your bill clearer.

1. All charges are now shown with VAT included to make it easier to see total costs
2. Monthly charges for each service are now clearly listed
3. Your rental charge is for a longer period than usual this time. This is a one-off change to bring your rental period in line with the date of your bill - things will be back to normal on your next bill'

At first glance it looks like more charged for rental. Previous bill shows credit 7-9 out of 12, and the one before that credit 1-6.

I am sure they are slipping in small errors when they do these changeovers. If it ain't broke don't fix it!
Don't know why they don't just the BT together 1 rate, rather than this system of credits.

elektra

this is the bill

AndysDad

elektra wrote: »

this is the bill

Thats much clearer than my online bill and correct as you have got the rebate for 3 and a half months,wheras I only got a rebate for 2 months.I wonder why the paper billing in laid out much better than the online one.The Online bill is a nightmare to understand,especially when its incorrect.

elektra

AndysDad wrote: »

Thats much clearer than my online bill and correct as you have got the rebate for 3 and a half months,wheras I only got a rebate for 2 months.I wonder why the paper billing in laid out much better than the online one.The Online bill is a nightmare to understand,especially when its incorrect.

I don't think it is right as it shows 3 months rebate (3 x £2.64). What about the period 1st Dec - 7 Dec rebate.

The bill shown above is not the paper version but the one which has been downloaded from online system.

elektra

does anyone else think there should be a rebate of about 60p or the days 1 Dec - 7 Dec.

Whilst this is not a major amount I can't be bother complaining about, multiplying by all the customers and its more £ in pot for BT.

I shall be keeping an eye on next bill as that will include the new price increases.

dundeemania

elektra wrote: »

does anyone else think there should be a rebate of about 60p or the days 1 Dec - 7 Dec.

Whilst this is not a major amount I can't be bother complaining about, multiplying by all the customers and its more £ in pot for BT.

I shall be keeping an eye on next bill as that will include the new price increases.

Right lets start at the start

** you have had a credit for the 30 Nov 0.48 thats what Bt is giving you back due to the VAT being reduced and then BT have charged you 0.47 for the 30 November, so your VAT refund was 1p

**Then BT have charged you for 7 days of rental due to you now going onto aniversary billing to catch you up to this new change. By looking at it this 7 days you have been charged 7 days full charged for evening and weekend

** The you have your next three months of evening and weekend plan at FULL price 08 Dec-7 March

**underneath this you have been given a credit to takeaway the full price of the evening and weekend plan at -2.64 a month = 7.92 for three months

Hope this helps :rotfl:

dundeemania

dundeemania wrote: »

Right lets start at the start

** you have had a credit for the 30 Nov 0.48 thats what Bt is giving you back due to the VAT being reduced and then BT have charged you 0.47 for the 30 November, so your VAT refund was 1p

**Then BT have charged you for 7 days of rental due to you now going onto aniversary billing to catch you up to this new change. By looking at it this 7 days you have been charged 7 days full charged for evening and weekend

** The you have your next three months of evening and weekend plan at FULL price 08 Dec-7 March

**underneath this you have been given a credit to takeaway the full price of the evening and weekend plan at -2.64 a month = 7.92 for three months

Hope this helps :rotfl:

Oh and yeah you are def due a refund of 0.61p

elektra

Thanks - that is how I understood it. I'm sure there are more people out there being overcharged.

I think this will be second time I'm due a refund - can't find details of the previous error but I'm sure it was when a price change occurred.

elektra

I can't believe it - more overcharging..

phoned about the previous error and was told 70p would be credited. Normally for that amount I would not have bothered but it was a principle that they have caused these errors by changing billing dates that didn't need changing.

Yesterday received letter saying you can continue receiving unlimited evening/weekend at no extra cost. Contract ends 25th but do nothing and it will continue.

Today receive bill and it has 70p credit on it but no credits for the next quarter. i.e just £14.14 a month rental. Phoned them up and they said £7.92 credit due and will be added to next bill. I said rather than credit next bill, can't they cancel this bill and re-issue correct bill. New bill supposed to arrive within 7 - 10 days.

Also the bill is odd – one month listed as calling plan the other 2 months under other rental exchange line rental.



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