BT "Exchange line rental" £23 - What's this??

littlemissmoney

Hi

I have a BT line and broadband, but make my calls through Primus. I've just got my BT bill online (quarterly billing) and it's quite a bit higher than normal. The pdf breakdown is unavaliable (:rolleyes:) but from what I can see in the online breakdown, I've been charged £23 for "Exchange line rental". What's this?? Have I missed some new charge :(

littlemissmoney

I've just noticed that I've also been charged £5.14 for "BT Answer 1571 low use charge" :mad: :mad: What's this?? I've never used 1571, ever. I've never been charged for this before either.

Heinz

You are not making the necessary number of calls (2/month) via BT to get free 1571, so you're being charged for that. Prefix a few weekend 01/02/03/0845/0870 calls with 1280 to 'hop back onto' BT to avoid that in future.

Better still, dump 1571 completely - see HERE.

littlemissmoney

Heinz wrote: »

You are not making the necessary number of calls (2/month) via BT to get free 1571, so you're being charged for that. Prefix a few weekend 01/02/03/0845/0870 calls with 1280 to 'hop back onto' BT to avoid that in future.

Better still, dump 1571 completely - see HERE.

Arghh that's so annoying :mad: I do actually divert calls back to BT when they are not free through primus but I just checked and I only did it 3 times this quarter A few questions:

1. I've just looked thorugh my old bills and often I haven't quite made 6 calls a quarter and I've never been charged before. Is it a new thing for them to enforce this rule?

2. Do you think there is any chance they will refund this? I have an answerphone so I really have no need for this, have never used it and don't want it!

3. Once I've dumped 1571 do I still need to make sure I make 2 calls a month?

Thanks

Heinz

1. Yes.

2. Unlikely to be worth your while from a time on the phone point of view.

3. Not unless you use Caller Display - which also requires 2 call per month.

littlemissmoney

littlemissmoney wrote: »

2. Do you think there is any chance they will refund this? I have an answerphone so I really have no need for this, have never used it and don't want it!

Success! :T

I have de-activated BT 1571 answering service from your account and arranged the refund of £5.14 on the current bill. The reference number is xxxxxxxx. I assure you that £xxxx (£xxxx - £5.14) will be collected from your bank account.

:T

I also complained that a pdf version of my bill was unavaliable. They are now sending me a paper version free of charge.