BT: Why I am paying so much for their anytime plan?

Gillingham

We have just received a letter from BT telling us that our line rental is going up by 50p from 1st October, unless we pay a year's rental up front. I am not prepared to give BT an interest free loan of my money, so I decided to check other options on their website.

I am currently paying £18.78 on the 'Anytime Plan'. I get £1.25 discount for paper-free billing and direct debit payments. This means the plan and line rental is £17.53. The amount is just shown as a total, i.e. the line rental and plan are not separated out, so I don't actually know how much I am paying line rental. I believe that the 'anytime' plan is £4.99 so it would appear that I am paying £12.54 line rental which is more than is shown on their website.

Before I start complaining to them does anyone know why I would be paying this amount? Three years ago I was on an 18 month contract, but that has been finished long ago.

I am staying with BT as I have a fantastic deal on my Broadband, i.e. £7.99 a month for 18 months. I took this deal in December so it still has a good time to run.

Any help would be appreciated. My hubby may be getting made redundant and I am doing a quick up date of all our expenses to see what we can cut down on if the worst happens.

Heinz

Currently, line rental is £12.79/month so, with the £4.99/month Anytime calls plan, your total should be £17.78.

If you pay by DD, you don't get stung by the £1.50/month 'other method of payment' charge but, if you opt for paper-free billing, you do get a £1.25/month discount. Hence, your total should be £16.53/month.

I know the Anytime plan used to be £5.99 so I'm wondering whether you're on that - it would account for that extra £1.

You could try emailing them and asking for a breakdown of the figures.

Or, if you can stand the menus and can understand Indian accents, you could try 0800 800 150.

Gillingham

I have just called BT and from what I can gather (problem with accents on both sides), I pay £1.00 per month more because I am not on a contract. My 12 month contract ended some considerable time ago and I pay the extra pound as I can terminate my contract with one month's notice. Unfortunately I was not aware of this, it must have been buried in small print somewhere.

As I have such a good deal on my broadband I am tempted to sign up for 12 months and I will get 3 months anytime free (worth £14.97) and the line rental will only be £11.54. This makes it !183.39 (without any call costs) against £225.36 I would pay if I don't change anything (over a 12 month period). I haven't factored in the 50p line rental increase.

Opinions welcome!

JustPassingBy

Gillingham wrote: »

As I have such a good deal on my broadband I am tempted to sign up for 12 months and I will get 3 months anytime free (worth £14.97) and the line rental will only be £11.54. This makes it !183.39 (without any call costs) against £225.36 I would pay if I don't change anything (over a 12 month period). I haven't factored in the 50p line rental increase.

There is also a £36 one-off credit available. You may need to be creative to get it. Mentioning other phone companies is not forbidden and don't be offended by a refusal. Terminate your call, consider your strategy and phone again.