low useage charges by BT !

JustPassingBy

bargains83 wrote: »

. . . . . It costs them NOTHING to provide, so £2.50 a month is not justified by any provider. . . . . .

http://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/pricing/loadProductPriceDetails.do?data=FtAbMajLIJzwGJL1Y%2BLddL%2FuVhXjMR5hQz3DdrCHJqBVrWsgMC%2F4dy9qJJFTkna2

The caller ID has been sent down the line automatically ever since 1471 was introduced, . . . . . .

Not really. 1471 is a technically different service.

bargains83

JustPassingBy wrote: »

http://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/pricing/loadProductPriceDetails.do?data=FtAbMajLIJzwGJL1Y%2BLddL%2FuVhXjMR5hQz3DdrCHJqBVrWsgMC%2F4dy9qJJFTkna2

Not really. 1471 is a technically different service.

So Caller Display is charged at £1.50/month to BT Retail by BT wholesale, why as well was it only £0.42/month between 01/02/2009 and 31/07/2009?. Either way BT are making a lot of money by marking the price up by over 50% to customers.

Caller Display is always carried on the line regardless of whether you have it enabled or not, that's why I mentioned the 1471 service as I suspect it retrives the last number that called from this service at some level. Also, BT are always sending the number as that is why mobiles always display the number of any landline calling them unless it has been withheld. BT are levvying a premium tax on customers who want the number physically displayed. It costs them no extra to do this IMO which is why I don't think a charge is justified at all for such a service.

mrtom21

JustPassingBy wrote: »

Is there any particular reason you have drawn attention to the word 'inclusive' by capitalising 'or'?

Yes there was... Some people seemed confused that inclusive calls also count :P.

JustPassingBy

bargains83 wrote: »

So Caller Display is charged at £1.50/month to BT Retail by BT wholesale, why as well was it only £0.42/month between 01/02/2009 and 31/07/2009?.

Openreach had an Spring Sale?

JustPassingBy

mrtom21 wrote: »

Yes there was... Some people seemed confused that inclusive calls also count :P.

The vast majority of weekend calls (99.99% I'd guess) are chargeable so in practical terms it wouldn't make any difference to most people if 'inclusive' were omitted.

Inclusive calls do count but you may be regarding them as an alternative to chargeable calls rather than seeing their actual status as an additional category to accommodate some non-chargeable calls.

bargains83

JustPassingBy wrote: »

Openreach had an Spring Sale?

in that case why wasnt the saving passed on to customers?

mrtom21

It was probably passed to customers who had their calls with BT?

bargains83

mrtom21 wrote: »

It was probably passed to customers who had their calls with BT?

It wasn't, because my calls were with BT up until May of this year and there was no discount on the bill. The discount at Openreach was probably just a case of 'legal book cooking'. In other words altering certain charges to save money in other parts of the business.

lpgm

JustPassingBy wrote: »

The vast majority of weekend calls (99.99% I'd guess) are chargeable so in practical terms it wouldn't make any difference to most people if 'inclusive' were omitted.

Inclusive calls do count but you may be regarding them as an alternative to chargeable calls rather than seeing their actual status as an additional category to accommodate some non-chargeable calls.

Brian, if you have it to hand, could you post a link to BT's definition of a chargeable call? Thanks a lot.

JustPassingBy

lpgm wrote: »

Brian, if you have it to hand, could you post a link to BT's definition of a chargeable call? Thanks a lot.

If there is such a definition on BT's website I've never come across it. I could point you to a post on this forum detailing BT CS's stance if you're into fictional explanations.

But the situation is really quite simple. Bills and invoices are for charges. These are the only things a supplier is entitled to put on a bill. If there is no charge for an item or a service it has no place on a bill.

So please look at the PDF version of your BT bill. Under "What you used" mine has:

Phone usage £ 0.00
All your calls were free or included in your plan

A bill/invoice tells its story via figures. The important line is

Phone usage £ 0.00

The £0.00 is a charge. If it's not - what is it doing there? In my case it is partly a result of the chargeable calls I made.

If you're thinking of phoning or emailing BT and using an argument like this be warned they will likely latch onto "free". "Yes Sir, it is on your bill", they might say, "but it is not a charge because it cost you nothing". Or alternatively: "It is a charge but £0.00 means the calls were non-chargeable".

And whatever you do don't ask how they can charge VAT on what they claim is a non-chargeable item!