Why is BT offering Line Rental Saver only to those who agree to monthly billing?

Idomeneus

I have been a BT customer for many years and have always paid my phone and broadband bills quarterly. For two years, I have used their Line Rental Saver product which enables you to pay a year's line rental in advance in return for a discount. Recently, BT appear to have made a policy decision to offer Line Rental Saver only to those who pay their bills monthly. I have spoken to one BT representative on the phone who did not know why BT had made this decision and informed me that he was not able to override the decision manually.

Does anyone know why BT have "bundled" Line Rental Saver with monthly billing? It can't be for cash flow reasons because you pay for all BT products in advance. So quarterly billing means you pay three months in advance instead of a month in advance with monthly billing.

What is also upsetting is that, currently, they are offering free Caller Display only if you subscribe to Line Rental Saver. (As an aside, I believe that Caller Display should be free to all. It is a valuable tool in tackling nuisance and fraudulent calls.)

Is anyone else upset by this "bundling" by BT of Line Rental Saver, monthly billing and Caller Display?

HappyMJ

With quarterly billing you pay for your calls up to 3 months in arrears. With monthly billing you pay for the calls 1 month in arrears.

Monthly billing is supposed to cover the chargeable calls you make earlier than quarterly billing and not the additional products you have.

I have monthly billing and the bill comes to £0 most months. Biggest bill I've had was 62 pence for a call to an 0845 number.

Ian011

If you get your broadband from someone other than BT, also take a look at BT Home Phone Saver. This includes line rental, anytime calls to 01, 02, 03 numbers, half price (6p instead of 12p per minute) calls to mobile numbers, caller ID, voicemail, and several other features. The cost is £21 per month and is guaranteed until 2018. It also includes calls to premium rate 0845 and 0870 numbers.

Idomeneus

Thank you HappyMJ.

I subscribe to a number of BT products and the amount I pay three months in advance for them is always far more than the cost of three months of non-inclusive calls paid in arrears.

But perhaps I have misunderstood you (and BT billing)? My understanding of BT monthly billing is that you pay one month in advance for BT products and one month in arrears for the cost of non-inclusive calls. Your reply appears to suggest that, with monthly billing, you still pay three months in advance for BT products but pay for non-inclusive calls each month in arrears.

Idomeneus

Thank you Ian011.

I do get my broadband from BT. Does that prevent me from subscribing to BT Home Phone Saver?

wongawonga

No you cant get if you have BT Broadband . BT Home Phone Saver 2018 is a telephone only deal.

http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/52871/c/345

Ian011

Idomeneus wrote: »

I do get my broadband from BT. Does that prevent me from subscribing to BT Home Phone Saver?

Yes, having BT broadband prevents you from subscribing to BT Home Phone Saver.

To qualify for BT Home Phone Saver you have to either have no broadband or get broadband from someone other than BT.

Idomeneus

Following a complaint to BT, I was very pleased to receive a phone call from a BT representative today who answered the questions that I raised in this thread. The situation is as follows:

BT offer three main billing and payment options:

1. Monthly billing, where the customer pays the whole amount billed each month.
2. Quarterly billing, where the customer pays the whole amount billed each quarter.
3. Quarterly billing, but where the customer pays a fixed amount on a specific date each month.

According to the BT representative, the vast majority of customers on quarterly billing use Option 3. But, if BT were to allow these customers to use Line Rental Saver, where line rental is paid in advance for a whole year and is therefore removed from the monthly fixed amount payment, what remains in the payment is so small that it becomes uneconomical for BT to collect. As a result, BT no longer offer Line Rental Saver to those on quarterly billing.

Personally, I use Option 2 above and my quarterly bills are not small. So I could argue that I’ve been disadvantaged because of the existence of Option 3 for quarterly billing. Ah well, that’s life! I am consoled to some extent by the fact that Line Rental Saver is not as good a deal as it was two years ago.

Regarding free Caller Display, I had a misunderstanding. Free Caller Display is offered to all BT customers on yearly contracts, not just those subscribing to Line Rental Saver.

JJ_Egan

Regarding free Caller Display, I had a misunderstanding. Free caller display is offered to all BT customers on yearly contracts, not just those subscribing to Line Rental Saver.


Yes but sometimes you need to renew the CD if you find its being charged .

footyguy

Idomeneus wrote: »

I have been a BT customer for many years and have always paid my phone and broadband bills quarterly. For two years, I have used their Line Rental Saver product which enables you to pay a year's line rental in advance in return for a discount. Recently, BT appear to have made a policy decision to offer Line Rental Saver only to those who pay their bills monthly. I have spoken to one BT representative on the phone who did not know why BT had made this decision and informed me that he was not able to override the decision manually.

Does anyone know why BT have "bundled" Line Rental Saver with monthly billing? It can't be for cash flow reasons because you pay for all BT products in advance. So quarterly billing means you pay three months in advance instead of a month in advance with monthly billing.

What is also upsetting is that, currently, they are offering free Caller Display only if you subscribe to Line Rental Saver. (As an aside, I believe that Caller Display should be free to all. It is a valuable tool in tackling nuisance and fraudulent calls.)

Is anyone else upset by this "bundling" by BT of Line Rental Saver, monthly billing and Caller Display?

If you previously have been billed on a quarterly basis, you can certainly continue to do so even with line rental saver.
You may have to call them to get this as, from what I remember, you can't do this online.

Be very specific that they double & triple check that you remain on quarterly billing. Last time we got the line rental saver, they failed to do so despite our request to remain on quarterly billing.
When we then got a monthly bill, a quick phone call soon reverted us to quarterly billing going forward.

Caller display is not linked to line rental saver in any way.

You can get 12 months free caller display by signing up to BT privacy (which also registers your number with the TPS) and agreeing to 12 months contract to BT. BT Privacy is free.
Whilst not guaranteed to continue, BT have for many years alowed customers to renew this whenever they wish to allow a further 12 months free caller display (and you committing to a further 12 months BT contract)

roxy28

Can i ask here for any advice about BT line rental saver coming to the end of 12 months contract in the first week of dec.
It includes free evening and weekends, also have free caller display which ends a week later than the line rental saver package.
Not sure if you can leave for another provider within the 12 months term without a penalty charge.
How should i approach this to join another provider, also seeing the caller display ends on a different date.