Re: The BT Ripoff

Alex Heney wrote:
On Wed, 14 Mar 2007 07:03:00 +0000, Nick <Nick@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Alex Heney wrote:
On Mon, 12 Mar 2007 18:31:14 +0000, me@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

On Mon, 12 Mar 2007 16:15:50 +0000, Alex Heney <me8@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

So I pay by direct bank transfer, so why should I have to pay any
admin fee?
because the difference is that it doesn't happen automatically.
That's right. THEY initiate a DD and when I do it they initiate
nothing therefore saving the money
No.

Therefore *costing* money.

With DD, they put the payment on their computer, and every month (or
quarter), it is automatically pulled by them.
Yes.............and.....................
With any other means of payment, they receive a payment, and then have
to relate it to the appropriate account.
No they don't. Its done automatically within seconds. I checked that
last year by making a bank transfer and then calling them 5 minutes
later and they confirmed my account was paid.
There is no possibility whatsoever that "they don't".

That allocation may be done automatically, but it is still more
processing which is required.


I wouldn't suggest it is £4.50 worth of admin, but it does cost them
more.
No not more than a DD
Yes. More than a DD.

there is a *reason* they charge more for other means of payment. That
is that they strongly prefer DD as the means of payment.

And the reason they prefer it is that it is the cheapest method for
them.

Why on earth do you think they would care otherwise?
There is no reason DD is cheaper for them than a bank transfer. If the Bank Transfer is late they have the penalty fee.


Just because you don't know the charging structure of BT's banks, nor
anything about their internal processes, does not mean the reasons
don't exist.


I work for a Bank and have done for decades. What do you do Alex?

The *evidence* is that they do exist, or there would be little point
in BT (and all other utility companies I know of) trying to get
everybody onto them.



The reason they like DD is that customers are less likely to look at their Bills, less likely to notice over charging, less likely to notice increased charges and hence less likely to change accounts. Essentially DD means the consumers are less likely to judge the quality of the service they are receiving.


I am sure that does have an effect.

But I am certain it is not anywhere near the main reason.


I actually had BT Openworld overcharge me via a direct debit. I demanded an immediate refund, they refused claiming they would add the money to my account. Not having the trust in BT or the energy to deal with their eternal phone line wait I canceled the DD and account and was never refunded.

How stupid of you. I certainly would not have considered closing the
account until I had been refunded. And unless it was a small amount, I
would have sued for it if necessary.


Sue for £6.00 sure? They insisted on direct debit. They mischarged me. I asked for a refund they refused, after all they already had the money.

I guess they figured I wouldn't make a fuss over six pounds.

It appears to be common for companies charging direct debit to forget to send invoices.

It isn't remotely common.


Yes it is. For a regular payment companies are not required to send invoices. I have had a number do this even after I have specifically asked for them to, BT Openworld was one of them. Hence the first I knew of their overchaging was from my Bank statement.


It certainly happens, but not often at all.

It seems to me that given electronic transfers are not more expensive to process than direct debits the consumer would be better served if there were laws against companies demanding DD payment or charging additional fees for payment via direct transfer.

Your "given" is not a given. It is a pure assumption on your part,
which all available evidence points against.


No it isn't a "pure assumption" they are both BACS payments there is no reason why a direct debit would be cheaper for a bank to process.


If anyone knows of a telecom line rental company that do not charge extra for non-direct debit payments I would be grateful to know.

The fact that they just about all do, as do just about all other
utility companies, just shows that it *must* be better for them.

Thus completely negating your argument.

No it is better for them because it means customers do not check their bills, do not notice price increase, do not notice overcharging, do not notice additional charges. Essentially customers do not look at their bill and consider if their interests would be better served by moving elsewhere. The net effect being that these companies charging via direct debit take less care to keep their existing customers happy.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: The BT Ripoff
    ... later and they confirmed my account was paid. ... there is a *reason* they charge more for other means of payment. ... There is no reason DD is cheaper for them than a bank transfer. ... If the Bank Transfer is late they have the penalty fee. ...
    (uk.legal)
  • Re: The BT Ripoff
    ... later and they confirmed my account was paid. ... there is a *reason* they charge more for other means of payment. ... There is no reason DD is cheaper for them than a bank transfer. ...
    (uk.legal)
  • Re: The BT Ripoff
    ... later and they confirmed my account was paid. ... there is a *reason* they charge more for other means of payment. ... There is no reason DD is cheaper for them than a bank transfer. ...
    (uk.legal)
  • Re: Help with criteria on select query
    ... Control Account an Asset account that has a detail section of all invoices as ... If a payment is accompanied by an "advise" then the payment must be applied as specified by the client. ... An invoice that is already "paid" using the automatic distribution method can still receive a distribution manually, which will, in effect, override the automatic distribution. ...
    (microsoft.public.access.queries)
  • Re: Really bad table design...
    ... It sounds very much like you want the simpler, and more common, Balance ... the case that a payment is attributed to a specific charge. ... In the activities table, put all the dues, payments, credit memos, debit ... Balance Forward row for any account. ...
    (microsoft.public.access.tablesdbdesign)