Comments on: The spin put on BT’s cash penalty http://jonathan.rawle.org/2007/02/15/the-spin-put-on-bts-cash-penalty/ Sat, 04 Sep 2010 07:08:39 +0100 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Jonathan http://jonathan.rawle.org/2007/02/15/the-spin-put-on-bts-cash-penalty/#comment-152140 Jonathan Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:18:33 +0000 http://jonathan.rawle.org/2007/02/15/the-spin-put-on-bts-cash-penalty/#comment-152140 @Rob Bowser: BT give the option of monthly payment plan, which is what you describe, but they also offer a quarterly direct debit where you just pay the full amount shown on your bill, no more. This is how I pay my bill. I avoid the extra fee, but BT don't get any extra money to keep in their bank account. I just checked the DVLA website, and they list 0300 numbers, which are charged the same as geographical numbers. What were you phoning about to use a premium rate number? @Rob Bowser: BT give the option of monthly payment plan, which is what you describe, but they also offer a quarterly direct debit where you just pay the full amount shown on your bill, no more. This is how I pay my bill. I avoid the extra fee, but BT don’t get any extra money to keep in their bank account.

I just checked the DVLA website, and they list 0300 numbers, which are charged the same as geographical numbers. What were you phoning about to use a premium rate number?

]]> By: Rob Bowser http://jonathan.rawle.org/2007/02/15/the-spin-put-on-bts-cash-penalty/#comment-152139 Rob Bowser Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:00:14 +0000 http://jonathan.rawle.org/2007/02/15/the-spin-put-on-bts-cash-penalty/#comment-152139 We all know BT is failing But their solution to the problem is an outrage. after testing the water to see if anyone would challenge them with their totally unjust payment processing fee of 4.50 per quarter they have now doubled this to £9.00 its an outrage & I question the legality of charging for issuing a bill especially when it appears there are no limits to how much they charge. their justification for this is cost of administration well BT all companies have administration costs this is usually taken into account as part of the service not added on afterwards can you imagine the chaos is everyone were to adopt BT's Tactics what if Tesco were to start adding a checkout charge !! they daren't as there customers would leave in droves. which brings me back to BT's blatant rip off. they only dare do it because they have a monopoly i.e. there is no viable competition. and because of this the Government should intervene & put a stop to this king of Extortion especially as it targets the poorest of our society. i.e. those who don't have bank accounts we all know why BT is so keen to force everyone onto the direct debit train, for those who don't I will explain its simple by default direct debits are a set amount regardless of your actual usage so if your direct debit is £20 per month & you only use £19.00 worth then that's a £1 of your money BT has got in its Bank interest free. right you say well £1 isn't going to earn much interest anyway right. but lets look at the bigger picture say BT has 10 million customers at £1 each that's 10 million pounds of the publics money sitting in their bank account & that will be earning interest. not that you will see any of it. its just one huge scam & don't think there's only BT doing it all company's using Direct Debit are milking this gravy train. So BT's tactics are the final insult. do the think were all fools & speaking of fools its about time the government put a stop to it Oh but then again there also milking the gravy train too if you have to ring the DVLA for instance its a premium rate number !!! for a public service RIP OFF BRITAIN IS RIGHT surely this is a human rights violation of some sort. Then the government have the audacity to propose a new Tax of £0.50 per month to give to these Thieves To upgrade their system for faster Broadband. Knock Knock Mr. Brown We Sold BT its not the tax payers Responsibility Anymore We all know BT is failing But their solution to the problem is an outrage.
after testing the water to see if anyone would challenge them with their totally unjust payment processing fee of 4.50 per quarter they have now doubled this to £9.00 its an outrage
& I question the legality of charging for issuing a bill especially when it appears there are no limits to how much they charge.
their justification for this is cost of administration well BT all companies have administration costs this is usually taken into account as part of the service not added on afterwards can you imagine the chaos is everyone were to adopt BT’s Tactics what if Tesco were to start adding a checkout charge !! they daren’t as there customers would leave in droves. which brings me back to BT’s blatant rip off. they only dare do it because they have a monopoly i.e. there is no viable competition. and because of this the Government should intervene & put a stop to this king of Extortion especially as it targets the poorest of our society. i.e. those who don’t have bank accounts
we all know why BT is so keen to force everyone onto the direct debit train, for those who don’t I will explain its simple by default direct debits are a set amount regardless of your actual usage so if your direct debit is £20 per month & you only use £19.00 worth then that’s a £1 of your money BT has got in its Bank interest free. right you say well £1 isn’t going to earn much interest anyway right. but lets look at the bigger picture say BT has 10 million customers at £1 each that’s 10 million pounds of the publics money sitting in their bank account & that will be earning interest. not that you will see any of it. its just one huge scam & don’t think there’s only BT doing it all company’s using Direct Debit are milking this gravy train. So BT’s tactics are the final insult. do the think were all fools & speaking of fools its about time the government put a stop to it Oh but then again there also milking the gravy train too
if you have to ring the DVLA for instance its a premium rate number !!! for a public service RIP OFF BRITAIN IS RIGHT
surely this is a human rights violation of some sort.
Then the government have the audacity to propose a new Tax of £0.50 per month to give to these Thieves To upgrade their system for faster Broadband. Knock Knock Mr. Brown We Sold BT its not the tax payers Responsibility Anymore

]]> By: mike jones http://jonathan.rawle.org/2007/02/15/the-spin-put-on-bts-cash-penalty/#comment-126872 mike jones Mon, 20 Oct 2008 12:50:40 +0000 http://jonathan.rawle.org/2007/02/15/the-spin-put-on-bts-cash-penalty/#comment-126872 They should hang their heads in shame for this latest blatant rip off----come on offcom stop them rigt now. Mike They should hang their heads in shame for this latest blatant rip off—-come on offcom stop them rigt now. Mike

]]> By: Jonathan http://jonathan.rawle.org/2007/02/15/the-spin-put-on-bts-cash-penalty/#comment-96924 Jonathan Sun, 20 Apr 2008 20:06:49 +0000 http://jonathan.rawle.org/2007/02/15/the-spin-put-on-bts-cash-penalty/#comment-96924 As I said above, BT is a private company now, not a state-run entity. There is no compulsion to take a phone line from BT, there are plenty of other services to choose from. Even ignoring the payment charge, you can save pounds a month by switching to a cheaper phone provider. The only exception is if your aunt is a light user of the phone, in which case she may be better off one one of the special social tariffs that BT are made to operate – and there is no payment charge on those. As I said above, BT is a private company now, not a state-run entity. There is no compulsion to take a phone line from BT, there are plenty of other services to choose from. Even ignoring the payment charge, you can save pounds a month by switching to a cheaper phone provider. The only exception is if your aunt is a light user of the phone, in which case she may be better off one one of the special social tariffs that BT are made to operate – and there is no payment charge on those.

]]> By: Val http://jonathan.rawle.org/2007/02/15/the-spin-put-on-bts-cash-penalty/#comment-96654 Val Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:21:20 +0000 http://jonathan.rawle.org/2007/02/15/the-spin-put-on-bts-cash-penalty/#comment-96654 My 86 year old aunt is partially sighted. She does not want to use direct debit but has always paid her bills promptly with cash. She and I are disgusted with this £4.50 charge. Has BT any sympathy for the elderly, disabled, poorly sighted customers? It seems not. My 86 year old aunt is partially sighted. She does not want to use direct debit but has always paid her bills promptly with cash. She and I are disgusted with this £4.50 charge. Has BT any sympathy for the elderly, disabled, poorly sighted customers? It seems not.

]]> By: Hilary http://jonathan.rawle.org/2007/02/15/the-spin-put-on-bts-cash-penalty/#comment-87434 Hilary Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:46:50 +0000 http://jonathan.rawle.org/2007/02/15/the-spin-put-on-bts-cash-penalty/#comment-87434 Thanks Jonathan, I will certainly look at the sites you mention. Thanks Jonathan, I will certainly look at the sites you mention.

]]> By: Jonathan http://jonathan.rawle.org/2007/02/15/the-spin-put-on-bts-cash-penalty/#comment-87064 Jonathan Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:56:35 +0000 http://jonathan.rawle.org/2007/02/15/the-spin-put-on-bts-cash-penalty/#comment-87064 My recommendation is to take your time to choose a new provider, then switch at your leisure. Changing broadband supplier should be much easier now with very little downtime. If BT were still a state monopoly, these charges would be outrageous. However, it is a private company, and in the UK it's perfectly legal to charge different amounts for different payment methods. By staying with BT, you are paying <em>a lot</em> more than £4.50 per quarter over and above the price for the same service from other providers. While the payment fee seems unfair, their other prices are hardly a bargain. If you're not happy with the prices, vote with your feet and take your business elsewhere. (However, I strongly advise you <em>not</em> to go to Virgin Media). Sites such as <a href="http://www.uswitch.com/" rel="nofollow">uSwitch</a> and <a href="http://www.thinkbroadband/" rel="nofollow">thinkbroadband</a> will help you to choose. My recommendation is to take your time to choose a new provider, then switch at your leisure. Changing broadband supplier should be much easier now with very little downtime. If BT were still a state monopoly, these charges would be outrageous. However, it is a private company, and in the UK it’s perfectly legal to charge different amounts for different payment methods. By staying with BT, you are paying a lot more than £4.50 per quarter over and above the price for the same service from other providers. While the payment fee seems unfair, their other prices are hardly a bargain. If you’re not happy with the prices, vote with your feet and take your business elsewhere. (However, I strongly advise you not to go to Virgin Media). Sites such as uSwitch and thinkbroadband will help you to choose.

]]> By: Hilary http://jonathan.rawle.org/2007/02/15/the-spin-put-on-bts-cash-penalty/#comment-87017 Hilary Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:42:20 +0000 http://jonathan.rawle.org/2007/02/15/the-spin-put-on-bts-cash-penalty/#comment-87017 I was incensed to receive this morning (Feb 2008) an explanatory leaflet from BT changing my contract with them and telling me that I'm now contracted to paying 'BT Payment Services Limited' £4.50p per quarter for the previledge of paying my account by cheque. Not only am I being charged for paying by a legal method, but I also pay my line rental and broadband service charge quarterly IN ADVANCE! Thus they already have my money before I receive the service. On these grounds alone, the charge is iniquitous. BT are currently advertising that weekend calls are now free, but be careful, they cost the same as daytime calls if you go over the hour, and they have massively increased their evening call charges, but don't tell you that in their adverts. Why can't they just be honest, straightforward, and keep their charging schemes simple? As a less than perfectly mobile pensioner, when necessary I use broadband services for my weekly grocery shopping and am happy to use internet banking, but not for paying BT while they insist on charging for this method of payment as well. However, because broadband is so useful when I really can't get out and about, I'm scared to kick up too much of a fuss by not paying the charge, in case they cut me off, and finding an alternative supplier will take time, may be difficult to set up, and might be worse. What can we do? I feel trapped into paying whatever they decide to charge, justified or not. I was incensed to receive this morning (Feb 2008) an explanatory leaflet from BT changing my contract with them and telling me that I’m now contracted to paying ‘BT Payment Services Limited’ £4.50p per quarter for the previledge of paying my account by cheque. Not only am I being charged for paying by a legal method, but I also pay my line rental and broadband service charge quarterly IN ADVANCE! Thus they already have my money before I receive the service. On these grounds alone, the charge is iniquitous.

BT are currently advertising that weekend calls are now free, but be careful, they cost the same as daytime calls if you go over the hour, and they have massively increased their evening call charges, but don’t tell you that in their adverts. Why can’t they just be honest, straightforward, and keep their charging schemes simple?

As a less than perfectly mobile pensioner, when necessary I use broadband services for my weekly grocery shopping and am happy to use internet banking, but not for paying BT while they insist on charging for this method of payment as well. However, because broadband is so useful when I really can’t get out and about, I’m scared to kick up too much of a fuss by not paying the charge, in case they cut me off, and finding an alternative supplier will take time, may be difficult to set up, and might be worse.

What can we do? I feel trapped into paying whatever they decide to charge, justified or not.

]]> By: Robin Lucas http://jonathan.rawle.org/2007/02/15/the-spin-put-on-bts-cash-penalty/#comment-85066 Robin Lucas Fri, 15 Feb 2008 18:00:49 +0000 http://jonathan.rawle.org/2007/02/15/the-spin-put-on-bts-cash-penalty/#comment-85066 Like most of the respondents, I was outraged by this charge. I have now moved to Tiscali with line rental, free calls and broadband built in, and I'll save money too. BT had the cheek to write and invite me to phone them and tell them why I'm leaving....it beggars belief if they don't know. Like most of the respondents, I was outraged by this charge. I have now moved to Tiscali with line rental, free calls and broadband built in, and I’ll save money too. BT had the cheek to write and invite me to phone them and tell them why I’m leaving….it beggars belief if they don’t know.

]]> By: A C Ross Bugger http://jonathan.rawle.org/2007/02/15/the-spin-put-on-bts-cash-penalty/#comment-72863 A C Ross Bugger Mon, 10 Dec 2007 21:42:46 +0000 http://jonathan.rawle.org/2007/02/15/the-spin-put-on-bts-cash-penalty/#comment-72863 Quite frankly it is a rip off. I do not see why I should have to pay BT extra to pay my bill quarterly on time by automated debit card. I've paid them the bill amount less the £4.50 charge so far and told them to sue me for the balance. I'll make sure I'm unemployed, on benefits to get some free legals and take it to the European court if they cannot see sense here on the basis that they are infringing my basic human rights to ay promptly in the currency of my particular realm. Quite frankly it is a rip off. I do not see why I should have to pay BT extra to pay my bill quarterly on time by automated debit card. I’ve paid them the bill amount less the £4.50 charge so far and told them to sue me for the balance. I’ll make sure I’m unemployed, on benefits to get some free legals and take it to the European court if they cannot see sense here on the basis that they are infringing my basic human rights to ay promptly in the currency of my particular realm.

]]>