BT Payment Plan Problems

[spinningfish]

Evening All!

 

I get paid by work every four weeks as oppose to every month, so when I took out my new BT line I asked for a payment plan to reflect this, as Direct Debit wouldn't suit.

 

I was offered a payment card at £25 per month, which I received. Fine I thought.

 

When the first bill came in, I thought I would pay the monthly instalment online, as I couldn't get to the shops. When I got there I was only offered the option of paying the whole amount.

 

I queried this with BT by email who advised me that I don't have a payment plan with them and I need to pay the entire bill.

 

Now I am getting really cross because they want the whole amount or my bill gets cut off in about 5 days, and I will lose my internet and everything!! It's so frustrating, because I know I arranged it and I've got the blasted card to prove it.

 

Also, they want an additional £23.50 to re-connect my line as they have barred outgoing calls! I just cannot afford all this.

 

I've attached the farcical email trail to the bottom of this thread to see if anyone can help me formulate a response to them. I'm in blue. BT are in red.

 

I agreed a monthly payment with you, by payment card, but when I have logged in to my online account, it says I cannot pay the bill monthly.

 

Please advise

 

Thank you for your e-mail dated 16/3/07 regarding your online account.

 

In regards to your e-mail I would like to inform you that your account is on quartly billing, it means that your bills are generated every quarter but if you want to pay the bills monthly you can set your account for direct debit monthly so that your bills are generated every month. However you can still use your your payment card to make payment on your account.

 

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,

 

Basil Albert

 

 

No. I requested monthly payments and received a payment card to make these

payments.

 

Please check your records, and I shall begin making monthly payments as

originally agreed.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Thank you for your e-mail dated 19/3/07 regarding monthly payments.

 

Please accept my apologies for the delay in replying to you and for any inconvenience this may have caused.

 

With regards to your mail,I would like to inform you that if you want to pay your bills monthly then you have to set up direct debit on your account,through which you will get a discount of £1.50 every month.

 

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,

 

Jitesh Chugh

 

I was originally sent out a payment card in order to pay monthly, but you insist on sending me standard replies stating that I am not on a monthly payment plan. You fail to realise that this is why you sent me a payment card! I had to opt for the payment card option as I get paid every four weeks, not monthly, therefore direct debit is not a valid payment option for me.

I can not afford to pay the bill of ??131.29 in one lump sum, so therefore request that you now bar outgoing calls (apart from emergency numbers) from the line and contact me to make a payment arrangement for the outstanding balance.

I am disappointed that you have failed to adhere to the payment plan agreed with me.

 

 

Thank you for your e-mail dated 22/3/07 regarding payment towards your bill.

 

Please accept my apologies for the delay in replying to you and for any inconvenience this may have caused.

 

In response to your mail, I apologise for all the inconvenience you have faced regarding payment of your bill. I assure you that you can continue to make payments via the BT payment card. Since you have stated that you will be unable to make the payment towards the bill in a lump sum, I can arrange for a postponed payment till 01/05/07. Please forward your consent if you want me to arrange a postponed payment.

 

Alternatively, you can contact our accounts department on 0800 800 150 (7:30 am - 22:00 pm, Mon to Sat and 9:00 am -6:00 pm on Sunday).

 

To avoid hassles in paying the bills in the future, I suggest you set up direct debit. There are two direct debit payment options which are the Whole Bill Direct Debit and the Monthly Payment Plan. On both of these options you will receive a £1.00 discount on line rental including VAT per month, which amounts to £12.00 discount per year.

 

In the Whole Bill Direct Debit, you will get Quarterly/Monthly bills wherein the whole amount will be taken within 14 days from bill production.

 

In Monthly Payment Plan, you will get Quarterly bills, wherein you have the option to make regular monthly payments direct to BT from your bank. It allows you to choose a payment date suitable to you that will remain the same every month. This helps to budget finances.

 

You can set up direct debit in the following ways:

1) Through the Internet accessing Welcome to bt.com (Billing and Payments).

2) Using the ACE service (Automated Customer Interface) on 0800 443311.

3) By telephone to our helpdesk on 0800 800 150 (7:30 am - 22:00 pm, Mon to Sat and 9:00 am -6:00 pm on Sunday).

 

Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us again via e-mail or call our E-billing helpdesk on 0800 328 9642 (8:00 am ? 6:00 pm, Mon to Sat).You can also dial our 24 hours automated number 0800 44 33 11.

 

Thank you for contacting BT.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Gisela Rodrigues

 

Hello again

 

That is still too much

 

I made a ppayment arrangement of £25 per month and would like that honoured.

By the end of the year, it should all be square.

 

Regards

 

Thank you for your e-mail dated 1/4/07 regarding your query.

 

In response to your email, I would like to inform you that as your lines are going to be temporarily out of service on 02/04/07 and then there would be a reconnection charge of £23.50 as well . Therefore I would be unable to provide you any postponement for this bill.

 

Further more, I would also request you to pay your bill as soon as possible because you will receive a termination notice on the 07/04/07 and thereafter your lines would be completely terminated.

 

I look forward to receiving full settlement of the outstanding balance at your earliest convenience.

 

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,

 

Amit Mishra

[spinningfish]

Hello all

 

Can anyone help me, as I've only got a few more days before they cut the line, and I can't afford for that to happen... Sorry!!

[spinningfish]

Help....

[buzby]

Until BT agree a payment plan, any outstanding amount HAS to be cleared to give the account a zero balance to commence from, it will not let staff set it up unless the account is clear. A payment card is simply a payment tool to facilitate the correct crediting of your telephone account. There is never any leeway, and as soon as your account is credited, what you want will be actioned. Since bills are due for payment shortly after presentation, they are within their rights to request payment in full before modifying that arrangement.

[rdm2006]

Your payment card is just a method of making payments (it was basically brought out to replace stamps) it is not a payment plan in itself (these are only set up by direct debit) if you call 150 from a bt line and follow the billing options you will get thru to someone who can arrange to spread the cost of your current bill over a month or two. the reconection fee will be added to your next bill, but if you explain to the advisor that this was not explained to you properly you may get this waived.

 

Best thing to do for your next bill is use the card to make payments in advance of your bill if you can afford it.

[spinningfish]

Thanks for the responses.

 

I think it's more a matter of prinicpal that someone agreed something with me, over the phone, that they will just not honour. It gets my goat that advisors can tell you whatever they like and when it comes to the crunch it's a load of dog mess!

 

I'm also sick to death of calling blasted India, talking to morons who just don't understand, and also getting standard email responses from the same idiots there.

 

[buzby]

Couldn't agree with you more. The problem is it is difficult for you to corroborate your version of events, never mind get someone - usually a foreigner - to understand the problem.

 

One thing I have noted, is that a few firms are now advertising they use 'UK Call Centres'. Now, bearing in mind anyone using a call centre would encourage me to go elsewhere, the highlighting of 'UK' shows that if THEY think it is a selling point, how long with the Indian Call Centre market flourish....

[yaffsimone1]

I was on a payment plan with BT and it is only available if you pay by direct debit, i think what you have is what others are saying just a payment card.

 

The bill should be quartely what dates does it run to? If the charges are to say end April, ask them if you can pay the bill at the end of April.

 

I had a bill for January to March, i phoned them up explained i couldnt pay the whole amount straight away (this was still in January) they gave me untill the end of March to pay it, and i thought that was fair.

 

When it is all paid you can set up the payment plan

[spinningfish]

Surely it's a little unfair that the only way you can pay monthly is by the DD option.

 

DD just doesn't work for me because I get paid every four weeks as oppose to every month, so the date on which I get paid differs every month.

 

Without looking at the original deal, are we tied into BT for 12 months? I can't be doing with the stress from talking to morons.

 

Anyone recommend a better provider?

[buzby]

You can pay quarterly tooo - just ask. A way out of the DD fee is to have you line designated a 'SupportLine' as the fee will not apply, it is also called a Low User account - this might suit you....

[aciddave]

Hi guys,

 

sorry this is a bit late, but i've just come accross this thread......

 

I have a monthly bill with BT, it is not on a direct debit, or a monthly payment plan. They just send me a bill every month and it has to be paid within 14 days.

 

Not sure why your on a quarterly bill, as when i signed up I was told i could have a payment card and billed monthly, but i just took the monthly billing as i pay direct by bank transfer.

 

Hope this helps in some small way.....

 

Acid

[Rich44]

When we first got our BT line put back in after moving this is what they did for us for the first few months as we didnt want to setup a DD straight away, opt for monthly billing then just take the payment card in and pay the amount on the bill each month.

 

If you are on quarterly billing is a fat chunk of this bill for charges in advance (ie line rental) if it is then getting them to move you to monthly will sort out the huge bill and then you can make a payment normally with the card, try to make a payment in the meantime to show good faith