BT Payment Processing Fee - (awkward customers)

Mr_Oink

Heinz wrote: »

I'd suggest Virgin Media.

Oops - their non-direct debit charge is £5/month, not £1.50/month.

That fails on two counts then.......

Heinz

Mr_Oink wrote: »

Having had my phone bill this morning, and not trusting BT with my bank or card details, I elect to pay by cash. The result is the extra charge of about £4.50 per quarter I get hit with - a tax on protecting your banking and card details so to speak.

Don't forget the extra 90p!

If you make a payment by means other than direct debit or monthly payment plan before we have written to you with the terms and conditions for this separate contract (and therefore your agreement begins with BT Payment Services Limited), you must pay a payment processing fee of £1.80 per month or £5.40 per quarter to BT Payment Services Limited. All amounts due which are not paid by direct debit or monthly payment plan will be collected by BT Payments Services Limited.

Who's idea the following was escapes me now but a workaround for the £4.50 (£5.40) issue would be to set up the direct debit payment system but to always make an online payment a few days (a week would be safer) in advance of when the direct debit is due to be called. That stops the call (because there's no balance to call) but prevents the Payment Processing Fee being added to the next bill.

Diesel44

I'm like you op, I still pay by cash at the post office.
I used to use a pay point card, making sure that there was more than enough money on the account before the bill was due, so in theory they had my payment in advance, but I still had to pay the £4.50 process fee.
Now I just pay the full amount when the bill lands on the mat.
There is a minimum payment when using the paypoint, I think it's £3.
I used to think by paying cash, if there was an error, you could correct it before paying, where as if you payed DD, they took the cash, then you had to try and reclaim it back afterwards. That was my theory anyway.
Now the process fee is £5.40 I might have to admit defeat and go DD.

Mr_Oink

As it is BT bill IN ADVANCE for line rental et al - a point touched on by Diesel44.

I quite like the 'refunds' I get on each bill, only to then be charged more for what I've already paid for. It's like I'm 'lending' BT money each quarter. Perhaps I should charge them a brokerage fee?

Mr_Oink

Actually - it looks like I've found someone:
(a) cheaper than BT by quite a way
(b) who don't charge for not using DD
(c) are trustworthy with great service - even in the face of all adversity!

Who, why... my ISP - IDENT! Why did I not think of that in the first place!

http://www.idnet.net/solutions/business/phone/

AND no long tie in - just a month to month contract. Blinding......

Heinz

Their home user package looks interesting too:

http://www.idnet.net/solutions/home/phone/

Mr_Oink

Heinz wrote: »

Their home user package looks interesting too:

http://www.idnet.net/solutions/home/phone/

Sure, *if* you are a home user they look quite good compared to BT. I've been in touch with them and they say "Normally we charge £1 a month for payments other than DD, but we will waive this for you".

Given the service I've had from IDNET, which on reflection was really good throughout some very testing faults - I don't even need to think about this.

Inactive

Mr_Oink wrote: »

Given the service I've had from IDNET, which on reflection was really good throughout some very testing faults - I don't even need to think about this.

Changed your tune then...;)

IDNet have always been a great company, I have used them since 2006 for BB, and over a year for my telephone, no problems at all with either.

30 day contract as well.:)

Mr_Oink

Inactive wrote: »

Changed your tune then...;)

I have. There were a couple of little niggles with them, but nobody is perfect and they are quite a small operation and not learning resistant when errors pop up.

Sure, I had a couple of 'faults' that were initially handled very badly and took over a month to resolve. That said, I believe that no other provider would have stuck with it and fixed them.

Inactive wrote: »

IDNet have always been a great company, I have used them since 2006 for BB, and over a year for my telephone, no problems at all with either.

30 day contract as well.:)

I agree - and I've been one of their harshest critics in the past.

There broadband packages are well placed in the market, their critical support - where all other ISP's 'run away' - is exceptional.

Looking at their phone service and call charges I can see significant savings switching to them over remaining with BT, and with BT's price hikes just around the corner now is the time to move!

The most important thing for me is I *know* I can trust Idnet, and that is something I will never be able to say about BT.

Inactive

Mr_Oink wrote: »

Looking at their phone service and call charges I can see significant savings switching to them over remaining with BT, and with BT's price hikes just around the corner now is the time to move!

The most important thing for me is I *know* I can trust Idnet, and that is something I will never be able to say about BT.

Indeed, I have saved a considerable amount by using their excellent telephone service.

The * trust * factor is my main reason for remaining loyal to them for so long, they have never let me down.