BT to amend residential prices - the ups and downs

clark1982

DonnyDave wrote:

So, for those who are staying on BT, what are the differences in the packages that would benefit moving up?

Mobile rates/charges are the same on all options, so during comparisons forget what you spend on mobile calls. Indeed, it's probably worth signing up for 18185 for mobile calls. The only difference is with calls to geographical (01/02) numbers.

BT Together Option 2 costs £3.95 more than Option 1 and includes all evening and weekend calls upto 1 hour. Daytime calls are the same as with Option 1. So the £3.95 covers all those 5.5ps for upto 1 hour.

That means that if you make 72 or more evening and weekend calls to geographical numbers you will benefit. Make less and you will be better off on Option 1. The question is, will people realise this or will they just 'guess' how many calls they make and move according to their perception of the 'Options'? Will they realise that mobile calls don't figure in the equation?

To go to Option 3 it costs £9.95. If each call costs an average of 6p, that's an equivalent of 166 calls.

The point is that it's reasonable for one to imagine that Option 2 is better than Option 1. But only at the evening and weekend; oh and remember BT has already had its axe on that; 6am to 8am are now part of the daytime.

Its worth noting that customers on Option 3 Also get the free Bt Call mobile option, so this would give a 25% discount on all mobile calls. Also a further discount can be obtained by using F&F discount service!

utilitybroker

clark1982 wrote:

Its worth noting that customers on Option 3 Also get the free Bt Call mobile option, so this would give a 25% discount on all mobile calls. Also a further discount can be obtained by using F&F discount service!

If you make enough calls to justify using Option 3.

Surely Euphony £7.25p a month 24/7 01/02 inclusive call package,or if your on Sky their £5 a month inclusive package.

Combined with 18185
Calls to any UK Mobile Networks,plus the Isle of Man. 4p connection (dont pay if you dont get through). 5p a min peak and evenings, 2p a min weekends would be a better bet for MoneySavers.

robert_h_2

mbailey wrote:

Becareful of this one - BT will charge you £5.25 per quarter for caller ID if you use a CPS all the time!!!!

there's another way of avoiding that and getting caller display for free.

if u are paying for caller display £5.25 a quarter from BT, you can actually get this for free if you you sign up for BT's privacy at home - also free!
(something they don't actively publicize)
that service basically registers you with TPS https://www.fpsonline.org.uk to stop unsolicited direct marketing calls.

http://www2.bt.com/static/i/btretail/consumer/btprivacy/faqs/index.html

'phone BT on 0800 916 5544 to register.

gaahmad

robert_h wrote:

there's another way of avoiding that and getting caller display for free.

if u are paying for caller display £5.25 a quarter from BT, you can actually get this for free if you you sign up for BT's privacy at home - also free!
(something they don't actively publicize)
that service basically registers you with TPS www.fpsonline.org.uk to stop unsolicited direct marketing calls.

http://www2.bt.com/static/i/btretail/consumer/btprivacy/faqs/index.html

'phone BT on 0800 916 5544 to register.

I think you're missing mbailey's point. Even if you get it free, if you don't make the minimum amount of calls per month/quarter, then they reserve the right to charge you for this service.

bbb_uk

robert_h wrote:

there's another way of avoiding that and getting caller display for free.

if u are paying for caller display £5.25 a quarter from BT, you can actually get this for free if you you sign up for BT's privacy at home - also free!

Hi Robert,

Most MSE users are aware of this as there was a very long thread discussing this when BT first introduced this. I think mbailey was talking about the t&c associated with this BT Privacy and for those that use CPS and route all their calls via another teleco. BT's t&c now specifically state that unless you make two chargable calls in a month via BT, you will then be charged normal price for caller display (currently £1.75).

More info here, and specifically:-

Revised BT Privacy Terms and conditions
...
From 1st October 2006, customers who do not make some chargeable calls with BT will be charged for BT Caller Display. Customers with other call providers can still benefit from BT Caller Display at no extra cost if the following calls are made. Customers who bill monthly must make at least two chargeable calls with BT in that month, otherwise BT reserves the right to charge £1.75 a month for BT Caller Display. Customers who bill every three months must make at least six chargeable calls within those three months, otherwise BT reserves the right to charge £5.25 a quarter.

Heinz

I've got the local Indian Takeaway's number programmed in with a 1280 prefix - that's at least 2 calls a month (probably 4, if I'm honest).

They don't open until 6pm so I know it'll be a 5[FONT=&quot]½[/FONT]p call when I call to order. Caller Display for about 70p/quarter.

ginger_nuts

how would I go about removing the free caller display

Ongobay

When the BT Privacy came out with the caller display; we were trained (I'm on the BB homemover queue) that people would have to make at least 2 chargable calls per month to qualify for the free package, so that has always been the case, it's never been anything that has been followed up on as yet though, but I know since the launch it was one of the conditions that people had to agree on when signing up online, it was also mentioned on the automated sign up and advisors should have also mentioned while ordering it. Going by our standard procedure you would receive a letter or landline text before we ever started charging. I've yet to see any issues on a customers account about them being forced to convert from BT Privacy CD to the chargeable version.

thefirs

Heinz wrote:

I've got the local Indian Takeaway's number programmed in with a 1280 prefix - that's at least 2 calls a month (probably 4, if I'm honest)

You've missed a trick there Heinz - make the takeway your "best friend" and you can shave 20% off even the cost of these calls.

Victors_Bruvver

DonnyDave wrote:

Why not call it a connection charge? Therefore will this apply to all calls; even those that ring unanswered?

I have always assumed that legislation such as the Communications Act prevented charging for:

• The initial ringing tone
• Engaged tone
• Unavailable; as in the case of a mobile phone out of coverage area or switched off
• Out of service; number unobtainable (NU) or not receiving incoming calls

Thus, the widespread prevailence of answering services and Ringback when the line is engaged.

Can someone clarify this?

DonnyDave

I am pleased that you have mentioned this here. Sorry I cannot clarify but here is my two pence worth;

What about "Caller Waiting" or whatever it is called; will there be a connection charge for that? As for the Ringback service, I never really understood why BT started to charge for this as it must have been in their interest to get more people to ring back rather than hacking them off by charging a ripoff fee for it and consequently shying away from using it.

The 1571 service also irritates me, because it enviably goes over to "answer" almost immediately and will charge for that. So now in theory if you do leave a message on it, BT will get the connection charge plus the minimum call charge AND the fee from the person I left a message with who is going to call me back. Yes, you can also experience this from anyone with a stand alone ansaphone, but in most cases if the other person is on a call it shows engaged and you call back later. Also most of my friends set their ansaphones to ring at least 30 seconds before going over to answer.

Cynical old methinks that there is someone in BT HQ working on all these cunning plans to ensure they get that little extra pound of flesh out of the consumer and for when they launch a new services, it is in the plan to rack up the charge at a later point to increase their revenues. Just look 1471 which was free for many years and then they whacked a charge onto it, that for many months the innocent consumer was unaware of.

I wonder how much BT make out of these service charges as a percentage of the revenue from say, the revenue they get from Domestic call charges?