Help BT

[wobbles]

I sent an email to BT last night regarding putting my line on incoming calls only as they have sent me a large bill £162.96

I had until last week been paying £61-50 a month direct debit. I cancelled the direct debit while in the process of changing banks.

I asked BT to put me on incoming calls only and keep my broadband running and also re set up the monthly payment plan to clear the outstanding bill. I informed them I had cancelled the direct debit because of changing banks, Bank charges and financial difficulties, the last payment made was 30th Jan, so they could have set the new direct debit up intime for the next payment at the end of feb.

Here is the reply I got this morning:

Dear Mrs Wobbles
Thank you for your e-mail dated 15/2/07 regarding having line on
incoming calls.

I was concerned to learn of the inconvenience and distress you have
been caused as a result of high bill. With regards to your e-mail, I am
sorry to inform you that, unfortunately, your line cannot be on incoming
calls only due to two reasons:

1. Broadband activated on the lline.
2. Half Price Line Rental offer (contract of 12 months ends on
25/07/07).

Further to your concern regarding the bill, the Monthly Payment Plan
can be set up if the outstanding amount is paid in full within 5 days,
however, you can set up whole bill Direct Debit (monthly or quarterly)
wherein the whole amount of the bill will be debited from your bank
account within 10 working days of the bill date.

I am sorry if my response is not the one you were hoping for, but I
trust that this has helped to clarify our position.

If you should have any further queries please do not hesitate to
contact us again via e-mail.

Thank you for contacting BT.

Yours sincerely,

Tshering Bhutia
BT Customer Services


I simply can not afford to pay £162.96 within 5 days, and the actual cost of calls amde only comes to £29.18

Summary of bill
Service charges £121.10 details below
£41.98 BT Together option (which I dont want)
£68.91 Broadband services
£10.21Calling features (I never asked for)
£26.05VAT
£172.56 Brought forward from last bill (why not put monthly payments up)
£29.18 Calls
- £1.43 for friends and family.

Can anyone advise on what to do because I can not afford this amount within 5 days

[buzby]

This way of working isn't new - and in exchnage for offers (like half price line rental) they do prtect this by prevent any change that will reduce their expected cash flow.

However, you've acted responsibly in asking them to restrict your phone usage, but if you don't pay the bill you'll get your wish anyway - but they'll probably cancel the BB (and if this is with another supplier) they'll still want paid if service is disrupted by BT. You may wish to have a pre-pay mobile standing by in case BT cut off incoming calls.

As a company, they have become more hardened to debt, penalising for late payment or non DDM, this has been driven by the increase in competition - they were right you'd be disappointed with their response to you as a longstanding customer, however there's nothing stopping you writing back to explain that if they cannot assist, they will ultimately lose you as a customer. Could they reconsider, as you have no wish to be unreasonable during your time of difficulty.

[i_spam]

Originally Posted by wobbles

I sent an email to BT last night regarding putting my line on incoming calls only as they have sent me a large bill £162.96

I had until last week been paying £61-50 a month direct debit. I cancelled the direct debit while in the process of changing banks.

I asked BT to put me on incoming calls only and keep my broadband running and also re set up the monthly payment plan to clear the outstanding bill. I informed them I had cancelled the direct debit because of changing banks, Bank charges and financial difficulties, the last payment made was 30th Jan, so they could have set the new direct debit up intime for the next payment at the end of feb.

Here is the reply I got this morning:

Dear Mrs Wobbles
Thank you for your e-mail dated 15/2/07 regarding having line on
incoming calls.

I was concerned to learn of the inconvenience and distress you have
been caused as a result of high bill. With regards to your e-mail, I am
sorry to inform you that, unfortunately, your line cannot be on incoming
calls only due to two reasons:

1. Broadband activated on the lline.
2. Half Price Line Rental offer (contract of 12 months ends on
25/07/07).

Further to your concern regarding the bill, the Monthly Payment Plan
can be set up if the outstanding amount is paid in full within 5 days,
however, you can set up whole bill Direct Debit (monthly or quarterly)
wherein the whole amount of the bill will be debited from your bank
account within 10 working days of the bill date.

I am sorry if my response is not the one you were hoping for, but I
trust that this has helped to clarify our position.

If you should have any further queries please do not hesitate to
contact us again via e-mail.

Thank you for contacting BT.

Yours sincerely,

Tshering Bhutia
BT Customer Services


I simply can not afford to pay £162.96 within 5 days, and the actual cost of calls amde only comes to £29.18

Summary of bill
Service charges £121.10 details below
£41.98 BT Together option (which I dont want)
£68.91 Broadband services
£10.21Calling features (I never asked for)
£26.05VAT
£172.56 Brought forward from last bill (why not put monthly payments up)
£29.18 Calls
- £1.43 for friends and family.

Can anyone advise on what to do because I can not afford this amount within 5 days

you can ask them to down grade your service and remove the following :
calling features
bt together option
if you do this as long as you stay with them they cannot penalise you. this will automatically reduce you bill by £62.11p approx this will show as a credit on your next bill

[wobbles]

Thank you both for your replies, Im going to email them back stating to tell that I cant possibly pay the outstanding aomunt within 5 days and that I would like the calling featyres and bt together option rmoving from the account.

I will update as soon as they get back to me, whats annoying is I dont use the phone its my 14 year old son making 1 min calls to mobile phones to his mates think i will take the call charges off his paper round and spending money, that might teach him to use his mobile and not my landline

[i_spam]

get premium rate call barring added on costs £2 per month

[wobbles]

dont think I need that there are no premium rate numbers on the bill, Ive come up with a solution for the son, Im keeping the phone in my handbag so when Im not in he cant use the phone

[wobbles]

just had another reply from BT saying that any changes made to the account would not takee effect until next the next bill so I would therefore still have to clear the outstanding bill first.

They are a joke

Is there any way I can put the account indispute and stop them cutting off my broadband which is with them im not bothered about the landline

[buzby]

That is true, bills are due on demand unless you can prove they are inaccurate and have them recalculated. However their response is usually to pay the amount you feel IS owed, but this doesn't really help you. When they pull the plug on the line, the BB carrier disappears too, but you'll still have to pay for this regardless - unless you can get them to suspend the service as you're going on 'holiday'.

[wobbles]

what do you mean by get them to suspend the service as im going on holiday

what would that entail and how would i go about it.

[MrShed]

Some broadband providers will allow you to suspend the service for a couple of months or so.

[buzby]

As Mr Shed notes, if you're going to have an enforced disconnection you can often ask for services to be suspended until your return. This way you're not having to pay for a service you'll not receive. It's worth a try!

[wobbles]

ah yes right. i see what you mean now.

Im gonna ring the number that you can ask for more time to pay your bill and then borrow the money from my mum to pay it off.

Then Im gonna make sure they take off the talk togther options and the other calling features.

Thanks for all your help

[wobbles]

a bit of good news

BT phoned me at home yesterday morning, they asked for payment of the full bill, I told them I could not afford the full bill but was willing to make a part payment of £50 they accepted this and also asked me if I would like to re set up the monthly payment plan, which of course i wanted to do.

it turns out they ahve done me a favour, my monthly payments are now going to be £52-50 thats £10 a month cheaper than what they were.

[buzby]

Good to know! It's nice when something eventuially works out!