Question about BT.

swd

Hi, I recently signed up with BT for their Unlimited Anytime Plan. I did this using their on-line system. During the course of doing this I came to a page that gave you the option of selecting a number extras i.e. call barring. I didn't select any of these options. In fact I selected the no thanks box.

I'v just signed in to my account to see where they were with my order. On there it states that I have been given three free options. If you read the small print it reads that if you don't make a number of paid for calls each month then you will be charged for these options.

Am I being paranoid, or are BT trying to make more money out of me by using under hand tactics? I certaintly didn't request these options so if my thinking is correct I will simply cancel the order, but I want to make sure my thinking is right before I do. Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Heinz

You just need to make 2 calls per month to get free Caller Display and basic 1571 (but please don't use the latter).

As most of your calls will be inclusive within your calls package (all your 01, 02, 03, 0845 and 0870 calls of up to 60 minutes each), those 2 'qualifying calls' will probably cost you nothing.

What is the other free option you have?

swd

Hi Heinz. The three free options that they've given me are BT 1471 last person who called, BT 1571 voicemail service and BT privacy.

Heinz

swd wrote: »

Hi Heinz. The three free options that they've given me are BT 1471 last person who called, BT 1571 voicemail service and BT privacy

1471 is free to all (as long as you don't press 3 afterwards) so that's not an issue.

BT Privacy is Caller Display + them registering you with TPS (which you could/should do anyway).

In summary, you're panicking about nothing.

BTW, BT's line rental (£13.60/month, shortly to increase to £13.90/month) may be on the expensive side but their Unlimited Anytime Plan (£5/month, shortly to be reduced to £4.70/month) is one of the best calls packages currently on offer.

swd

Many thanks Heinz. I wasn't sure, but you read so many stories on here on how people haven't read the T&C's properly and got caught out financially that I thought that I'd better check.

asbokid

Heinz wrote: »

BTW, BT's line rental (£13.60/month, shortly to increase to £13.90/month) may be on the expensive side but their Unlimited Anytime Plan (£5/month, shortly to be reduced to £4.70/month) is one of the best calls packages currently on offer.

BT is quite expensive on UK Mobile calls.. 13p/min between 7am-7pm and 7p/min at weekends and evenings.

It's like comparing apples with oranges but easyvoip.com charges just 3.9p/min for calls at any time to UK Mobiles.

Many of the VOIP providers don't charge anything for calls to UK landlines, nor calls to US landlines and US mobiles.

A PC doesn't need to be running to make VOIP calls. A £20 VOIP adaptor connects to the broadband router, and a standard landline phone connects to that adaptor.

fluffyhamster

Hi swd,

I just have registered here so I can reply to your thread, please check your bill carefully and make sure you aren't being charged for these services in the future.

I have been charged for these services on my last 2 quarterly bills. The first time I was charged I had made the minimum calls required (6 per quarter) I rang customer services to complain, after 2 hours of being put on hold and cut off 4 times I finally spoke to someone and was told that they would credit my next bill. I asked them to remove the services from my account and they said they would. The next bill arrived, the services were still showing as active and they had charged me for them again, stating that I had not made a minimum of 6 calls, yet on the same bill they were charging me for 36 calls made that quarter,so clearly the minimum requirement had been met!
Once again going through the painful process of calling customer services (if they record callers that are on hold they will have heard some choice language and comments about BT.lol) and again being cut off twice I was eventually greeted by a very cheerful woman who I explained my problem to, she did not really understand the problem, accessing my bill she told me I hadn't made the minimum 6 calls, when I said "ok then please take the charges off for the 36 calls if I havn't made those", she said "no as there are 36 calls made". I said "so I have made the minimum of 6 calls then", she said "yes minimum of 6 that's why we charge you, you have not made the minimum calls". heaven help me, we went round this circle for half an hour before I got a little cross.. at which point she said she would credit my next bill for the twice I have been overcharged, when I said I had no faith that this would happen as they failed to issue a credit the first time I was told "it's ok, don't worry about it". when I said it's not OK and I am worried about it (as a single parent my budget is tight and I can't afford to be overcharged on a regular basis with no hope of getting it back) she repeated again "it's ok, don't worry about it, have a nice day". guess what, they still havn't credited my account and I suspect I will be charged again this quarter.
I guess they hope that there are many people who simply give up chasing for money back. I can't pay my next bill minus the amount that they owe me as I am on a direct debit, and I suppose they would take action against me if I didn't pay the full amount even though they are not entitled to it!

BT_company_representative

Hi Fluffyhamster,

It sounds like you have had a frustrating time of it trying to get this sorted. I would like to take a look at your account for you to make sure these charges aren't applied to your account in the future.

Please can you fill in your details using the link http://bt.custhelp.com/app/contact_email/c/4950 making sure to please include a link to this post?

Thanks

Paddy

fluffyhamster

Hi Paddy,

Thanks for your reply. I have just received my latest bill and I am still waiting for a credit from BT for the incorrect charges from October 2010. I have called BT customer services this morning (didn't log on here first so I have only just seen your post!). After being fobbed off intially and told that there is no record of my previous 2 complaints and that they would need to raise a dispute I said that there is no dispute, it is clear that I have been overcharged and that I havn't received a credit so I expect the bill to be amended accordingly. I have now been told that the amount to be taken on direct debit on 17/4/2011 will be correct and they will deduct the excess charges. fingers crossed this happens, if it doesn't I will be in touch with you shortly after.

Many thanks