BT 700 Minutes Plan - monthly costs down, direct debit up by 30%

APRM

We are one of the customers affected by the change in BT`s calling plans on 1st September. After much discussion, we swopped from our existing plan to the 700 minutes plan. Cost wise, this was better for us. Previously, our monthly cost, for BT Broadband, Line Rental and a calling plan was £59-60. Going on to 700 minutes reduced this to £56.99. The costs were covered by a monthly direct debit of £61-00. However, despite our monthly costs reducing by £2-61 and still being more than covered by the direct debit of £61-00, BT have advised us that the direct debit will now increase by 30%, to £77-50 per month, to "cover the potential cost of any unexpected additional calls to non-geographical phone numbers". This was the sum they took on 3rd September. Having read all of the small print before going ahead, there was no mention of this increase to the monthly direct debit. BT seem unwilling to compromise on this. How can your monthly costs go down, but your monthly direct go up by 30% ? Being pensioners, we cannot afford another 30%, just on the off chance we are going to make £17-90`s worth of non-geographical calls. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions ?  

JJ_Egan

BT Complaint  via your BT Members page.

JJ_Egan

OP as above  .

I pay sub £40 pm for line rental +  80/20 BB   + max TV _+ BT Sport UHD .Thats a negotiated price  $60 pm reads as out of contract high price .

The recent Call increase email link gave me 700 min at £0.00