BT charge £19.50 for a 5hr call

Pazuzu

I have just found out that I have been billed £19.50 for a call made at the weekend . I use BT and have the "free weekend" option. Regrettably after the call was terminated by the person I called hanging up, I left one of the two handsets off hook and the ticking of a clock gave sufficient background noise to prevent the line dropping. I replaced the handset approximately 5 hours later. On enquiry I was told that they would not refund the charge as it was due to user error.True, but this seems to me quite harsh.
Does anyone have any constructive suggestions where I might appeal?

Heinz

I didn't pull the handbrake on my car up far enough and it rolled into a wall and demolished it. The owner wants me to pay for the damage.

I meant to apply the handbrake properly so think that's a bit harsh of him.

Buzby

I have to say, BT are correct that their billing is not flawed, and that you did use their resource to call a chargeable number (or one that became chargeable after 1 hour), so as there was no fraud or billing error, your only recourse is to appeal to their 'better nature'. This is best done in WRITING, not by phone, as it will be reviewed by someone who has the ability to reach a possible suitible compromise - perhaps a 33% or 50% discount on the charge. It really depends on whether they value you as a past customer and they'll be better placed to do this if you explain the circumstances, point out it has never happened before (and probably won't happen again!) and keep your fingers crossed.

If your call wasn't wholly handled within BTs network, they would still have other charges to pay (interconnection fees for cross network calls, for example). All you can do is ask, but it remains a valuable lesson - since the 1940's the GPO always made a big thing of 'hanging up carefuly' to ensure charging ceased.

Good luck!

PS: If you're using this as a reason to switch to O2, I see no reason why they wouldn't insist in the charge being paid in full.