BT taken to court over non direct debit charges

thedrumdoctor

Definitely worth a listen again.

moonrakerz

Somerset wrote: »

I'm quite capable of running my bank accont properly - I just choose not to pay utilities by d/d. It was a lesson learned after British Gas helped themselves to over £1000 one Christmas ( rogue meter reader ) and another £700 6 months later ( short confused meter reader ). There are too many mistakes with the utility companies and I'd rather discuss the billing errors while the money is still in my account.

Right on !

laganuk

I was watching the BBC Morning News a few days ago and caught an item about a woman who was taking BT to the High Court in March 2008 about penalising customers who do not elect to pay by direct debit but instead are charged a few pounds for an administration fee: in general the annual fee is £300 ish! As a Virgin Media user I found this interesting as my provider charges me more than BT:
For example for a £30/month offer they charge me £5 fee -> 17%!! Is this not out unreasonable? Did anyone else see this news item:question:
:coffee:
:money:
I have since came by this link on the Ofcom Web

derrick

I doubt if OfCoN will do anything, they rarely do when the telocos make money on the "scams".

http://www.saynoto0870.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.cgi?num=1203009691

greenstreetprince

instead of responding to competition and making themselves more competitive BT get sillier and sillier.

first they kick out the BT standard line rental and force everyone to move across to BT Together Option 1, something which kicked more people in the teeth than it did save them money.

then this ridiculous £4.50 charge. if you add the absurd £3.50 per month for blocking witheld calls, something which is for security rather than a "show off" add-on, it means basic (option 1) customer are paying close enough to £50 a quarter even if they dont make a single call.

furthermore, if DD customers get a discount, and non-DD customer get slapped £4.50, who pays the normal charge for line-rental? nobody!

gt94sss2

BritBrat wrote: »

Just listend to the Jeremy Vine show for wednesday.

Fast forward to around 01:10:00

I listened to this and I have to say that I basically agree with Martin (I don't always) - he was basically saying (in my own words) that the lady in question was being naive and had no chance..

Certainly it seemed some of her arguments were on the weak side.. - though we won't have full details until after the court case finishes..

Regards
Sunil

gt94sss2

greenstreetprince wrote: »

furthermore, if DD customers get a discount, and non-DD customer get slapped £4.50, who pays the normal charge for line-rental? nobody!

DD customers no longer get a discount.

They used to get one - but BT abolished it when they lowered their standard line rental and changed to a charge for not paying by direct debit.

Most of BT's customers wouldn't have noticed any real difference in the total bill - just the way it was itemised.

Regards
Sunil

Heinz

gt94sss2 wrote: »

Most of BT's customers wouldn't have noticed any real difference in the total bill - just the way it was itemised.

My Mother, MIL and Aunt all noticed a reduction - because I convinced them to start paying my DD - purely on money-saving grounds.

gt94sss2

Heinz wrote: »

My Mother, MIL and Aunt all noticed a reduction - because I convinced them to start paying my DD - purely on money-saving grounds.

Yes, perhaps I should have said 'wouldn't have noticed any real difference in the total bill assuming they continued paying in the same way as before'

As it is well over 50% of BT's customers pay by direct debit - and did before BT introduced this change last year.. as it wasn't a secret that their used to be a DD discount..

The pricing changes this year and last year are partly designed to encourage more people onto direct debit and online billing - and certainly seem to be working in your case and mine

Regards
Sunil

calleyw

not paying by DD and being charged extra hits the poorest in society.

What about people who don't have a bank account or people who have basic bank accounts that don't allow DD etc.

What about people who are self employed who never know if they have enough in the bank to pay the DD when it comes out.

I wish her good luck and hopes she wins.

Yours


Calley