Advice please

Sandybach

My dad has recently passed away. Going through his paperwork and I have found BT bills etc and they have been charging him over £100 a month! Can anyone give e me some advice on how I can possibly sort this out and try and get some cash back for my mam? Thanks.

DCFC79

Surely he agreed to the £100 bills ?

Why are you trying to claim it back ?

iniltous

Sandybach wrote: »

My dad has recently passed away. Going through his paperwork and I have found BT bills etc and they have been charging him over £100 a month! Can anyone give e me some advice on how I can possibly sort this out and try and get some cash back for my mam? Thanks.

Are you sure that's a monthly charge and not quarterly ?, BT are probably the only provider that has quarterly billing

Sandybach

He was being charged 100 a month direct debit for a call package and broadband. I'm not sure if he was being overcharged and I just need some advice as how I can get Bill drastically reduced and if he was being overcharged if I can get any recompense back. It just seemed alot especially when I have simply package and pay around 45 a month. Does this seem high what my dad paid?

Sandybach

Yes sure it's a 100 month direct debit. I think he's been overcharged but I need further advice.

Ian011

There are likely several million landline customers in a similar position. The usual pattern is that they sign up for "free weekend calls" to numbers starting 01, 02 and 03 and then pay around 20p per call plus around 12p per minute for calls made on weekdays. At these rates, one call, seven minutes long, costs more than a pound. Eight such calls costs more than eight pounds.

In most cases, what they should have done is pay around £8 per month for unlimited calls at anytime of the day or night on any day of the week. As long as each such call does not exceed 60 minutes duration there are no further charges. It seems that phone providers do not advise high spending customers that they could save money by swapping to an Unlimited Anytime, or equivalent, call plan. Some people are spending hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds per year for calls that would have incurred no charges on an Unlimited Anytime deal.

Calls to numbers starting 080 and 116 are free-to-caller on all landlines and on all mobiles.

Most landline providers offer inclusive calls to mobile numbers starting 071-075 and 077-079. BT is the only major landline provider to NOT offer this. Instead, calls to mobile numbers from a BT landline are around 16p per minute - or, on Anytime call plans, around 8p per minute. Some people are spending a lot of money calling mobile numbers from BT landlines. These people should change to a different provider - almost every other landline provider does include calls to mobile numbers in their deals.

Numbers starting 084, 087, 09 and 118 are premium rate. Callers pay both an Access Charge to their phone provider and a Service Charge to the organisation that they called. These numbers are banned for customer services, financial services and public services. Most organisations have moved to inclusive 03 numbers or free-to-caller 080 numbers. However, a whole new 'industry' has sprung up offering fake premium rate numbers that forward calls onwards to various well-known organisations. Many people call these numbers completely unaware they are being scammed by a third party.

Check the bills to see where the additional charges come from. There is little that can be done to recover any money, but you may wish to check the bills of other relatives and friends to see if the same mistakes are being made

iniltous

First, sorry for your recent loss
Perhaps you could itemise how the £100 monthly bill is arrived at, max landline rental is less than £20, even with undiscounted broadband around £30 it's difficult to see where the extra £50/month comes from...did he have BT TV and any extras like Sky Sports or the full BT Sport pack ?, or were a lot of calls made that were charged for outside of any inclusive calls period ? or calls to 118 numbers or other premium rate numbers ?
Without knowing more details it's hard to comment or advise.
If some error has been made then BT should obviously refund any over payment, but if it's a case of just not being on the most appropriate deal or subscribing to something you personally wouldn't, then unfortunately there isn't any overcharge so no refund would be offered.
if not on the most appropriate package for the type of use, then now would be a good time to explore options either with BT or with someone else

macman

As above, tell us what services he subscribed to and how this makes up the £100 bills. No one can tell you if he's been overcharged without knowing what he's actually been charged for.
It would be very easy to run up £100 bills if he was using services that are not inclusive: for example premium rate numbers, the speaking clock etc.