MSE News: BT home phone customer? Check you're not paying to rent your handset 2 June 2015 at 2:38PM in Phones & TV 15 replies 2.6K views

Former_MSE_Paloma

BT home phone customers should check their bills, to see if they're unnecessarily paying to rent their handsets ...

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BT home phone customer? Check you're not paying to rent your handset




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minislim

i found out some 15 years ago that my parents where renting their phone. even though i had bought them a new one a few years earlier.
got that cancelled straight away.

i think this as with other situations elsewhere is highlighting the need for rules for firms to contact customers at the end of their initial contracts. as far too many are rolling over and then getting ripped off.

geerex

They deserve all they get. It explicitly tells you on your bill. You can't exactly say that you "didn't know".

jaydeeuk1

robin58 wrote: »

Thank you for an unqualified insult to many people on here!

I rented a phone from BT up until end 2014. I did not know about the 18mth contract. This could be that I took over the phone when I took the line over from my late mother. Was never told or was sent a new set of terms and conditions.

Also Things were a lot different 20-30 years ago.

No bloody internet
Only one provider BT!!. Who took their monopoly to high levels at the time.

Also I am not old and frail incompetent old person.

Just somebody who was mislead by the high and mighty BT, who still think they are the only telephone provider.

How were you 'mislead'?

mjm3346

Cancelled older relatives phone and "extra bell" rental over 20 years ago, BT sent a prepaid bag to return the phone and said keep the bell as they didn't want to come and disconnect it.

geerex

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

How were you 'mislead'?

They weren't. It's just the usual refrain of those who choose not to listen to or choose not to understand the conditions if the agreement that they willingly entered into.

jaydeeuk1

I see my post has been deleted. Forgot the corporations are to blame for people not reading their contracts or bills.

KTF

geerex wrote: »

They deserve all they get. It explicitly tells you on your bill. You can't exactly say that you "didn't know".

Exactly. From some of the comments its amazing some people survive without being told exactly what to do all the time.

Funny how not one person said something along the lines of I never checked the details of the bills for years so this is all my fault...

robin58

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

How were you 'mislead'?

Because at the time I was never informed by the customer service operator that I the option to cancel the phone after 18 months.

I never been informed by any other customer service personal over the years that I could cancel without penalty.

I was not issued at the time with a revised terms and conditions so I did not know it was an option..

This was in the old days of BT who did not care who they were getting money off as long as they were.

Please people do not confuse what you can do today with a phone supplier. Many
years ago there was only ONE supplier BT who thought it STILL owned the telephone network it inherited from the P.O.

Also I am no old git who has lost his marbles, just somebody who was not informed of my rights at the time.

geerex

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

I see my post has been deleted. Forgot the corporations are to blame for people not reading their contracts or bills.

Mine was deleted too.

Obviously MSE can't comprehend the fact that maybe people actually should be taking responsibility for, let's face it, something which is screamingly obvious.
Of course, as usual, its the big bad companies who are just out to do over the little old ladies out there who obviously have no responsibility for their actions at all.

Aye_Up

I never thought it was the responsibility of companies to remind you to cancel a product with them........My grandparents only have the landline with BT, have done so for years. I noticed this charge on their bill and asked why they are still paying it, their response being they forgot about it. Fair enough, they put their hands up, seeing as the phone they originally had was a rotary phone, they have a massive one with big buttons now. That was cancelled as soon as I was made aware. It is my grandparents naiveness which has left them out of pocket. Unlike some on here they weren't too fussed by it, just glad it was removed.

You can take a horse to water.........

If BT customers have it on their bill, its their own fault for not scrutinising it. BT in this instance relied on customer ignorance, though oppurtunist they can't be blamed for this at all.