bt direct debit discount question

ilikefreethings

i know a number of people are having issues with their bt bills. i am no exception.
does anyone know how much discount you get from paying bills by direct debit?

been on thier site but its playing up

notbritishgas

ilikefreethings wrote: »

i know a number of people are having issues with their bt bills. i am no exception.
does anyone know how much discount you get from paying bills by direct debit?

been on thier site but its playing up

You do not get a discount for paying by DD. However if you do not pay by DD then you get charged a Payment processing fee of £1.50 per month.
Some may say it is the same as getting a Discount, ie it costs you more for not paying by DD.

utilitybroker

BT line rental is £11.25 a month with Direct Debit and paper-free billing. Otherwise add £2.75 a month (£1.50 payment processing fee levied by BT Payment Services Limited, a BT Group company, plus £1.25 without paper-free billing discount). Discount appears as a bill credit.

www.bt.com/paperfree.

BT_company_representative

Standard BT line rental is £12.50, if you pay by direct debit and have fully paper free billing you will receive a credit of £1.25 per month on your bill. If you do not pay by direct debit you are charged a payment processing fee of £1.50 per month. If you do pay by direct debit this charge does not appear on your bill. For more information visit https://www.bt.com/paperfree

ihatebt_2

Do I have to pay this £4.50 "admin charge" on my quarterly bill? It never used to exist. If I'm paying the bill, I pay it how I want. That includes payment by cheque in the post. Bloody disgusting it is Mr BT Representative.

I don't go for DD as if there's a !!!!-up on BT's behalf (there usually is!) and BT add extra money when they shouldn't, then that money would go straight out of your bank and would probably be a lot of hassle to re-claim.

Ypaymore

ihatebt wrote: »

Do I have to pay this £4.50 "admin charge" on my quarterly bill? It never used to exist. If I'm paying the bill, I pay it how I want. That includes payment by cheque in the post. Bloody disgusting it is Mr BT Representative.

I don't go for DD as if there's a !!!!-up on BT's behalf (there usually is!) and BT add extra money when they shouldn't, then that money would go straight out of your bank and would probably be a lot of hassle to re-claim.

If their that bad why dont you leave them. Some other suppliers will charge more if you dont pay by dd.

ihatebt_2

You're obviously happy to pay admin charges :-)

Ypaymore

ihatebt wrote: »

You're obviously happy to pay admin charges :-)

No like a lot of sensible money savers i pay by d/d which saves me £54 a year,and if i have a problem with my bill there is direct debit guarantee to full back on.

Also if i dont like a service i dont whinge about it,especially something which is old hat, i vote on my feet and leave and use a different supplier.

Post Office Homephone dont raise a non direct debit fee nor do they have a mininum contract why not try them.:D

ihatebt_2

Thanks for that Y. Will bookmark that. http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/jump2?catId=68600711&mediaId=19300217

Leaving a telecoms provider can be a complete pain though. Never goes smoothly (in my opinion) Didn't realise the PO did a phone service, I thought they actually became BT many years ago.

Buzby

Ypaymore wrote: »

No like a lot of sensible money savers i pay by d/d which saves me £54 a year,and if i have a problem with my bill there is direct debit guarantee to full back on.

Yes, there are a lot of people out there who have been fooled into thinking that it makes sound financial sense to let every firm have full access to their bank accounts because they are; (a) too trusting (b) too helpless, or (c) think they're protected by a 'guarantee'.

Some things you might not appreciate.

The 'guarantee' is limited - very limited, as will only allow for the funds (if taken in error) to be repaid to the customer at some unspecified time in the future. All you get back is the money that was taken, IF your bank agrees that there has been a breach of rules. They may take your word for this, they may not - but whilst you are out of the incorrect money, it is YOU who has to do the chasing and pleading to get it back.

If an incorrect debit causes other DD's to fail - tough. That ISN'T covered, you'll pay everyone's bounced payment fees - from your bank, to the suppliers who had their payment requests rejected. All those fees would rightfully fall at the door of the original firm making the erroneous payment request, but they DON'T! Consequential losses are specifically excluded.

If a firm whom you have given a DD Mandate has billin errors and does not take the money for whatever reason, you remain liable to pay by other methods. Hoping to rely on the fact they could take the money is no defence in Law, so they get the benefit, and you get the hassle.

DD's have sneakily evolved and consumers have been mostly totally unaware of the changes. Previously, a DD could be treated almost like a standing order, the payment date was locked down, and the amount taken could vary but only to 1 debit per calendar month. We now have a DD that leaves you on the brink of financial Armageddon - "Unspecified Amounts on Unspecified Dates". This means, they can take as much as they want, as often as they want, when they want - providing of course they gave you 10 days notice. Why? This is a recipe for abuse and disaster. Most of us are adults and have learned to look after our money. Why would anyone then think it a good idea to pass all this responsibility to a computer at suppliers, who could inadvertently bring your world crashing down, yet have no other liability to you, other than paying it back, eventually?

Best yet - READ the DD form, you are told your supplier will retain your instructions and pass them on electronically to your bank for payment. What doesn't happen - is your bank has a chance to check your signature to confirm that it was indeed YOU who created the mandate, they'll just let the money go and if you don't complain, great!

And you're happy with that?

We have stories of people paying needlessly for piles of things because they didn't monitor the bank account statement as they should. Who'se fault is that then? Will the 'guarantee' get the money back? Of course it won't!

For anyone with DD's active, don't believe the hype is is there for the benefit of business NOT yourself. When it goes wrong, you (not they) will be left to pick up the pieces.

Ypaymore

Thanks for the lecture Buzby. I am happy with my d/ds thank you as i check them regularly.