BT angers customers with extra charge

BT angers customers with extra charge

BT has cemented its reputation as one of the most complained about UK companies after telling customers who refuse to pay by direct debit that they will have their phone cut off if they fail to pay the extra charges it imposes.

Since May last year, BT has added £4.50 to the quarterly bill of customers who refuse to pay by direct debit, even if they pay the bill on the same day that they receive it.

The letters of complaint - many of them from pensioners who mistrust direct debits - have poured in to all the newspapers. Many customers have been deducting the charge from their cheques.

It emerged this week that BT has sent out a letter to all its 10.8 million customers notifying them of a new contract and warning them that in future the £4.50-a-quarter charge will be collected by a new subsidiary, BT Payments Services.

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A spokesman for the company told Guardian Money this week that any customer who fails to pay the extra charge will be treated as if they haven't paid their phone bill and will be chased by debt companies. Ultimately - if they still refuse to pay - the customer will be cut off.

"Some customers have been not paying the £4.50 charge and thinking they are getting away with it because it only becomes an official debt when it gets to £10. This is not the case and we will be chasing customers for this money. The fee was introduced to reflect the increased cost to us of processing these payments." Setting up a new company to collect these fees is standard industry practice, he says.

BT has further upset its customers by announcing a 23% increase in the cost of making daytime calls, and higher line rental charges.

From April 1 the cost of making a daytime call from a BT landline will rise to 10p for the first minute, and 4p for every subsequent minute, up from 3.25p. The company has also raised the monthly landline rental from £11 to £11.75, and made evening and weekday calls more expensive. A one-hour call on a weekday evening will now cost a whopping 90p, up from just 5.5p.

To offset the higher charges, BT has introduced free weekend calls for those on its Option One package. It has also lowered the cost of its all-the-calls-you-can-make deals. However, to get these deals you have sign a 12-month contract.

BT said customers who agreed to pay by direct debit, and receive their quarterly bill by email, could avoid the landline price hike. They will pay £10.50 a month from April.

Steve Weller, head of communications at uSwitch.com, said the increase in landline costs alone would make BT £80m a year. "The announcement signals BT's ongoing intention to drive customers on to its inclusive calling plans and also to opt for paperless billing. Customers on the Option 1 and 2 tariffs will see the cost of daytime calls rocket."

· To sign up for paperless billing go to BT.com/paperfree

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