BT bill changes constantly

twinkle1981_2

I am with BT for my home phone, broadband and TV. I signed up to the monthly DD scheme, so that all my payments would stay the same each month. This was the case for the first few months, but now the payments constantly change all the time. I called them and asked them about it and they agreed to set my payments at X amount. But I have checked my bill online and lo and behold this months payment has increased.

I thought the whole point of the DD scheme was that the payments were spread out equally hence the amount didnt change. I have unlimited broadband so the amount for that doesnt change, the BT Vision payment is fixed, and I barely use the home phone for calls, as I have free mins on my mobile. The few calls I do make on the home phone dont equate to the amounts they keep hiking the monthly payments up by.

Does anyone know anything about this ?

withabix

If your DD is less than 1/12th of your annual bill including line rental, then your DD won't be enough and will increase accordingly. If you have built up a debt similarly, that will increase the change as well.

Was your broadband on an initial discount? Has that discount finished? (First 3 months were discounted recently).

Minimum DD on Broadband Option 3 and NO phone calls will need to be approx £40 per month (£30ish for broadband, £10ish for line rental).

twinkle1981_2

I had 3 months discount on the BT Vision when I signed up. £7.99 instead of £14.99 for the first 3 months.

withabix

I forgot BT Vision. Your direct debit probably needs to be at least £50 per month just to keep up.

twinkle1981_2

I agreed it to be 55 per month but some months they take 70 odd, some they even try to take as much as 90. This month they are going to take 66 and im not making phone calls to warrant this. Youre lucky if I make £2 of calls in a month. I find it a bit strange. Whenever I call them about it they waffle on about this and that and leave me totally confused lol. I think I might get them to make my home phone incoming calls only because that way the amounts for the line rental, broadband and bt vision cant go up and down month to month. (although I reiterate I do not make enough calls in a month to warrant the amounts they increase the DD by)

macman

If your actual usage is so consistent from month to month, then why not use whole bill DD and clear the full amount as you go?
Have you built up some debt that requires an increase in your DD? If so, consider making a one-off payment to clear the debt, and then switch to whole bill monthly DD. After you have done that, the only variation will be any exclusive calls you make.
PS: you are paying vastly too much for your services overall, have you switched to the most economic tariffs for your needs? The package of BT Vision Goid, BB Option 3, Unlimited Anytime calls and line rental should be no more than around £52 on the current tariffs, so something is seriously awry here.

Mark_In_Hampshire

twinkle1981 wrote: »

I thought the whole point of the DD scheme was that the payments were spread out equally hence the amount didnt change.

No. That's what companies like you to believe.

The whole point of direct debit is that you surrender control of your money and put it in the hands of the payee.

You agree that the payee can take unspecified amounts from your account on unspecified dates with an unspecified frequency.

If you log into your online banking and look at the way the direct debit has been set up you'll see that this is so (amount variable, frequency variable)

You have given BT an instruction to debit any amount they see fit on any date providing you with UP TO ten days notification. So, in practice, an undefined period of notice. You'll find the amount and date of the proposed debit on your bills each time.

If you want to pay the same amount every month on the same date, you need to pay by standing order or make the payment manually from your online banking screen.

System

Have you actually looked at your bills and not just the DD amounts on your bank statement? This would give a better indication of why it is varying rather than pure guesswork from people on a forum.?

blairie

I too have problems with the manner in which BT charges. My surplus turns into a deficit, although I pay about £4 extra each month for calls and only used 96p in one month (I have unlimited call plans, so only pay very little for calls not covered) and the Broadband is a steady £15.99 per month and that is covered within the DD.
If you email them, they do not give you an answer, they just send out some crazy information you didn't ask for.
I am so unhappy that I am stuck with a contract and really wish I could change provider.

Blairie

spike7451

blairie wrote: »

I too have problems with the manner in which BT charges. My surplus turns into a deficit, although I pay about £4 extra each month for calls and only used 96p in one month (I have unlimited call plans, so only pay very little for calls not covered) and the Broadband is a steady £15.99 per month and that is covered within the DD.
If you email them, they do not give you an answer, they just send out some crazy information you didn't ask for.
I am so unhappy that I am stuck with a contract and really wish I could change provider.

Blairie

Same here,I agreed a payment with them for £25 a month,first month they tried to take £37..as I had budgeted for £25 for BT & £24 for my car insurance as I'm out of work until sometime Janurary.
This caused my car insurance to bounce & I incurred a charge of £20 (which I got over-turned) & when I contacted BT,they said they informed me in my bill,which was a load of bull as the arrangement was made after I got my October bill on 6th November but they changed the amount before I got my bill in December which was after they took the payment.
The overseas eejit I spoke to tried to justify why the increase was made saying my usage was was higher than the £25 but when I pointed out my bill is only around £22 a month,he backtracked & re-set the amount for £25.

Then I received from BT a bill for the full amount of the bill!:mad:

I have four months left on the BT contract (expires 3rd May) and am seriously considering moving my phone to Primus now as I am that hacked off with BT.
Is this at all possible?..If so...how??

blairie

Exactly, I know how you feel. I pay £4 on top of my monthly usage, I don't really run up a huge bill for extra calls, 96 pence last month, that's all. That's what BT states in their own bill. So I really do not understand how they can make a £17 surplus in October into a £10 deficit in December. They don't either but they also do not give an explanation.
Unfortunately, my contract has about another year to go, so I am stuck with them. Don't know why they are suddenly doing this either, I have been with them for years with no problems, changed a few things this summer and it's been a nightmare since.
Which Ombudsman do they use?

Blairie