Pity they could not get the headline right

The headline reads: BT to freeze prices until 2013 – but it’s putting them up first

If there weren't a price increase immediately before a price freeze, then it would all be good news, would it not?

Of course, BT could have announced its price rise now, and then a month or so down the line announced the price freeze, thereby avoiding headlines like the above.

Trenod wrote on Aug 28^th, 2011 at 12:32am:

The reason is because each call is rounded up to the next whole penny, so with a Call Set-up fee of 13 pence the minimum charge would be 13 + 7.95 = 20.95 pence which is rounded up to 21 pence.

But with a 13.1 Call Set-up fee, the minimum charge is 13.1 + 7.95 = 21.05 pence which is rounded up to 22 pence.


Trenod wrote on Aug 28^th, 2011 at 12:32am:

I have pointed out elsewhere in the forum that the cost of BT fixed to mobile calls went up when they scrapped the separate weekend time period, making daytime and evening rates apply seven days a week. Then the Terminate the Rate campaign came along purporting to be the telephone consumer's friend, aimed at saving landline callers paying the hefty premiums to ring mobiles. The outcome earlier this year was that the cost of calling mobiles from BT lines fell, but they didn't re-instate the separate lower weekend rate.

As you say, take away with one hand and give with the other...

One other point about this (I have posted something related elsewhere) is how difficult this is for the very elderly or confused.   My father (90 & getting very confused) is on the BT Evening & Weekend package which is obviously not appropriate because, even though he may keep social calls to that, inevitably he has to make numerous daytime calls eg to doctors & hospitals.   I pointed this out to him & he said he recently rang BT & they told him he was on the best package!!   My reply?  Well, they would say that, it is the best package for BT but not for him!  I have written out some telephone use instructions the first being "go on the Anytime package"!  However, the serious point is that people who for whatever reason find it difficult to understand and keep up to date with these things can be suffering real financial hardship & there really ought to be some kind of publicity camapaign as a minimum to alert them and their relatives/carers.

... Further to the preceding posting, my second concern is over a charging error for customers who still subscribe to the "annually renewed" option for Unlimited Anytime. At some points this was the only (or cheapest) way of subscribing to Unlimited Anytime, although that has now changed.

At least one customer (myself) has been the victim of what have been acknowledged as charging errors under this option, even though the charges billed were as shown in the formal BT Price List!! I describe the two errors below.

For the tariff changes accompanying the change in VAT rate on 4 Jan 2011, BT announced that Unlimited Anytime was going from to per month - in the context of an increased VAT rate, this could have been seen as a price reduction. The price list (and my account) actually showed an increase (twice that necessary to accommodate the VAT change) from to per month, for the annually renewed option.

From 28 April 2011, the charge for Unlimited Anytime was said to be reduced from to . Those paying the standard rate for line rental should not have seen any overall difference, as this was increased by 30p per month on the same date (from £13.60 to £13.90). The total charge for the annually renewed version of Unlimited Anytime (including line rental) was however increased by 30p in the Price List - reflecting the line rental increase but not the compensating reduction in the Call Plan Fee!

The charge for the annually renewed Unlimited Anytime option therefore remained at , rather than enjoying a reduction.


To summarise - I was paying £5.20 per month (rather than £5.00) from January to April and £5.20 (rather than £4.70) from May onwards.

My account has been adjusted to reflect this historic over-billing, even though I have been billed in accordance with the published BT price list! I have been told that I will be billed correctly in future, even though I am still on the Annually Renewed option. I await a change to the BT Price List (!) and look forward with interest to my next account. We have no idea what will happen to the charges for this item on 3 December.


I have all the relevant Price List update references if anyone would like to go through them. These are not easy to follow as the basic charge for the Unlimited Anytime annually renewed option is shown there before the discount of £1 which historically applied to this particular option. With the older examples the rate is given with line rental included.

The current terms which apply to those committed to these contracts are shown in the BT price list at subparts 1 and 3 of Section 55; Part 3:Calling Plans - Unlimited Anytime Plan. Subpart 2 gives the current option. Subpart 4 is another old tariff which does not reflect current charges. The titles suggest that everyone who signed up for Unlimited Anytime before July 2009, and has not switched to another Unlimited Anytime plan in the meantime, is affected by this overcharge.

I am prepared to accept that on entering a commitment the terms may be frozen, so as to deny one the benefit of better terms that may subsequently become available. The terms cannot however be adjusted other than in line with announced changes, and if adjusted upwards there must be the option to alter the arrangements without penalty. Before 4 January 2011 there was no disadvantage associated with being on the old terms (other than being committed for a period of 12 months).

The terms for this option have been varied with complete disregard for BT's announced price revisions. Subscribers to this particular arrangement have not been notified of a price increase (in January) and they have been excluded from an announced decrease (in April).

Recent statements about the current charges are made without the necessary qualification to cover existing customers tied into different terms.


It would be interesting to know if any other forum members are on the same deal, and whether they too are being billed in accordance with the Price List, rather than the generally published rates.

I am told that there is nobody in BT who deals with discrepancies between published information and the formal price list in general. I am quite sure that many other BT customers will have been billed in accordance with the formal price list and may have had difficulty in getting someone to address the discrepancy with the published general price information. I have secured an adjustment to my account, however adjustments of this scale (totalling less than £10) are very easily achieved.

With a battle going on with Virgin Media at present over its compliance with the Standard Conditions (see this thread), I see it being properly even-handed to treat BT in the same way. I have therefore drawn BT's attention to the fact that I propose to take this matter to Ofcom also, once it has had a chance to address it properly.


Returning to Barbara's point - I would find it very difficult to actively promote a service, when it is known that it may be wrongly billed and the costs misrepresented.

Dave wrote on Sep 2^nd, 2011 at 2:48pm:


A sizeable spanner - I note that Unlimited Evenings and Weekends is cheaper that Unlimited Weekends, however the add-on charge for Unlimited Anytime is £5, not £4.70 as currently declared and advised to customers as a price change due to occur on 28 April.

Dave wrote on Sep 2^nd, 2011 at 2:48pm:


BT can charge whatever it likes - this is not actually a billing error as the bills have been in accordance with the published Price List. The General Conditions exist to protect all consumers from improper action by imposing a requirement for all price declarations for standard arrangements to be clear and up to date. I am waiting for BT to provide me with its justification of how it has declared the relevant prices to me and others before referring an alleged breach of General Conditions to Ofcom.

The price given for the 12 month renewable contract for Unlimited Anytime on p2 of the pdf tariff booklet is not the same as that given on the BT Price List. A quarterly charge of £55.80 including line rental is given, but this works out at £4.70 per month for the option. This is correct for the standard ("non-renewable"!) option shown at Subpart 2 of Section 55; Part 3:Calling Plans - Unlimited Anytime Plan.

The 12-month renewable option is covered by subparts 1 and 3  - giving the option fee as £6.20 per month + line rental, with a £1 per month discount = £5.20.

BT may point out that although this booklet is presented to existing customers, it is only for the purposes of general guidance, as it relates to terms made available to new customers - "Getting a Residential Phone Line". This is however rather odd as the Price List indicates that the 12-month renewable option is "not available for new supply"!

SilentCallsVictim wrote on Sep 3^rd, 2011 at 5:49pm:

If bills have been in accordance with the published price list, then what is the issue? Is it that customers have not been notified, e.g. by letter or in BT Update?