BT overcharging because of billing systems change

Mark_In_Hampshire

c00kiemonster wrote: »

BT have refused to drop my DD payment because my account had been in arrears and the £20 was insufficient to cover my bill, even though my current and all previous ones were except where they changed the line rental fees a few months back.

Direct debit is advantageous to the supplier, not to the customer. The answer is not to pay by direct debit.

PhilDot

This happened to me as well. I pay each bill by DD when it is billed. Each month my bill has been £11.54 (line rental only) and in January it was £21.97 or something like that. When I asked I got almost the identical reply to the one given in this thread by the BT rep. But saying that "the charge will go back to what it was before from now on" is no comfort when you've paid extra -- I will never get it back!

I did not get a prior notification of the "billing cycle change". Yes, I get bills online, but when a bill is the same every month, do you look? It was only when it came through on my bank statement that I noticed.

Whilst technically, I am only paying for line rental periods that I owe, or will owe, what BT don't understand is that I have paid them extra cash in one month. The bills still come in on the same day and the DD is deducted on the same day. If they are changing their billing cycle, why don't they send the bills later to make up for the extra days? My extra was something like 19 days, so why didn't they send me my bill 19 days later?

After about 30 minutes on the phone, the advisor was stuck and couldn't answer me any further. My logic was unarguable, but no money is coming back. I suppose the extra cash they have earned by this has probably paid for the database change that caused the issue in the first place!

Anyway, it won't help them, because I am going elsewhere for line rental asap, and I have no doubt others will too.

Le73Uq86Uv

Deleted Post.

bri21_2

BT sent me their latest monthly ebill that is paid by monthly whole bill DD. I have a line rental, broadband option 3 and a mobile from BT. Monthly bill is much too high, and when my current contract ends in May I'll be migrating elsewhere, possibly to Sky. Today's bill was expected to be around £55, instead it was £102, because BT have unilaterally decided to change their billing cycle so that I pay in advance. Speaking (plainly and forcefully) to someone in accounts who kept repeating themselves (probably reading from a script) I was told that it wasn't the fault of BT, but because BT had been instructed by OFCOM to change their billing systems. Yeah, right .....

So the oblivous question on my lips is: "who benefits?"

Three answers to that, the first being "not me!" The second answer is BT. Because my money is taken from my bank account where it earns a pitiful amount of interest, one month earlier than before, and transferred with large amounts of dosh from other customers also scammed, into BT's bank account, where it earns rather more interest for BT. The third answer is the Chancellor. Because the increased inwards flow of cash to BT this month generates increased VAT payments to the Treasury from BT. Nice little scam, if its true that it's based on an instruction from OFCOM. Which I'm dubious about anyway. Sounds to me too much like a buck-passing exercise by BT, who no doubt heavily lobbied OFCOM for the billing change anyway.

And the outcome .... revenge. Because asap, in May 2010, I'll say goodbye to BT forever, with two fingers raised in the traditional way of King Henry's archers at Agincourt. And I'll save at least £20 per month too!

One thing more ... a nationalised industry never, ever, abandons its roots. It still retains its nationalised culture; its disdain for the customer. It's better that such 'businesses' went outa business, to be reformed truly in the private sector with no ties to the past and its Spanish Practices. We see that about to happen, with luck, to another former nationalised business, BA. Who still believes that had that industry remained nationalised, that air travel would no longer be for the few rich and privileged.

Ticketty_Boo

As of September , BT have been charging me £23 each month instead of my usual £11 . I called customer services and the guy there did not have a clue . He was trying to tell me that BT charge in advance for their services but couldn`t tell me why I was paying more than double each month or who authorised it . I`m with BT for line rental only and the reason for this is because of problems with them in the past . I will be calling sky asap to have the line rental go through them as well .
BT`s customer service has got to be one of the worst in the country, any time I have called them they have been less than useless . When I was with them for my calls they didn`t have a clue whether I was on Broadband or dial up so whenever I phoned them each department transferred me to the other . I finally had enough and went with sky . To add insult to injury , I then got a call from BT asking why I was leaving , I explained what had gone wrong she told me she could fix it immediately and would I stay with BT !!! LOL Yeah maybe if I had got that service in the first place !

Premier_2

Ticketty_Boo wrote: »

As of September , BT have been charging me £23 each month instead of my usual £11 . I called customer services and the guy there did not have a clue . He was trying to tell me that BT charge in advance for their services but couldn`t tell me why I was paying more than double each month or who authorised it . I`m with BT for line rental only and the reason for this is because of problems with them in the past . I will be calling sky asap to have the line rental go through them as well .
BT`s customer service has got to be one of the worst in the country, any time I have called them they have been less than useless . When I was with them for my calls they didn`t have a clue whether I was on Broadband or dial up so whenever I phoned them each department transferred me to the other . I finally had enough and went with sky . To add insult to injury , I then got a call from BT asking why I was leaving , I explained what had gone wrong she told me she could fix it immediately and would I stay with BT !!! LOL Yeah maybe if I had got that service in the first place !

Why are you paying it?

If you don't understand it and they can't explain it, don't pay it.

Raise a formal complaint, but the account into dispute and they will soon get someone to explain it all to you

Llyllyll

icefall wrote: »

I moved to whole bill direct debit after BT did this to me, I saw someone mention it in another thread (I had not heard of it before) and my bills are v low.

So I now pay monthly by whole bill direct debit. Better because there are no advance charges I think

icefall wrote: »

Just logged on to BT as we’d had a new bill and noticed that we’re on ‘whole bill direct debit’. Bit annoyed as I hadn’t been told of this but a quick call to BT (who are extremely busy tonight) has (hopefully) got it sorted.

I can see how it may be suitable for some but I like my DDs to be for a fixed amount so I know what’s what. I am not keen on the idea of BT (or anyone else for that matter) being able to take what they want from my account.

Heinz

Changing to Monthly Payment Plan means you will just be lending BT money upfront and interest free now. At least with WBDD, you only paid what you owed.

Mark_In_Hampshire

Llyllyll wrote: »

Just logged on to BT as we’d had a new bill and noticed that we’re on ‘whole bill direct debit’. Bit annoyed as I hadn’t been told of this but a quick call to BT (who are extremely busy tonight) has (hopefully) got it sorted.

I can see how it may be suitable for some but I like my DDs to be for a fixed amount so I know what’s what. I am not keen on the idea of BT (or anyone else for that matter) being able to take what they want from my account.

Just worth clarifying; there is no such thing as a fixed amount direct debit any more.

The amount can be changed by the payee, so you need to check every bill and not just assume the amount will be the same each time; even if you sign an old style direct debit mandate form specifying a date and an amount the payee is free to change either at will, and the direct debit mandate set up will be "unspecified amounts on unspecified dates".

Ticketty_Boo

Premier wrote: »

Why are you paying it?

If you don't understand it and they can't explain it, don't pay it.

Raise a formal complaint, but the account into dispute and they will soon get someone to explain it all to you

I will be calling Sky as soon as to get them to take charge of the line rental . I didn`t just want to cancel mt DD with BT since I expected they would then cut me off :mad:
When I got home from work today there was a voicemail message left by BT saying they would call back but I want their answer in writing , thats why I emailed them . I`ve already been down the route of trying to get this sorted over the phone and am in no hurry to repeat the experience