Non itemised bills - unlawful?

Wig

I got my bill today from Virgin, has 5 calls under 50p

I have no way of knowing what these calls were. The telephone industry must be the only industry where you are billed for services and those services are not itemised so that customers can scrutinise the bills to ensure there have been no mistakes. I believe therfore that making a charge for full disclosure of what you are being billed for is unlawful.

Has anyone else called them up to discuss the details of non itemised calls? How did you get on?

bunking_off

So on your electricity bill does it itemise on which day/at which time you used each KWatt of energy? Using your logic they're acting illegally as well.

The requirement to provide itemised bills is set out in the General Conditions, laid down by Ofcom which has been given delegated authority by Government in this area. See GC12, on page 27.

Wig

bunking_off wrote: »

So on your electricity bill does it itemise on which day/at which time you used each KWatt of energy? Using your logic they're acting illegally as well.

The requirement to provide itemised bills is set out in the General Conditions, laid down by Ofcom which has been given delegated authority by Government in this area. See GC12, on page 27.

It's a poor comparison, electricity usage is metered -on a total use basis- the meter in the home allows you to scrutinise the bill. There is no such meter on a telephone line, no way for the customer to show a contradiction if the need should arise. IMO the customer should have the right to view the full itemisation FOC if he feels there could be an error.

Thanks for the link.

normanmark

No its not unlawful. You have a right to an itemised bill, you just have to pay for the privilege. If they didn't offer itemised bills then you'd probably have a chance with a complaint.

Wig

Can you think of any other industry that will bill you, without exact details of what they are billing you for, and charge you extra to find out the exact details?

normanmark

Wig wrote: »

Can you think of any other industry that will bill you, without exact details of what they are billing you for, and charge you extra to find out the exact details?

The telecommunication industry is the only industry that really has the need for an itemised bill. You're making it sound like they're restricting the information for you. It just requires more cost to print an itemised bill hence the charge.

Good luck if you're planning on taking this to court, i don't think you'll get very far

Wig

Restaurants, Builders, Mechanic/garage, Vetinary, milkman, etc etc

All these would itemise their bill if requested, and would have to do so IMHO if requested, with the exception that some contracts may have been quoted and accepted on an "all-in" basis for a fixed fee.

I'm planning to complain to the MPs

In any event, telephone internet billing eliminates any cost difference for fully itemised bills.

bunking_off

Wig wrote: »

Restaurants, Builders, Mechanic/garage, Vetinary, milkman, etc etc

All these would itemise their bill if requested, and would have to do so IMHO if requested, with the exception that some contracts may have been quoted and accepted on an "all-in" basis for a fixed fee.

Yes, and so will your telecoms provider for a "reasonable fee". If not they're in breach of the regulations that govern their operation, per my link above. You might want to look at Annexes A and B of the metering and billing approval scheme to see the hurdles that large providers such as Virgin have to jump over and be regularly audited to prove so. Doubt your local milkman has to have BSI or similar poring over their systems at vast expense to prove their bills are accurate (although I will grant you that it appears that Virgin's has lapsed due to an admin issue)

Wig

The point being, I reckon a restaurant wouldn't get away with charging extra to itemise a bill, so why should a telecom provider?

On a legal point, I don't think that those ofcom regulations would overide any laws in this area, if there is an applicable law, I concede I am unsure. It is something I think is worth complaining about. I don't know if I am being overcharged, and they are allowed by ofcom to charge me to find out if my bill is accurate!

scheming_gypsy

Wig wrote: »

The point being, I reckon a restaurant wouldn't get away with charging extra to itemise a bill, so why should a telecom provider?

!

your itemised bill at a restaurant will be a copy of what the waiter wrote down when they took your order. So if they didn't itemise it they wouldn't know what to feed you.
The telecoms providers have to charge for itemised billing to account for additional paper, additional printer ink, additional electricity to print the extra pages, additional postage used to send the bill and in my case, a bigger envelope!

Wig

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

your itemised bill at a restaurant will be a copy of what the waiter wrote down when they took your order. So if they didn't itemise it they wouldn't know what to feed you.
The telecoms providers have to charge for itemised billing to account for additional paper, additional printer ink, additional electricity to print the extra pages, additional postage used to send the bill and in my case, a bigger envelope!

And where is the extra cost if it is an online based bill? Even if there is an extra cost for paper copies, that should be accounted for in their pricing structure, not making a specific charge so a customer has to pay extra to see if the bill is accurate.

Long time no see. Mr Gypsy