Warning! BT increase charges for non direct debit payers

BritBrat

Can you use the card with online banking and pay it that way?

I signed up to the direct debit but it has never been used.

I pay using a current account and online banking and I have not had any charge so far.

Heinz

The reason you were charged is because paying by credit card is not paying by Direct Debit and BT only offers (in effect) a discount for paying by Direct Debit.

BTW, firms have to pay charges to the credit card company if you pay by that method.

BexTech

SaynotoBT wrote: »

:mad:
I moved both my private and business numbers to monthly payments back in May to avoid this iniquitous charge - and made it clear to BT that I didn't want to pay processing fees. Both accounts were changed at the same time and covered the whole of each bill. BT didn't advise me that if the monthly debit was to a credit card rather thatn a bank I would be charged this fee. They don't charge it on the business line, but they do on the private line. BT refuse to refund the £4.50 charges they have made so far. How many other people have been ripped off in this way? £4.50 isn't so much for one person, but multiply it by all customers and it adds up to a lot - just like the bank charge ripoffs. The debit is now changed to my bank instead, so no more charges.

You're complaining about this charge now, yet for years and years and years you were quite happy to be paying £3 per quarter for not paying by direct debit, the only difference is now they detail the charge on the bill and not simply up the line rental charge by the difference as they did before.

mls

BexTech wrote: »

You're complaining about this charge now, yet for years and years and years you were quite happy to be paying £3 per quarter for not paying by direct debit, the only difference is now they detail the charge on the bill and not simply up the line rental charge by the difference as they did before.

That's not right - for many of us, paying by CC (via continuous authority) was treated just like a DD, so we DID get the £3 discount. It was only when this new processing fee was introduced that the CC payments were no longer treated like DD payments. MLS

BritBrat

Heinz wrote:

The reason you were charged is because paying by credit card is not paying by Direct Debit and BT only offers (in effect) a discount for paying by Direct Debit.

Not quite true Heinz, you get the discount for siging up to direct debit even if you pay some other way like I do.

I am not saying it will work with all payment systems but I know for sure it works with online banking.

Untill they manage to code the system to detect who has signed up to direct debit but has paid some other way I will continue to pay the way I always did and now get a discount for doing it.

Who lost out?

BT did.

BexTech

mls wrote: »

That's not right - for many of us, paying by CC (via continuous authority) was treated just like a DD, so we DID get the £3 discount. It was only when this new processing fee was introduced that the CC payments were no longer treated like DD payments. MLS

I see.

I don't trust CCCA's, at least with DD you can cancel the recurring payment, with CCCA you have to hope the company stops claiming the payment when you ask them to, if they don't it takes at least 6 months before something can be done.

mls

BexTech wrote: »

I don't trust CCCA's, at least with DD you can cancel the recurring payment, with CCCA you have to hope the company stops claiming the payment when you ask them to, if they don't it takes at least 6 months before something can be done.

I had no idea CCCA existed until BT offered it as an option, so I thought 'why not?' I was getting the £3 discount AND cashback on my CC. Made sense at the time, although a few people have now said that CCCAs are best avoided, so I'll give them a miss from now on. MLS

luvpeckham

Hi
An intersting issue has now arisen concernig the £4,50 payment processing fee and my account (ex) with BT.

I have now changed from BT to Tiscali for both phone line rental and broadband, whereas previosuly I was being charged £11 and £27.99 per month by BT for rental only (plus call charges) and the dreadr £4.50 a quarter fee for paying by cheque.

I now pay £19.99 a month for line rental, (upto) 8mb unlimited broadband and calls to 01 and 02 numbers with Tiscali.

However I have refused to pay BT the £4.50 charge on my last two bills (including the final bill) and sent the letter as shown previously in this discussion.

Today I received the following reply

"Dear Sir

Many thanks for your letter. Your views are important to us and we take all comments seriously. I'm sorry to read that you feel strongly about the changes to our payment options.
We very much appreciate the fact that you always pay on time
BT is committed to offering great value for money. We recently sent you a leaflet explaining why we've made changes to our payment options. On May 1st we reducedthe price of line rental by £3.00 and briadband by £3.00 a quarter for customers who don't pay by direct debit.
There ia an amount outstanding on your final bill of £9.00, this payment is required and I would

luvpeckham

Hi
An intersting issue has now arisen concernig the £4,50 payment processing fee and my account (ex) with BT.

I have now changed from BT to Tiscali for both phone line rental and broadband, whereas previosuly I was being charged £11 and £27.99 per month by BT for rental only (plus call charges) and the dreadr £4.50 a quarter fee for paying by cheque.

I now pay £19.99 a month for line rental, (upto) 8mb unlimited broadband and calls to 01 and 02 numbers with Tiscali.

However I have refused to pay BT the £4.50 charge on my last two bills (including the final bill) and sent the letter as shown previously in this discussion.

Today I received the following reply

"Dear Sir

Many thanks for your letter. Your views are important to us and we take all comments seriously. I'm sorry to read that you feel strongly about the changes to our payment options.
We very much appreciate the fact that you always pay on time
BT is committed to offering great value for money. We recently sent you a leaflet explaining why we've made changes to our payment options. On May 1st we reducedthe price of line rental by £3.00 and briadband by £3.00 a quarter for customers who don't pay by direct debit.
There ia an amount outstanding on your final bill of £9.00, this payment is required and I would need to highlight that if an amount is left unpaid then normal follow action is taken which may result in the amount being referred to a debt collection agency. We are sorry to lose your custome however, we would like to remind you that as part of your terms and conditions you are required to pay your bill in full when you receive it

Many thanks
Yours sincerely
K Hussain
Customer Services Advisor"

NOW
My question is, has anyone else received a letter of this nature, threatining to pass their £4.50 or £9.00 of unjustified charges to a debt collection agency, and what shoudl my next steps be in this battle of unfair charges.

I have moved away from BT (with a saving of £19 a month in basic charges), sent the appropriate letters and also withheld payment at the same time.

Any suggestions

BexTech

luvpeckham wrote: »

NOW
My question is, has anyone else received a letter of this nature, threatining to pass their £4.50 or £9.00 of unjustified charges to a debt collection agency, and what shoudl my next steps be in this battle of unfair charges.

I have moved away from BT (with a saving of £19 a month in basic charges), sent the appropriate letters and also withheld payment at the same time.

Any suggestions

Pay up as you owe the money.

For years you had been happily paying £3 per quarter for not paying by Direct Debit, but as soon as they up that to £4.50 and highlight it on the bill you didn't like it. You had the choice, pay the £4.50, sign up to Direct Debit or move.

You have chosen to move and move to a provider that you have to pay by Direct Debit with.