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MSE News: BT hikes costs but cuts up-front package charges

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  • Hippyer
    Hippyer Posts: 1,230 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I don't use my landline to make calls. I just use it for the internet and occasionally to receive calls.
    I have free broadband with Orange through my mobile phone contract.
    I'm currently on paper billing but if I switched to paperfree billing paying monthly I'd be paying £144.48 a year.

    If I switched to the line saver plan I'd be paying £131.88 a year due to the additional £1.50 a month I would be charged for not being able to make two calls a month.

    So I'll be £13 a year better off if I pay for the full year.
    I think that's right, just looking for confirmation from someone else if you'd be so kind?
  • Heinz
    Heinz Posts: 11,191 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker Car Insurance Carver!
    edited 26 July 2010 at 12:26PM
    Hippyer wrote: »
    If I switched to the line saver plan I'd be paying £131.88 a year due to the additional £1.50 a month I would be charged for not being able to make two calls a month.
    Why can't you?

    In any case, are you sure you could opt for the Line Saver Plan?

    You're probably on BT's Unlimited Weekend calls plan and, if so, you are barred from making BT an interest-free loan of a years' line rental.
    You qualify for Line Rental Saver if you have paper-free billing and one of the following products:
    • Unlimited Anytime Plan
    • Unlimited Evening and Weekend Plan
    • Any package of products, such as phone and broadband
    http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/d...id/13962/c/345
    Time has moved on (much quicker than it used to - or so it seems at my age) and my previous advice on residential telephony has been or is now gradually being overtaken by changes in the retail market. Hence, I have now deleted links to my previous 'pearls of wisdom'. I sincerely hope they helped save some of you money.
  • Hippyer
    Hippyer Posts: 1,230 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Heinz wrote: »
    Why can't you?
    My calls are with Orange so I can't make 2 calls a month with BT, because if I used the landline to make calls they go through orange.
    Heinz wrote: »
    In any case, are you sure you could opt for the Line Saver Plan?
    I think so.
  • Heinz
    Heinz Posts: 11,191 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker Car Insurance Carver!
    Hippyer wrote: »
    My calls are with Orange so I can't make 2 calls a month with BT, because if I used the landline to make calls they go through orange.
    Yes, sorry, I overlooked the fact that Orange now use WCLI to provide their calls path and so you are effectively prevented from using the 1280 prefix to allow you to 'hop back onto BT' for calls.

    If you're on BT's Unlimited Weekend plan, you are not eligible for the Line Rental Saver Plan (see the quotation in my earlier post).
    Time has moved on (much quicker than it used to - or so it seems at my age) and my previous advice on residential telephony has been or is now gradually being overtaken by changes in the retail market. Hence, I have now deleted links to my previous 'pearls of wisdom'. I sincerely hope they helped save some of you money.
  • gazfocus
    gazfocus Posts: 2,403 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    We've just had a letter from BT saying the line rental is going up and we are about 4 months into a 12 month contract. Can we cancel the contract due to the prices going up or are we still stuck with it?
  • Ypaymore
    Ypaymore Posts: 2,802 Forumite
    gazfocus wrote: »
    We've just had a letter from BT saying the line rental is going up and we are about 4 months into a 12 month contract. Can we cancel the contract due to the prices going up or are we still stuck with it?

    Only if they make a change to the price or the terms and conditions of a service which is to your material disadvantage, if thats the case you will not have to pay a charge if you decide to end that service early, unless the Tariff Guide says otherwise.

    However, once you have been told you about such a change, you must let them know that you want to end that service within 10 days.
  • Oldbiggles
    Oldbiggles Posts: 499 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts
    I've just received 2 letters in todays post.
    Both from BT.
    The first envelope contained a letter explaining the increased charges to be introduced shortly.
    The second envelope was my quarterly bill.

    If BT finds it necessary to increase charges because of dwindling profits, then why on earth can they not get their act together and send out the increase letter with the bill, thereby making massive savings on postage. Don't their Dept Heads talk to one another?

    Message to BT.. "Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves"

    :mad:
    Trying to learn something new every day.

    ;)
  • muirhead_2
    muirhead_2 Posts: 33 Forumite
    GeCon wrote: »
    Hi,

    I have signed up with BT in my new house, because I prefer the freedom of being able to use prefix numbers, which nowadays some providers don't allow anymore. My line is supposed to go live next Monday.

    I signed up on the understanding that the line rental would be £11.54 per month and £4.99 for the calling plan. Surely they cannot increase these prices in my initial contract period, which will start on Monday?

    Any help would be much appreciated.

    Primus @ £8.99 a month line rental allow overide providers.
  • Heinz
    Heinz Posts: 11,191 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker Car Insurance Carver!
    muirhead wrote: »
    Primus @ £8.99 a month line rental allow overide providers.
    Yes, they have 'promised' Martin that they will allow such access "at least until the end of 2010."
    Time has moved on (much quicker than it used to - or so it seems at my age) and my previous advice on residential telephony has been or is now gradually being overtaken by changes in the retail market. Hence, I have now deleted links to my previous 'pearls of wisdom'. I sincerely hope they helped save some of you money.
  • Premier_2
    Premier_2 Posts: 15,141 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 27 July 2010 at 5:01PM
    A much better and more fundamental question to ask is - what does chargeable mean? If it's on a bill or invoice the item has been charged, so it must have been chargeable. The charge can be negative (a credit), positive (a debit) or zero. 0p per minute for a phone call does not mean no charge; it means a charge costing 0p per minute.

    Your use of "inclusive" is covered by "chargeable". All inclusive (your meaning) calls are chargeable. The word is redundant.

    Inclusive calls (in the BT sense) are non-chargeable calls included in a Calling Plan. The only type I'm aware of is a text message, which is sent to a non-chargeable, network number.


    Prior to the present Calling Plans weekend calls were 0p per minute but had a set-up fee of 5p (I think). With the removal of the 5p fee the weekend calls were seen by some (incorrectly) as not being charged. There was wailing and knashing of teeth. Free caller display was at stake so it was advised (incorrectly) to make two calls during the week. To be on the Unlimited Weekend Plan BT set a condition (now gone) of one chargeable call a month. Again the incorrect advice was to phone during the week. Not particularly money saving.

    Jubilation broke out when BT added "inclusive" to the condition to keep caller display free. The word was interpretated as you have done. So a misunderstanding of "chargeable" lead to a "misinterpretation" of "inclusive". What BT didn't tell anyone (including Customer Service) was that they had added the word to include sending text messages as a qualifying condition.

    The Weekend Plan does not include a text message allowance, which is why BT cannot (and never did) stipulate an inclusive call as a condition to have that Plan. The only condition related to chargeable calls. Making two a month always gave me free caller display.
    Many thanks for the explanation.

    Do you have a link that confirms this definition please?

    The reason I ask is that when I was on the weekend only plan, I made calls at the weekend, not at any other time.

    These calls were to standard geographic numbers commencing 01.

    Of course, I considered these calls were going to be free of any additional charge, and indeed they were to start with, I think I remember.

    But then they caught up with me and and charged me for the calls.

    I made an official complaint which I have a copy of their response still. It says that whilst they agree I made calls at the weekend, ones which they deemed to be inclusive (i.e. calls that are usually chargeable, but are not charged to those customers on and eligible for certain calling plans), under the calling plan I had not made any chargeable calls (i.e. calls I would be charged extra for under the terms of the calling plan)

    Therefore, as I had failed to make chargeable calls, i.e. ones I would be charged extra for under the calling plan, and a condition of eligibilty to the calling plan states it must be chargeable (not inclusive) calls, I was not entitled to the calling plan, and hence would be charged for those weekend calls I made.

    That made sense to me at the time and I didn't follow it up.:o

    However, as you seem to know different, if you could point me in the direction of a recoginsed source I can quote to BT, I will certainly seek to re-open this dispute and seek recovery of the extra charges they made.

    Edit: reference to having caller display for free is something of a red herring as that always was 2 chargeable or inclusive calls per month to remain free of charge. :)

    It was the Unlimited Weekend Plan that said at least 1 chargeable call per month to remain eligible.
    "Now to trolling as a concept. .... Personally, I've always found it a little sad that people choose to spend such a large proportion of their lives in this way but they do, and we have to deal with it." - MSE Forum Manager 6th July 2010
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