BT "Payment Processing Fee" !!!!!!?!?!

Freddie_Snowbits

On a side, My waterboard send me a bill and I ensure they get the money on the 28th day after invoice, as they do not offer a 'discount' for direct debit!

As for BT, I pay by direct debit becasue they offer me a benefit, I am also paperless. If they did not offer this, I would not pay by direct debit. As for watchdog, I am fed up with the TV Tax Collectors ringing me up on the due date to remind me! they do not offer a rebate for direct debit.

As for payment processing fee, what is this? I have never seen it and if someone offered me that for the privilege of reading my morning papaer, my newsagent asked me to pay a processing fee, I would go elsewhere!

Or, again is this another sign of the times, a regressive tax on the poorer of the society!

C_Ronaldo

I still dont understand why people dont pay by direct debit, i give companies access to my bank account and they dont take what isnt theirs,

deadringer

C_Ronaldo wrote: »

I still dont understand why people dont pay by direct debit, i give companies access to my bank account and they dont take what isnt theirs,

You wouldn't give a blank chequebook with the cheques all signed to a company, why would you hand over your bank account details?!

Telecoms companies are by far the worst for adding charges. At least this way THEY have to beg to get your money, rather than you begging to get it back. Been there done that never again.

brownb2

Hi,

I thought I'd register and say how I got around this charge AND saved money, and still stay with BT (I need this for the line rental for broadband).
I phone my closest relatives often and they regularly use their computers on broadband (and have them on quite a bit) so I bought them a number of SKYPE phones, which allows free computer to computer calls. This was a one off fee for me for 4 people of ~£24 a few months ago. These phones are active whenever the computer is on. Now I only get or make calls/send text messages from mobile phones (on free credit if possible - 3000 messages are totally "free"), use BT on the free weekend, or use Skype (Skype is what we use the most). To give you an example of my cost of calls - it's dropped from ~£25-£30 to (literally - proof available!) £2, whilst I still pay ~£15/month pay as you go mobile. I'm trying to get that even lower!

I "complained" to BT because they don't have a compliment page on the website to thank them for introducing their unethical £4.50 charge, driving me to find a cheaper substitute (Skype), which I wouldn't have done otherwise, which has saved me much more money, and significantly reduced BT's takings from me! Sure using a computer phone was quirky at first but now it's second nature.

I would recommend everyone at least give this a try, you can only lose a small amount of money if you don't like it, and you can pick up Skype phones for ~£5 each, or better, just use a cheap microphone and speakers (usually if you have these - free).

Hope this helps others, and that they also remember to thank BT on their website for this unethical charge!

Benjamin

iQueen

Thanks for the tips, Benjamin! :beer:

I spit feathers with each of my BT bills. :mad:

Some people, like me, don't like to pay by DD, because they are on a tiny income and cannot take the risk of something going financially awry, which puts them into a tailspin with the bank. (I ended up with £350 charges for being £2 short of a £49 DD.) :eek:

Currently, I pay my bill online, immediately it arrives... and I pay £4.50 for the privilege. Similarly, I pay my electricity bill, but THEY pay me - I get a 5% prompt-payment discount on my next bill!

BT should recognise that carrots work better than sticks! (Mind you, I suppose they have to raise the money from somewhere to support the new company they have created to collect payments!)

Heinz

iQueen wrote: »

Currently, I pay my bill online, immediately it arrives... and I pay £4.50 for the privilege.

IIRC, another poster has set up a DD but still pays the bill online as soon as it arrives - and avoids the £4.50 charge - because the bill is paid before BT make the DD call.

999gus999

Ive written to BT to give them notice that, as from next month, I will be charging a 'telephone bill processing fee' of £4.50. This is an administrative cost incurred by me in paying their bill.

However, they can avoid this fee by sending a BT cashier to my house to collect my payment in cash.

paymentp12

Hi,
Payment gateway verifies the validity of the credit card. It manage the process of transaction, contacts to the bank, reports back the results and transfer the money to merchants account. You can know more information from
www(dot)merchantacquiring(dot)co(dot)uk.

wolvesinwales

I have had enough of problems with BT and their standard £10.50 line rental only deal that somehow adds up to £39.24 a quarter , i know pay my line rental to SKY and it costs me £10 a month, nothing more.

Heinz

wolvesinwales wrote: »

I have had enough of problems with BT and their standard £10.50 line rental only deal that somehow adds up to £39.24 a quarter , i know pay my line rental to SKY and it costs me £10 a month, nothing more.

Nothing more - except the £17 (or more) per month you have to keep paying Sky for your TV package in order to 'be eligible' for Sky Talk.

And don't you have to pay that by Direct Debit too - or else they charge £4 per month extra?

BTW, my £10.50/month BT line rental and Unlimited Evening & Weekend calls plan cost me exactly £10.50/month. It sounds like you had you calls with Sky and didn't pay BT by Direct Debit or make any calls via BT - and so were charged the £1.50/month payment processing fee and also for Caller Display and/or basic 1571.