BT Nice little earner . Monthly DD in advance

nsdlil

As normal I received my monthly BT 'View my Bill' e-mail notification and discovered that on viewing the bill that my monthly rental charge was doubled up . On calling I was advised that 'due to the random transfer of accounts to a new system' , customers on the new system will now be paying line rental in advance . On asking why there had been no pre notification of this revision to my terms it was first asserted that they had sent a letter , but when I asked for the letter to be resent in fact there is no reference to this in their documentation . I asked how this could be in compliance with the terms of the DD covenant and was given the brazen assertion that the bill itself is the notification and that a 'pop up' on entering your account on the website is all you need to know . When I asked for a moral justification for BT taking unsolicited an extra month's rental from a pensioner - no reply !

Buzby

BT has ALWAYS charged line rental in advance. It has done this since the days of the GPO so I don;t know who told you it was 'new'. What has happened is that the billing date and the calling date for funds had been tightened, and sometimes this results in a further debit to bring them into line (for monthly payers). It shouldn't happen again.

nsdlil

Thank you Buzby , perhaps it was you who spoke to me from the BT Customer Services with that familiar mixture of untrue assertion and condesencion , as had you read my note it should have been clear that BT have not ALWAYS charged line rental in advance and were not so doing in my case . You are however correct in saying it will not happen again , since I am changing to another line rental supplier .

Drunkstar

I have never herad of them not charging in advance for rental. Didnt they recently have issues with double billing as the dates changed to bring them all into line?

Oh and nsdlil, whoever you go to expect to be charged in advance really.

ferraris

Nsdlil - I had the same surprise today when I noticed BT had charged me for two months for the same reason.

No notification, or the popup you referred to, but this is standard BT attitude and why I take the phone line from them and nothing else.


Simon

Buzby

Always happy to help, especially when the information given is both accurate and informative. As for having an association with BT, sorry to disappoint - I'd never even dream of it.

Your complaint, appears to be that you are being asked to pay for a period FURTHER in advance than is usual - not what you claimed, as all line rental is paid in advance.

Interestingly, BT's ending of Low User tariff will bring to an end when customers (like me) paid THREE WHOLE MONTHS in advance for line rental, so depending on your viewpoint this is another good move for consumers they'll now only have to pay 4 weeks in advance instead of 13.

Inactive

ferraris wrote: »

Nsdlil - I had the same surprise today when I noticed BT had charged me for two months for the same reason.

No notification, or the popup you referred to, but this is standard BT attitude and why I take the phone line from them and nothing else.


Simon

Same here, I don't mind if a charge is a) Justified and b) more importantly explained to me, it was not..:rolleyes:

This extra payment could cause some people to go in the red with their bank.


Just not good enough BT, I will be moving my phone line to IDNet ( my ISP ) ASAP.

BT_company_representative

Hi Nsdlil,

The other guys here are correct. We do charge you in advance for rental as per the T&C's

"Unless we agree otherwise, we will normally bill you upfront (in advance) for any rental charges for the service. We will bill you later for any usage charges for the service. If possible, charges will appear on your next bill, but sometimes charges may appear on a later bill."

I'll be happy to check your bills etc if you wish. I'll send you a PM with my contact details.

Ta

David

BT Support