Changing BT Call Plan From Eve/WE to Anytime

johnniegif

I'm asking this question on behalf of a friend.

He is currently with BT for line rental and is on their automatically renewed free evening and weekend call plan. He uses an Orchid dialler for daytime calls and mobiles.

Having looked through his calling patterns over the last 12 months I can see that by switching to BT's "Unlimited Anytime Plan 3 Months Free" would save him £77 this year and £62 thereafter assuming future inclusive calls and chargeble ones stay the same.

I logged into his BT account and it tells me:

You current Calling Plan is Unlimited Evening& Weekend Plan at no extra cost
Your contract started on 15/10/2010
Your contract finishes on [blank]

My question is, can he move from his current plan to BT's Unliited Anytime Plan 3 Months Free, thus electing to pay BT more, without paying any charges for breaking/upgrading his contract?

Thanks for your help.

Heinz

Unlimited Weekend Plan

Available for new and existing residential customers. No minimum term, unless you order a new telephone line or switch your phone line to BT from another home phone service provider, where a 12 month minimum term applies to line rental. Line rental payable.

Unlimited Anytime Plan – 3 months free
Available to new Unlimited Anytime Plan customers signing up for 12 months. Discount via bill credit. Line rental payable – see pricing options below/above. Usual cost of Plan (£5 a month) applies from month four. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer and may be withdrawn at any time. Exclusions and conditions apply.

The wording is typically ambiguous (E&W is "Available for .... residential customers" whereas Anytime is "Available to ....customers") and, of course, the ultimate 'gotcha' is there at the end.

I read it that upgrading qualifies but I don't work for BT.

I'd say phone up and ask. Whatever you're told, ask for an email confirmation of whatever is agreed.

johnniegif

Thanks as always for your help Heinz. BT's T's & C's are always confusing if you are as cynical as I am

I'm no longer with BT and my friend is too far away for me to make the call from his. As you infer, I too don't trust any verbal response I receive from a call centre - BT or otherwise and want the aswer in blood/writing. I just wondered if any other MSE have recently had experience of moving contract packages, mid contract, as I definitely want to save, not cost him money. He's currently too unwell to sort this out himself and every penny counts.

Perhaps BT Representative can help as I have the account details to hand. No problem contacting the account holder directly by email so long as I am copied on the reply.

Thanks again. Johnnie

johnniegif

Just in case it helps someone in a similar situation (at the time of writing*) as I hoped, if you are 'upgrading' your plan during an existing contract, there are no termination charges so long as you keep to the new contract.

As Heinz helpfully suggests, get this in writing though just in case.

Here is the reply from BT's online customer services:

Dear Mr xxxxx

Thank you for your e-mail dated 04/03/11 regarding the upgrade fee.

I confirm that if you will upgrade from the Unlimited Evening & Weekend Plan to the Unlimited Anytime Plan then you will not be liable to pay the upgrade fee. In fact the upgrades are always free of charge.

However, in future if you wish to downgrade the package from Unlimited Anytime Plan to the Unlimited Evening & Weekend Plan or the Unlimited Weekend Plan then you will be liable to pay a cancellation fee. The cancellation fee for the Unlimited Anytime Plan is £5.50 multiplied by the number of months remaining in the contract.

If there is anything else you would like to know, try our help pages online at https://www.bt.com/help. You can also see the various ways you can contact us if you do need further assistance.

I hope you have been happy with all I have done for you. You will be getting an e-mail soon with a short survey. Please be honest, it is about how I have dealt with things and also more generally about BT.

Thank you for contacting BT.

Yours Sincerely,
xxxx xxxxxxx
Digital Care Advisor


* I told you I am a cynic