low useage charges by BT !

lpgm

JustPassingBy wrote: »

You'll be on the Weekend Plan at the the very least. Any 01/02/03/0845/0870 call lasting less than 1 hour at weekend is chargeable at the rate of 0p per minute, so six of those a quarter made by any BT customer avoids the low usage charge.

Thanks, Brian. But it isn't working like that. The billing system is imposing the £7.50 charge if you don't make six calls that cost more than nothing. And the BT people are saying this is right, despite the price list saying otherwise.

Last quarter I made, I think, 11 calls. Three of which cost something. The others were 'inclusive'. And I got charged the £7.50.

OldGreyFox

lpgm wrote: »

Thanks, Brian. But it isn't working like that. The billing system is imposing the £7.50 charge if you don't make six calls that cost more than nothing. And the BT people are saying this is right, despite the price list saying otherwise.

Last quarter I made, I think, 11 calls. Three of which cost something. The others were 'inclusive'. And I got charged the £7.50.

If your making 6 or more chargeable/ inclusive calls a quarter you shouldnt be paying. PM a BT Company Rep and ask them to sort it it.

See: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/member.html?u=687371

You can also email them at btcare< a>bt.com

OldGreyFox

timmmers wrote: »

A condition of me using my broadband...and my ISP for calls is having a BT line. My ISP cannot charge me line rental nor can they instal a line. I am stuck with BT because unlike the other utilities they are both controlling the supply of services and the means of supply (lines and exchanges) .

IF I was free to not use BT I wouldn't be doing so.

Your ISP does not need a BT Proper Line to supply service they only need a BT Compatible line so you do have a choice of suppliers.:D

JustPassingBy

lpgm wrote: »

Thanks, Brian. But it isn't working like that. The billing system is imposing the £7.50 charge if you don't make six calls that cost more than nothing.

To obtain caller display free of charge six chargeable calls (not six chargeable calls costing more than 0p) need to be made. There is a considerable difference between these two conditions and it is the first which is used exclusively in BT literature.

And the BT people are saying this is right, despite the price list saying otherwise.

BT CS's view on what a chargeable call is is astoundingly incorrect and the equivalent of maintaining black is white.

Last quarter I made, I think, 11 calls. Three of which cost something. The others were 'inclusive'. And I got charged the £7.50.

If BT is your only calls provider and the other eight calls were dialled directly from your line at weekend and not made to 0800/0808 numbers, I cannot think of a reason for anyone getting a low usage charge.

one_2

I too have been struggling with how to make my 6 inclusive calls when 1280 doesn't work (I'm with Orange). I've just received my latest BT bill and I've been charged for £2.94 for my 1571 service. This is despite the fact that I made 6 "1471 return calls" during the quarter. Incidently whether they connect or not doesn't make any difference, BT charge the 12p and the call always appears on my Orange bill.

So as far as I can see while I'm stuck on my Orange contract I either pay £2.94 a quarter or buy an answering machine.

Heinz

one wrote: »

So as far as I can see while I'm stuck on my Orange contract I either pay £2.94 a quarter or buy an answering machine.

On behalf of your F&F, may I recommend the latter.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=3666273&postcount=3

JustPassingBy

one wrote: »

I too have been struggling with how to make my 6 inclusive calls when 1280 doesn't work (I'm with Orange). I've just received my latest BT bill and I've been charged for £2.94 for my 1571 service. This is despite the fact that I made 6 "1471 return calls" during the quarter. Incidently whether they connect or not doesn't make any difference, BT charge the 12p and the call always appears on my Orange bill.

Struggling is futile. Everything you do from your phone is billed by Orange. BT Retail never sees the calls you make.

And why would anyone expect 1471 caller return to work, even with BTR as the calls provider?

roseview

I've just spent an hour on the phone to BT. Goodness, some of the staff really don't know what they are talking about. I was querying the lack of 1280 working as I checked my online account to see how many chargeable calls I had made to meet the required 6, only to find none recorded at all.

I was passed from pillar to post, most staff speaking poor English and had to repeat myself many times. I was told by a young lady that they no longer offer the 1280 service and withdrew it in June. When I pointed out that it was listed as an option on the website, she said that wasn't her department and that it must be wrong. I eventually spoke to a supervisor who explained about the new call provision system whereby it depended on how the call provider dealt with your calls. I did point out that they should mention it on the website as it is misleading to those like me who have taken it at face value and made calls prefixed by 1280 in the belief that it would save costs. I will be arguing that one when my next bill comes.

I called Orange, who wouldn't really tell me much as the bill is in my OH name, even though I knew passwords etc so ended up having to tell him to pretend that I was a new customer with questions!! He obliged and I learnt that they will provide Caller ID free and that they can overcome the problem with 1280 if you call them. However, I don't know more at this stage as my OH will have to call them later when he gets in to progress it!!

Heinz

Sky, Talk Talk, Orange and AOL all now use BTW's WCLI (Wholesale Call Line Independent) to provide their CPS (Carrier PreSelect) calls so BT subscribers who use any of them will find that dialling 1280 no longer overrides their default (CPS) call routing and send an individual call via BT.

The reason is simple. WCLI uses the BT network so 1280 cannot re-route a call onto the BT network - it's already there (just being billed by a different company)

bargains83

I was shocked to recieve a bill today with the low usage charge on after making 6 chargecard calls. I knew they were originally allowed so made a complaint and they wouldn't refund the charges straight away without seeing the evidence that I had been told that Chargecard calls count, So I looked through all my paperwork and luckily have a BT letter from June which was when I originally switched to AOL and it quite clearly states that Chargecard and Operator connected calls DO COUNT towards the 6 required calls per quarter to recieve Privacy at home and 1571 free of charge.

I have told them I want this quarters charges refunding and have forwarded them a copy of the letter.

Now until such a time that they WRITE to every customer telling them that chargecard calls don't count, update the website and the T&C's of line rental to reflect this fact clearly I shall continue to claim my £7.50 back every quarter. Nowhere does it explain explicitly what does and doesn't count.

They cannot alter what was agreed without informing customers of the fact that it has changed.

I shudder to think how many people are actually paying charges they shouldn't be and not even noticing.