BT Privacy with Caller Display

bmtney54

Yes, I got a January online bill from BT today. Not exactly a plain English award winner - especially if, like me, you pay for rental annually in advance. But there it was "Caller Display" - a new charge, which I have 'enjoyed' previously as part of my Evenings and Weekend Call Plan.

I called 150 and spoke to a very nice man (in India) who told me than from 4 January this was no longer inclusive and customers were being charged henceforth. I enquired whether customers had been told and he said 'not everyone'. So there are likely to be lots of BT customers out there who by stealth will find themselves paying £1.75 per month for this service. He kindly removed this (and refunded the £ already charged, which 'will appear on my February bill' - mental note to check this). Of course the way BT 'bill' customers paying as I do, the credit unravels as the year progresses, so my bill was still showing a credit (just not as big as the credit in December) and it will only be later in the year that some people will notice it (when their dd payments kick in). So check it out and call 150 to put it right.

Underhand BT, you must take your customers for mugs. Oh, and 18185 is a perfect way to avoid those pesky call connection charges that BT load customers with. with 18185 its 5p and that's for up to an hour of call-time (zero p per minute outside the Evening and Weekend period). Saves me a fortune over the year, especially as every non-free call costs less than a third of what BT charges.

Quentin

bmtney54 wrote: »

)..... with 18185 its 5p and that's for up to an hour of call-time.......

If what you say is correct, then consider moving to 1899 (which is run by the same people as 18185).

There is no one hour limit with 1899.

OldGreyFox

Quentin wrote: »

If what you say is correct, then consider moving to 1899 (which is run by the same people as 18185).

There is no one hour limit with 1899.

And there is no one hour limit with 18185 either.:D

Subaru_WRX

ripped_off_and_fed_up wrote: »

I agree. Check your January bill very carefully. As I paid for a year's line rental in advance to save money, I was extremely surprised to find that they have charged an extra £3.70 for line rental in the Jan 14 bill - for line rental. This was justified on the bill by a series of strange refunds and recharges that appeared to add up to zero. I e-mailed customer services because previous experience has taught me that it is wise to have proof when you are dealing with BT. Received an automated receipt to say that they would be in touch within 24 hours - or maybe 48 - or maybe longer if they were busy. 24 hours later, I got another automated message telling me to check the web page for help.
Now I've been here before with BT and I still had their complaints address from the last few times. So I sent this (you might notice that I was still a bit annoyed):
As you clearly have not even bothered to read my original message, I now want to escalate this complaint. Is this what passes for customer service in BT? Do you honestly think I have not looked at you on line support services? Or did I miss the bit about getting a refund on an overcharge? How dare you send me an automated response to follow an another automated response? What a lazy, useless way to run a customer service department. Please be assured that I will not hesitate to take this matter to the ombudsman if this matter is not resolved Quickly.
I got this in reply:
I am very sorry for the recent problems you have experienced with your billing. I called to apologise in person and inform you that I have amended your billing but you weren’t in. I have credited your account with the £3.70 as your Line Rental Saver is still active. This is a billing error generated by the price changes on the system.

I am really sorry for the automated responses you received and I shall feedback your discontent and make sure this is something that doesn’t happen in the future.

Please accept my sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused and thanks for getting in touch.

Result! But it should not have to be this way and I wonder how many other people have not noticed this.

I noticed this too and will not be paying extra for either 1471 or 1571. I hardly use my phone, only with BT for Infinity, always give people my mobile number to contact me and that has unlimited free minutes anyway.

Erwyn

BT appears to be moving to a Ryan Air pricing policy if you want anything above basic it is an extra cost. You might not be aware that should you choose to upgrade broadband to limitless it will cost anything between £16-23 added to that if you have the anytime calls package at £5.50 it will now be charged at £7.50 per month. Compared to the Talk Talk package, like for like is £10 extra per month.

I also bought the BT 6500 phone which I thought would bar unwanted calls but for it to work you have to purchase add on features at £1.75 per feature per month. BT has become a joke.

Erwyn

littleboo

Erwyn wrote: »

I also bought the BT 6500 phone which I thought would bar unwanted calls but for it to work you have to purchase add on features at £1.75 per feature per month. BT has become a joke.

Erwyn

Do you mean caller display ? It cant block a call if it doesn't know who is calling

p9cbs

I noticed the caller display charges on my Jan bill plus the extra 50p and £1 here and there for cost of free anytime calls, broadband and line rental packages going up in price. My monthly bill was a massive £50 (with FREE anytime calls!!) I phoned and asked if I was paying these extra charges to compensate for the fact new customers are being given a better deal than existing customers!! The Indian lady said that I was tied into my contract until August 2014 but she would ensure I was no longer charged for caller display. I told her BT were far to expensive and I would therefore not be requiring their service after August 2014. I then received an email stating caller display would be free as I had agreed to another years contract!!! I phoned again (waiting yet another 10 mins for an answer) the Indian lady checked with her supervisor who said I would not be tied into a further years contract if I want to leave in August and I asked her to e-mail me proof which I have just received. A reasonable result but disgusted at BT for adding all of these extra charges in the first place. I was also annoyed to hear I will have to pay £30 to get out of the Broadband contract even though my contract will cease in August. She said this is a standard cost. I am sure I can easily make up that £30 by going to a cheaper company - BT seem to be a total rip off these days.

grumpyoldfart

I got caught out by the increased charges as well and also got the proverbial run around from the live chat line, the automated responses and general apathy that seems to prevail at BT. I decided that enough was enough and cc'd the CEO and Chairman of BT - that hit the spot and I was soon in discussion with the CEO's PA.

The situation is still on going so I do not know if my actions have been successful or not but at least I have the satisfaction of knowing that the "Boss" can't deny all knowledge of my complaint.

If anybody else would like to follow my route the E Mail addresses are as follows:-

CEO [EMAIL="gavin.e.patterson@bt.com"]gavin.e.patterson@bt.com[/EMAIL]
Chairman [EMAIL="Michael.m.rake@bt.com"]Michael.m.rake@bt.com[/EMAIL]

CreditCrunchie

Hi all, I have just checked my BT past bills online (I was previously unable to log in prior to last month as they gave me incorrect log in details), and seen that my bill has gone up and they've been charging me for months!

This is what it says

Rental and other charges h Prices changed so we've
refunded what you paid in
advance and recharged you
at the new price.
KPhone line
Line RentalW4 Jan-20 Jan 14 £ 0.30
Our prices have changed. We've refunded what you paid in advance and
recharged you at the new price
PRefund: Line Rental - £ 8.47 W4 Jan-20 Jan 14
This is a refund of the price of your Line rental which you paid in advance
up to 20 Jan 2014
PLine Rental £ 8.77 W4 Jan-20 Jan 14
This is the cost of your Line rental up to 20 Jan 2014 at £15.99 a month
Line RentalW21 Jan-20 Feb 14 £ 15.99
This is the cost of your Line rental at £15.99 a month, charged in advance
from 21 Jan 2014 to 20 Feb 2014
BT Privacy at Home - Caller DisplayW4 Jan-20 Jan 14 £ 0.96
This is the cost of your BT Privacy at Home - Caller Display up to 20 Jan
2014 at £1.75 a month
BT Privacy at Home - Caller DisplayW21 Jan-20 Feb 14 £ 1.75
This is the cost of your BT Privacy at Home - Caller Display up to 20 Feb
2014 at £1.75 a month
h Prices changed so we've
refunded what you paid in
advance and recharged you
at the new price.
APackage
Broadband and CallsW4 Jan-20 Jan 14 £ 0.57
Our prices have changed. We've refunded what you paid in advance and
recharged you at the new price
PRefund: Broadband and Calls - £ 8.77 W4 Jan-20 Jan 14
This is a refund of the price of your Package which you paid in advance up
to 20 Jan 2014
PBroadband and Calls £ 9.34 W4 Jan-20 Jan 14
This is the cost of your Package up to 20 Jan 2014 at £17.03 a month.
Broadband and CallsW21 Jan-20 Feb 14 £ 17.03
This is the cost of your Package at £17.03 a month, charged in advance from
21 Jan 2014 to 20 Feb 2014. This gives you:
Calling Plan Unlimited Weekend Plan
Broadband Unlimited Broadband

Total rental and other charges = £ 36.60



In April 2013 I signed up for these prices (confirmation email details)

Your monthly charges




Line Rental £15.45

Broadband and Calls £16.00
Yet to discover BT Vision? See bt.com/vision for a great TV service

Special offer discount £-16.00
Your special offer discount lasts for 6 months


Your monthly total £15.45 (£31.45 after the 6 months free period)



So they have been charging me £15.99 line rental, £17.03 (including a £2 processing fee) broadband, and £1.75 caller display.

That's an extra £3.32 per month. I haven't agreed to this, and I want it stopped and the money refunded. How do I do this?

I should point out that I signed up to pay via direct debit and receive my bills online. I have never received any notification of price increases or these extra charges (just checked my emails & nothing except the initial confirmations). In fact when I took out the contract I told them in no uncertain terms I do NOT want any extra services as I will be using broadband only.

iniltous

CreditCrunchie wrote: »

Hi all, I have just checked my BT past bills online (I was previously unable to log in prior to last month as they gave me incorrect log in details), and seen that my bill has gone up and they've been charging me for months!

This is what it says

Rental and other charges h Prices changed so we've
refunded what you paid in
advance and recharged you
at the new price.
KPhone line
Line RentalW4 Jan-20 Jan 14 £ 0.30
Our prices have changed. We've refunded what you paid in advance and
recharged you at the new price
PRefund: Line Rental - £ 8.47 W4 Jan-20 Jan 14
This is a refund of the price of your Line rental which you paid in advance
up to 20 Jan 2014
PLine Rental £ 8.77 W4 Jan-20 Jan 14
This is the cost of your Line rental up to 20 Jan 2014 at £15.99 a month
Line RentalW21 Jan-20 Feb 14 £ 15.99
This is the cost of your Line rental at £15.99 a month, charged in advance
from 21 Jan 2014 to 20 Feb 2014
BT Privacy at Home - Caller DisplayW4 Jan-20 Jan 14 £ 0.96
This is the cost of your BT Privacy at Home - Caller Display up to 20 Jan
2014 at £1.75 a month
BT Privacy at Home - Caller DisplayW21 Jan-20 Feb 14 £ 1.75
This is the cost of your BT Privacy at Home - Caller Display up to 20 Feb
2014 at £1.75 a month
h Prices changed so we've
refunded what you paid in
advance and recharged you
at the new price.
APackage
Broadband and CallsW4 Jan-20 Jan 14 £ 0.57
Our prices have changed. We've refunded what you paid in advance and
recharged you at the new price
PRefund: Broadband and Calls - £ 8.77 W4 Jan-20 Jan 14
This is a refund of the price of your Package which you paid in advance up
to 20 Jan 2014
PBroadband and Calls £ 9.34 W4 Jan-20 Jan 14
This is the cost of your Package up to 20 Jan 2014 at £17.03 a month.
Broadband and CallsW21 Jan-20 Feb 14 £ 17.03
This is the cost of your Package at £17.03 a month, charged in advance from
21 Jan 2014 to 20 Feb 2014. This gives you:
Calling Plan Unlimited Weekend Plan
Broadband Unlimited Broadband

Total rental and other charges = £ 36.60



In April 2013 I signed up for these prices (confirmation email details)

Your monthly charges




Line Rental £15.45

Broadband and Calls £16.00
Yet to discover BT Vision? See bt.com/vision for a great TV service

Special offer discount £-16.00
Your special offer discount lasts for 6 months


Your monthly total £15.45 (£31.45 after the 6 months free period)



So they have been charging me £15.99 line rental, £17.03 (including a £2 processing fee) broadband, and £1.75 caller display.

That's an extra £3.32 per month. I haven't agreed to this, and I want it stopped and the money refunded. How do I do this?

I should point out that I signed up to pay via direct debit and receive my bills online. I have never received any notification of price increases or these extra charges (just checked my emails & nothing except the initial confirmations). In fact when I took out the contract I told them in no uncertain terms I do NOT want any extra services as I will be using broadband only.

Your broadband has gone up from £16 to £17.03
Line rental up to £15.99 from £15.45 and the previously free caller display is now £1.75, the LR increase and caller display fee have been well discussed , presumably the broadband rental is something they should have told you about, the total increase is about what you say, if you don't want to pay for caller display you can get it removed, if you pay a years line rental in advance it's a lot less than £15.99 a month and I think they give you caller display for free...the broadband price if you are out of the minimum term is probably negoitable
You are not entitled to a refund as such, but if out of the minimum term you should call them and say you are looking to move to another provider due to this price increase and see what they offer you to stay, if you are still in the minimum term, for example if you had an 18 month deal where the first 6 months were free, then you are not quite up to the 12 month anniversary let alone 18 months, so to leave may we'll bring early termination charges