BT started charging me for anytime calls after 18months.

purple_x

I moved house 18months ago (march 2012)
I had called BT up the month before to arrange everything, getting my phone and internet connected at my new place.
They promised me phone line, broadband and anytime calls for FREE. They told me my bill would always be £36 plus whatever calls I'd made to mobile numbers.

When I got my first bill last year they had charged me £5 for the anytime add-on and for all calls I'd made that month.
So I contacted them and told them I was promised the add-on for free.
They checked (they had that phone call recorded) and said I was right, I was promised free anytime calls.
So they refunded me the extra money they had taken and I've had no problems since then.

Until this week that is.
BT didn't send me a paper bill this month, no idea why.
So I checked online to see how much my bill was for this month and was shocked to see that it was over £50! (I'm on disability benefits and don't have extra money to throw around)
I checked out my bill and it seems BT have started charging me for anytime calls (£5.15) and so without me knowing I have been making calls to 01 number all day every day and being charged for every single minute :eek:

Are they allowed to do this??
Why have they started charging me all of a sudden?
They promised me my anytime calls would be free.
It just seems very weird that I was getting the anytime calls add-on for free and just this month they have charged me for it.

I've called them but I got told someone would call me back and they haven't.

I'm so worried.
They have taken £16 more out of my bank than usual. And I cant afford that to be gone

AndyPK

I think they are stopping this free anytime calls (I've had a letter) unless you sign up with them for another 12 months.

jem16

purple_x wrote: »

Are they allowed to do this??
Why have they started charging me all of a sudden?
They promised me my anytime calls would be free.
It just seems very weird that I was getting the anytime calls add-on for free and just this month they have charged me for it.

I would imagine that you were on an 18 month contract which has now come to an end. Now that it has you are no longer receiving the Anytime package for free.

purple_x

Thank you both for the replies.
I think it's so wrong of BT, I've had no letters explaining this at all.
If I knew I would have cancelled the add-on and not made all the calls I did

jem16

purple_x wrote: »

Thank you both for the replies.
I think it's so wrong of BT, I've had no letters explaining this at all.
If I knew I would have cancelled the add-on and not made all the calls I did

You should have got a letter but surely you didn't think you would get free Anytime forever did you?

Was it possibly made clear when you joined 18 months ago?

closed

if you're paying for the addon, then the calls you make don't matter.

Ring them up, and ask if they'll give it back for free, and if not, switch to one of the other packages.

Paying line rental up front saves money, and prices are going up in Jan, including a potential monthly charge for caller id.

nickcc

Had similar with my infinity broadband. BT offered me free fibre broadband which I happily agreed to, as I understood it the reason was to increase the numbers of fibre optic users in my area as the take up had been disappointing. On my latest on line bill the £9.35 credit was being withdrawn from later this month which of course coincided with the end of my 12 month contract. When I contacted BT they stated that fibre optic was faster and therefor I must expect to pay the extra. BT had previonsly contacted me by phone and mail offering fibre at the usual price which I had always refused as I was perfectly happy with the 16mbps speed I was already getting with full copper. I have now placed my broadband and landline with Sky at a saving of app £20 per month compared to BT's charges.

macman

All these promo offers have a limited term, they are not going to be free forever! The whole point of the initial discount is just to hook you in.

purple_x

It's not been 18months yet though.
My brother just reminded me (how I forgot I don't know)
When we moved house, we moved to an area where the properties had only just been built.
BT hadn't laid the lines when they were supposed to so we weren't connected to phone/internet until the end of July 2012.

My mum has been with BT for 5 years and her anytime calls have ALWAYS been free.
So yes, I did expect them to always be free.
BT didn't tell me otherwise.

nickcc

macman wrote: »

All these promo offers have a limited term, they are not going to be free forever! The whole point of the initial discount is just to hook you in.

Yes guessed that. Still sharp practice (in my opinion) to revert to non subsidised prices without informing the subscriber. At no time does BT inform you that the price will revert at the end of your contract, perhaps if they did subscribers would look elsewhere.

jem16

purple_x wrote: »

My mum has been with BT for 5 years and her anytime calls have ALWAYS been free.

E&W call packages can usually be free if you agree to a new 12 months contract but I've never heard of anyone with Anytime calls for free always.