Confusing new BT online bill!

Vancat

Hi
Please be aware that BT has changed their “Billing Period” from April 2009….and it’s worth checking your actual PDF bill!
I’ve just checked my new May online BT bill summary.
Last bill was up to 19th Feb 2009; this one dated 19th May.
I pay £20 pm by DD, and have done for years. This comes out of bank on 1st of each month, so there are always 3 x £20 payments showing. I am usually in credit, as I have the all calls inclusive call plan.
This latest bill is only showing DD payments from April, i.e. 2 x £20 on the online summary. And the line rental charges are much more than the “new increased” BT tariff for the next 3 months in advance.
I’ve just spent 40 mins speaking to various BT CSA’s.
It seems that as well as adding VAT to the bills/charges at source, and increasing the rental charges from 1st April, BT have also started using “a new application” (system) from 1st April…. I’m told this is to give better service to customers……
This means that instead of being charged advance rental/service from 19th May to 19th August, as before, they’ve now changed it to charge from 1st April to 31st August., something the CSA called “Split billing”.; he said it amounted to an extra 19days pre paid service charge, to accommodate their new system!
There are a lot of different debit/credit entries on the PDF bill, which aren’t apparent by looking at the bill summary, which is all I generally do.
To complicate matters, because my last bill went up to 19th Feb, and their new system started 1st April, my March 1st DD doesn’t show as received, as it is out of the new system dateline…..even though it appears to have been deducted from the overall end figure.
I think I understand what they’ve done….(and it actually makes no difference to my payments, as I’m still in credit).
However, if this extra advance billing had pushed me over the allowed payment debit balance, I’m thinking they’d have also taken the opportunity to increase the DD!
VC

bunking_off

Not sure I understand all of that...or whether it's a universal change or indeed if the CSA has got the wrong end of the stick.

My bill's slightly different as I pay the whole lot off monthly by DD rather than paying a fixed DD.

However;

- my line rental's always been billed 1st to 31st of month, so it aligns with what your bill has just been changed to
- I received an online bill only yesterday, new format (I know this because there's text explaining that the headings have changed), and VAT is definitely excluded on the call/rental line-items, only added at the bottom of the bill.

GEMGIRL67

Checked my online bill today and the rental charge has gone from being £29.99 ish per quarter, to now £50.25

I rang up customer services and think it was India I got through to, didnt understand what the heck the assistant was on about. He was explaining that it amounted to an extra 19 days pre paid service charge. I came off the phone in the end cos I was totally confused.

Hope Martin could get onto this for us all and try and explain????

Vancat

Glad it's not just me then!:rolleyes:
They've definately charged, in advance, for a quarter's service charge, whatever your calling plan, plus 19 days worth. So effectively, 3 and 2/3rds months rather than 3 months.
It appears to only affect people who have had paper free bills since they started, years ago, and who pay by Direct Debit on a Monthly plan.
The monthly plan used to go from whenever you first set it up, (i.e. say 10th of the month) to 9th of the month, 3 months later.
They've now brought everyone into a 1st-last day of the month billing cycle, for their convenience, obviously.
Consequently, this latest bill shows a lot more on advance service charges, quite apart from the increases which also took place on 1st April.
I was half convinced that it was ok this morning, after being blinded with science from the Indian personnel.:mad:.....but now I'm having second thoughts.....and I'm off to check it out again........:p
VC

GEMGIRL67

Vancat wrote: »

It appears to only affect people who have had paper free bills since they started, years ago, and who pay by Direct Debit on a Monthly plan.

It has effected me and I receive my bill which is a paper bill every quarter. I used to pay the bill online but for the last 6 months or so have paid the full bill by direct debit each quarter.

I am so confused by this charge to the recent bill.

BT_company_representative

Hi Guys,

Let me explain our new billing process. Below you will find a few FAQ that will help explain what is happening.

Why is my bill changing?
BT is moving all customers to a new billing system. We have to do this as part of a commitment to separate the computer system used by our Retail and Wholesale Businesses. This will also allow us to simplify some aspects of our bills in response to feedback from customers, and to offer new packages of telephone, mobile, broadband and Vision in the near future.

What has happened to the VAT you used to show as a subtotal on my bill?
On your new bill all individual items include VAT.

Why does my bill show two lines of rental charges for each of my products?
On our old billing system we charged rental in advance in whole calendar months. This meant that rental didnt line up with your call charges which were charged up to the date your bill was produced. On our new billing system rental will be charged for three months or one month in advance from your bill date. As we change over to the new system we need to make a one time only charge to catch up the rental that wasnt charged on your last bill, from the end of the last calendar month to the date of the bill.

Why are you charging me rental from before the date of my bill, have I not already paid this?
No, on your last bill you paid rental to cover the three calendar months or one calendar month that ended before your next bill arrived. This catch up charge covers the period from the end of the calendar month up to the date of your next bill.

Why are you charging me for more than three months or one month rental on this bill?
In order to bring both rental and call charges in line with bill dates. This is a one time only change caused by our move to the new billing system.

I pay a fixed amount every month (Monthly Payment Plan) but this bill is higher than normal, will my monthly payment have to change?
This charge should not cause a review of the fixed amount you pay every month as it is a one time only charge.

This change will cause me difficulty in paying my bill this month or quarter.
You do need to make payment by the due date on your bill. However, if the rental catch up charge will cause you difficulty in paying, please contact us immediately so that we can help you to manage your payment.

I hope that this information helps you understand what has changed on your BT billing.

Cheers
Sean
BT Support

BT_company_representative

Hi GEMGIRL67,

I am not able to say I know why your bills have increased so much without taking a look at your account, it may be that you are in the same situation as Vancat and had your account migrated to the new system (hence the extra 19 days "catch-up") but feel free to drop me a PM if you want!

All the best,

Stephanie
BT Support

derrick

Mine seemed to give a similar problem, I pay monthly by DD for line rental only,(no calls via BT), this should be £11.25, but yesterday the bill was for £18.53, when I asked why I was ,eventually, told it was a "system error" and he has adjusted it to deduct £7.26, and that the adjusted bill,(for £11.25), will be available for me to see within 48 hours.
So will have to wait and see if that happens, as this appears to contradict what the BT reps are saying.
My bill dates are usually the 20th of the month, with the bill arriving around the 20th of the month and the payment being taken anytime between the 30th and the 4th of the following month!

The following is part of the bill,(I would have copied it all but it does a lot of messing!)

Bill totals Discount/benefit - £ 1.25
Rental charges £ 19.78
Total now due £18.53

"System error" my foot, just BT's usual incompetence, how else could they justify sending a monthly bill with a 65% increase on it?

Bad enough that they just increased the line rental by nearly 10%, (so they could recoup the cost of the now inclusive 0845/0870 numbers, then tell you they are "free",NOT "free",but inclusive), when inflation is nearly zero!

GEMGIRL67

BT_company_representative wrote: »

Hi GEMGIRL67,

I am not able to say I know why your bills have increased so much without taking a look at your account, it may be that you are in the same situation as Vancat and had your account migrated to the new system (hence the extra 19 days "catch-up") but feel free to drop me a PM if you want!

All the best,

Stephanie
BT Support

BT Support, I have sent you a private message giving you the account number for my phone bill, so you can take a look.

I am confused by the calling plans, as it seems to me that I am now paying for the unlimited evening and weekend calls when I thought this was free as I signed up to stay with BT for another 12 months?

Many thanks

Angela

christwinn

Just received my bill today and OK I get the adjusting into line on the billing date and the extra charge BUT by my reckoning they overcharged as I'm charged

'Unlimited Evening and Weekend PlanW1 Jun-9 Jun 09 £ 4.49
This is the cost of your calling plan (which includes line rental) up to 9
Jun 2009 at £15.45'

So this is £15.45 / 31 * 9 not £12.50 / 31 * 9 which is the price with the discount for the unlimited evening and weekend calls. (so should be £3.63, so BT owe me £0.86)

Plus I lose 9 days eventually, somewhere in my 12 month contract, of my paper-free billing discount of £1.25. (again 1.25/31*9 = £0.36)

OK so the numbers are not great, £1.22, but across the BT customer base this has to add up!

I did phone BT to explain, not sure if I explained it well, but I got a credit. (either 1.25 or 1.75 couldn't quite make it out).

Not big bucks but its the principle!

brewerdave

God, I'm not looking forward to sorting out my next bill due on the 20th !