Warning! BT increase charges for non direct debit payers

kitekat

The_Economist wrote: »

I pay my bill quartely and do not think i should be forced to pay it by DD. I do not have cable in my area so have to stay with BT. I have over heads to, i have to put food on the table run a car pay other bills. I cannot go to my employer and start charging him/her for admin fees etc etc. I dont think it is fair that BT is going to charge this. As an adult with a family i have to act as a Bank manager as an accountant as a builder as a car mechanic and so on but dont get paid for it. Nobody cares about my profit marigin. I think the whole idea should be dropped now.

Hi please check my post on this page re Watchdog and also on gas and elec page,to download letter from watchdog website complaining about these non direct debit payment charges.It only costs 50p to £1.00 for companies to admin these charges and the rest is profit for them.

Cardew

kitekat wrote: »

Hi please check my post on this page re Watchdog and also on gas and elec page,to download letter from watchdog website complaining about these non direct debit payment charges.It only costs 50p to £1.00 for companies to admin these charges and the rest is profit for them.

50p to £1.00? where do you get this information from? is that a day, a week, a month, a payment?

Cash flow? getting 3 payments a quarter instead of one.

Cost of chasing up those who forget/can't/won't make their payments on time?

Do you object to all companies who offer an incentive for payment by DD?

kitekat

Cardew wrote: »

50p to £1.00? where do you get this information from? is that a day, a week, a month, a payment?

Cash flow? getting 3 payments a quarter instead of one.

Cost of chasing up those who forget/can't/won't make their payments on time?

Do you object to all companies who offer an incentive for payment by DD?

Got my info off Watchdog on Wed i take it you didnt watch the prog,if you did youve obviously missed this part.Its for monthly payments.I have never in any of my posts objected to any company giving incentives for dd payments,if you had bothered to read them you would have known this.What i DO object to is companies ripping off customers for not doing things their way ie choosing not to pay by dd and incurring a penalty for their choices.

Heinz

kitekat wrote: »

I have never in any of my posts objected to any company giving incentives for dd payments <snip>. What i DO object to is companies ripping off customers for not doing things their way ie choosing not to pay by dd and incurring a penalty for their choices.

I agree. Much as we all dislike price increases, it would have been acceptable if BT had just said they were imposing a price rise for line rental of 50p per month (it's about 4% so not far off the true rate of inflation anyway) but were also raising the discount they give to anyone paying by DD by 50p at the same time.

That, of course, is effectively what they are doing - but, stupidly, they changed the way they presented the figures and caused a furore.

Ofcom are 'looking into it' (don't hold your breath).

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/complain/landline/nonddcharge/

Cardew

kitekat wrote: »

Got my info off Watchdog on Wed i take it you didnt watch the prog,if you did youve obviously missed this part.Its for monthly payments.I have never in any of my posts objected to any company giving incentives for dd payments,if you had bothered to read them you would have known this.What i DO object to is companies ripping off customers for not doing things their way ie choosing not to pay by dd and incurring a penalty for their choices.

If you look back at post #27 you will see I make exactly the point that Heinz makes above.

It is a matter of presentation.

trinidadone

I just called 150 on my BT line. I was told, unless I make at least two calls per month on my BT line, I will be charged £1 for the 1571 service and £1 for the caller ID service. I told them to remove both services. whenever i make a call, i always use call checker from the web site. BT are too pricey.

This is my first posting, hope it is readable

Heinz

Lee_Dunford wrote: »

I just called 150 on my BT line. I was told, unless I make at least two calls per month on my BT line, I will be charged £1 for the 1571 service and £1 for the caller ID service. I told them to remove both services. whenever i make a call, i always use call checker from the web site. BT are too pricey.

Welcome to the MSE forums Lee.

Actually, you'll find BT can be cheapest for some 0845 calls (and certainly for 0844 calls) so, rather than doing as I do and spend 33p making 6 x evening or weekend UK 01/02 calls of less than an hour per quarter instead of paying the £5.25 fee, you could make the necessary calls that way to keep (almost) free Caller Display.

P.S. I agree with your DUMP 1571 decision!

trinidadone

Thanks for the tip Heinz, Since posting my first forum message, i have just found my instruction book for my built in answer phone. You are correct BT can be cheaper with some 0845 / 0844 calls (I checked call checker). I did want to ask, if I use 18185, is that technically, another provider???

I genrally use my home phone for internet access, or receiving calls. My t-mobile phone gives me a massive 3000 miuntes off peak (50 hours) a month to local/national and any network mobile calls, so i genrally use the phone in the day. I have signed up with 18185, they are truely brilliant, because they are so cheap!!

Heinz

Lee_Dunford wrote: »

Thanks for the tip Heinz, Since posting my first forum message, i have just found my instruction book for my built in answer phone. You are correct BT can be cheaper with some 0845 / 0844 calls (I checked call checker). I did want to ask, if I use 18185, is that technically, another provider???

I genrally use my home phone for internet access, or receiving calls. My t-mobile phone gives me a massive 3000 miuntes off peak (50 hours) a month to local/national and any network mobile calls, so i genrally use the phone in the day. I have signed up with 18185, they are truely brilliant, because they are so cheap!!

Don't miss the links (the blue text) 'hidden' in posts!

Yes, 18185, 1899 and 18866 are 'other providers' (Martin calls them 'override providers' but I call them 'prefix-dial providers') but they're not CPS providers as such.

If you're on dial-up internet access, are you using GeoISP - so you pay 5p (via 18185) for any length of use?

trinidadone

tell me more about these blue links Heinz? no not using dial up, i am using Broadband from sky. You have to have a BT line to access sky's broadband.