BT charges

BritBrat

I was the same, happy for people to get a discount but not happy to be charged £1.50 or £4.50.

There is a difference between a discount and a charge, you ask Dominic Littlewood.

The only thing I am angry about now is that I never found the loop hole a few years back.

BT Direct Debit, How To Beat It

Full Thread Here:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=446084

Bozzie

BritBrat wrote: »

I was the same, happy for people to get a discount but not happy to be charged £1.50 or £4.50.

There is a difference between a discount and a charge



Thank you, this is exactly the point, for the last ten years I have chosen not to have the discount. A fee is not my choice!

I have moved my call charges and will be looking to see if another company offer a package including line rental. This is awkward as our broadband supply requires a BT line and I am not sure if this will affect my options.

BT need reminding who the customer is!!!

BexTech

Moving line rental away from BT is not a wise move.

I hate a surcharges too, I told this to Virgin Media (xTW) many times over they years, they now charge £5 per month surcharge - or penalty fee as I call it. When it was Birmingham cable phone line rental was £6 with a 50p discount for paying by DD, that was fairer.

I pay everything I can by Direct Debit as it's much easier and saves any hassles, but I know some people don't want to pay by this method, so shouldn't be penalised.

However offering a DD discount or a non-DD surcharge still penalises the non-DD payer, but some people prefer to lose a discount than pay a penalty.

BritBrat

looking to see if another company offer a package including line rental. This is awkward as our broadband supply requires a BT line and I am not sure if this will affect my options.

BexTech is right Stay with BT on option 1.

Then look at the Heinz Program and maybe get an Orchid dialer, that's what I have done last two months BT have lost £20 from me and it's getting more this month.

All because they wanted to charge me for paying on time using online banking that gets the funds there in one day and most likely costs them nothing.

topherxp

Bozzie wrote: »

I was the same, happy for Thank you, this is exactly the point, for the last ten years I have chosen not to have the discount. A fee is not my choice!

There's not really a difference and the choice is still the same, save with DD or don't save with DD. It just makes the billing a lot clearer, which seems to be what people don't like because the this separate charge stares them in the face.

You also have the option to setup a whole bill DD and make a payment with the payment card, thus no payment processing fee. I tried it this month by making a payment in advance with my payment card and when my bill was produced I had a credit balance, so no DD to be taken this month and no payment processing fee either.

BritBrat

You also have the option to setup a whole bill DD and make a payment with the payment card, thus no payment processing fee. I tried it this month by making a payment in advance with my payment card and when my bill was produced I had a credit balance, so no DD to be taken this month and no payment processing fee either.

We know, I have done it for two months but paying by online banking.

I would love to know if it works with cash.

Either way you say it a charge is not a discount and I will never accept that myself, if some one offered you a 10% discount would you be happy if the final bill was charged 10% more, I don't think so.

topherxp

BritBrat wrote: »

We know, I have done it for two months but paying by online banking.

I would love to know if it works with cash.

Either way you say it a charge is not a discount and I will never accept that myself, if some one offered you a 10% discount would you be happy if the final bill was charged 10% more, I don't think so.

I paid cash with payment card. your not going to be able to pay cash with counterfoil slip because one won't get produced with bill

garrence

Earlier in this thread (two months earlier in fact) I said I would make a single transaction to pay BT in advance for several months of service. I did this and can confirm that they continued to levy a "payment processing fee".

I just called to enquire about this and they refunded the fee. A summary:

Me: There is a "payment processing fee" on my bill. To which payment does this relate?

BT: (standard answer about the fee being charged if you do not pay by DD or MPP)

Me: The exact wording is "This charge has been made by BT Payment Services Ltd for processing your payment". My account was in credit and you did not process a payment.

BT: (Repeat standard answer)

Me: The wording of the charge does not mention direct debits. It says it is a fee "for processing your payment", but my account was in credit and you did not process a payment.

BT: I agree that we did not process a payment.

Me: So you agree that you have charged me for a service you did not supply?

BT: Yes. I will refund the charge.

Me: The account was in credit last month too. Can you refund that charge as well?

BT: OK.


So they are charging a penalty fee for not paying by direct debit but calling it a "payment processing fee". Why? The answer becomes clear in the sentence "VAT is not applicable to this charge". They have set up a financial services company (BT Payment Services Ltd) to handle the charges and these companies do not have to pay VAT.

If an account is in credit and they charge this fee for a service they have not provided, would that not be defrauding HM Revenue & Customs of tax revenue?

This does mean that when they argue that it's a fee for not paying by DD that you can insist the wording is a "payment processing fee" and would like to know to which payment the fee relates.

I'll write to BT about that. The right outcome would be to not charge the fee for accounts in credit as I can see no good argument for them doing so.

Gary

BexTech

A reply I received from BT earlier this week:

In response to your email, I thank you for your feedback on the Payment
Processing Fee. The fee reflects the fact that some methods of payment are more
costly to process than others and is therefore based on the average cost of all
our non-automated payment methods as well as the follow up costs if customers
pay late or forget to pay.

By calculating the cost we apply a general policy for all payment methods that
are not automated, i.e. other then Direct Debit or Monthly Payment Plan to
reflect the higher risk of non-payment as well as the higher costs involved.

The fee is not transaction-based, as this would unfairly disadvantage those who
need to pay in several small instalments. Instead the costs are averaged on a
monthly/quarterly basis across all customers using non-automated methods of
payment.

I am sorry to inform that BT will not be changing its policy. Our policy on ways
to pay is one of the most customer-friendly in the telecoms business. For
example Sky Talk refuse to accept customers who don't pay by direct debit or
continuous credit card mandate, Virgin charge an additional £5 per month and the
Post Office charge an additional £1 per month for non-direct debit payment. As
an existing BT customer you will only pay an additional 50p more per month?. If
you would like general information about other Operators, this can be obtained
from the OFCOM Consumer website on https://www.ofcom.org.uk.

I am sorry if my response is not the one you were hoping for, but I trust that
this has helped to clarify our position.

If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us again via
email or e-billing helpdesk on 0800 328 9642(Mon - Sat 08.00 - 18.00).

Thank you for contacting BT.

Yours sincerely,

Chinnu Vamadevan
eContact Customer Service

BexTech

Also another reply from BT this time from Ben Verwaayen:

Thanks for your open and frank views
I am very well aware of what customers tell us.
They welcome a lot of the price reductions that we have implemented
You forgot to mention those, but I am sure you are also aware of them
I do appreciate the fact that people want choices and that is what we provide.
I am sorry you feel that we have not communicated well enough .
We are still very much cheaper on non DD as you kindly recognize.
As a company we also have to make choices how to deal with real costs.
Is it fair to charge those who do not incur those costs?
I don't think so.
I respect your views, but I hope you can also see how much we do for vulnerable
groups ( like no other supplier) and how much choice we offer

Thanks for your robust email, thanks for your honest views.

Ben