MSE News: Escape BT contracts & beat price rises

abrahff

Hello everyone.
I have given the 30 days termination notice since my contract already coming to an end and do not wish to have landline anymore. I only realised about the price hike when I check my current bill (after I give my termination notice) which is higher than usual. Not only have the rental line price has gone up, they also discontinued the paper free billing discount that I've been getting since day one (July 2009). I couldn't find anything about the discontinuation of the paper-free billing discount in the term & condition for existing customer but found this article in Guardian. (Google BT raises landline and call prices by 5%). I emailed them about this and this the answer I got:

I am sorry that you say that you didn’t receive any notification of the price change, however as you are aware the price change affected all our customers and it is not possible to change one account.
You have been advised that it sets out in our terms and conditions that we can change the prices and the onus is on the customer to read through these.
It is not possible to change the price of your service or refund any charges.

BT has not offer paper-free discount to new customer since September 2010. Our customers who had already set up for paper free billing still benefited from the discount as you did. On the recent price change this discount was discontinue. As this no longer available to any customer, I am sorry but I am unable to credit for a discount that we no longer offer.

If you’ve any other questions go to BT help. If you can’t find the answer there, we’ve included lots of ways to get in touch.

I am very dissatisfied and replied to them but haven't got back any reply for more than a week (before, they replied to my email in 1 day)

1. Can I refuse to pay my final bill (by cancelling my Direct Debit) until they agree to give me the discount and refund?
2. For all those who managed to terminate the service, do you have to pay the previous price or the current increased price for the service in that 30 days of service?
I know that the discount is not much, but this act of dishonesty disgust me. I imagine many customers wouldn't take this much further and would just give in and let this pass and BT ends up reaping a lot from this.

Mark_In_Hampshire

abrahff wrote: »

I emailed them about this and this the answer I got:

I am sorry that you say that you didn’t receive any notification of the price change, however as you are aware the price change affected all our customers and it is not possible to change one account.

Irrelevant nonsense.

You have been advised that it sets out in our terms and conditions that we can change the prices and the onus is on the customer to read through these.

Wrong. The onus is on the supplier to inform the customer of any significant or material change to Terms, be that by email, in a letter, in tiny type at the back of a "magazine" etc. not for the customer to have to read the Terms every day to see if they changed.

Their response is correct however for a brand new customer on initial signup.

It is not possible to change the price of your service or refund any charges.

Wrong. Forget "refund", the customer isn't obliged to pay the increased amounts unless and until notified.

BT has not offer paper-free discount to new customer since September 2010.

Irrelevant.

abrahff wrote: »

I am very dissatisfied and replied to them but haven't got back any reply for more than a week (before, they replied to my email in 1 day)

1. Can I refuse to pay my final bill (by cancelling my Direct Debit) until they agree to give me the discount and refund?

Believe there's a "gotcha" in the Ts and Cs which says something like "If you cancel your direct debit we may cancel your service". So, no. You have to continue to allow them to take the money as they see fit. DD removes the customer's ability to withhold payment.

abrahff wrote: »

2. For all those who managed to terminate the service, do you have to pay the previous price or the current increased price for the service in that 30 days of service?

You only have to pay the increased price from the time it takes effect (e.g. after the notification period they give you). Until then the price remains as per original contract.

Clarification: discounts can be ended at any time. That's correct. So the removal of the paper free discount is not grounds to cancel. The hike in the line rental, however, is, and that's what's important.

So that's the specific to pursue, the customer can't do anything about the removal of the discount because BT can quite lawfully and correctly drop that if they like.