Re: BT - £4.50 'Payment Processing Fee'

On Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:32:29 +0100, MM <kylix_is@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Thu, 14 Jun 2007 14:47:58 +0100, Madden <madden@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Thu, 14 Jun 2007 14:00:27 +0100, "Trust No One®"
<dana.scully@xxxxxxxx> wrote:


"Mike D" <DaytonaBeachLover@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:9ea273h6ogqh3seefl91dtsojrh3r7t5bh@xxxxxxxxxx

I've never liked BT. I dislike them even more now that I see they
charge a £4.50 "Payment Processing Fee" every time I pay my bill. They
must be raking in *millions* with this sleazy gambit. Why the hell are
they allowed to get away with it?

I've always paid electronically.

But having just been hit with the "payment processing fee", I've sent in my
payment ... by cheque.

Good to dust off the old chequebook. I forgot to staple the cheque to the
envelope though :(


Interesting.
I have just posted that I have done the same.
If this becomes a trend, maybe they will give some thought to waiving
the £.4.50 for those of us who take the time to manage our accounts
electronically.

On a seperate note, I went to the BT site and raised a complaint on
this subject a couple of days ago.
I received a full explanation by return email defending this
'processing charge'.
I emailed back refuting a few of their claims especially WRT the costs
of internet account management and DD processing.
I received a phone call this morning from a very nice Indian lady who
asked if I was satisfied with the response to my complaint.
I said that I wasn't and she replied that management were aware of the
strength of feeling on this subject and as soon as they had come to
some sort of decision she would contact me again and in the mean time
my complaint would be held open.
I somehow doubt that they will take much notice unless the avalanche
of cheques and complaints becomes a real problem.

What do you think the best way would be to gather like-minded
complaints together? The large companies like BT who try this scam on
the public do it by divide and conquer. They know where their
customers, and they also know that individual customers do not know
where the others with a similar complaint live. I'll wager this scam
is irritating thousands of people, not just a few. Even a thousand
marching on BT would impress the press and Ofcom.

I don't know really.
I suspect that the vast majority of punters haven't even noticed the
extra charge.
If you have a phone bill of £30-40 a month, as many I know have,
£1.50 on top is easily missed.
If you are a pensioner with a montly bill of £12 ish then £1.50 is a
sizeable increase.
They are the ones most likely to want to pay cash at the post office,
(not now possible, I believe), or send a cheque. BT can safely ignore
them as trying to organise pensioners is like trying to herd cats. I
speak as one of them.
Many others would notice and just set up a DD, as Uno-Hoo advocates.
That just leaves the awkward squad of refusniks like myself and other
posters here and I suspect BT will just let us bleat in isolation
knowing that unless some high profile customer gets the band wagon
rolling, we'll just fall into line eventually.
Sometime in the not too distant future, they will make DD the ONLY way
to pay.

I still cannot follow their logic WRT internet transfer. They already
allow a discount on the bill of £0.50 if you collect your bill on line
but penalise you £1.50 if you then pay on line.
They claim in their reply to me that it is a charge necessary to pay
for chasing up late payers.
They already have a late payment charge and if that doesn't cover
their cost, I am quite happy for them to increase it.

--
Madden

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: BT - £4.50 Payment Processing Fee
    ... But having just been hit with the "payment processing fee", ... I went to the BT site and raised a complaint on ... 'processing charge'. ... They are the ones most likely to want to pay cash at the post office, ...
    (uk.legal)
  • Re: BT - £4.50 Payment Processing Fee
    ... But having just been hit with the "payment processing fee", ... I went to the BT site and raised a complaint on ... 'processing charge'. ... They are the ones most likely to want to pay cash at the post office, ...
    (uk.legal)
  • Re: BT - £4.50 Payment Processing Fee
    ... But having just been hit with the "payment processing fee", ... I forgot to staple the cheque to the ... I went to the BT site and raised a complaint on ... 'processing charge'. ...
    (uk.legal)
  • Re: BT - £4.50 Payment Processing Fee
    ... But having just been hit with the "payment processing fee", ... I forgot to staple the cheque to the ... I went to the BT site and raised a complaint on ... 'processing charge'. ...
    (uk.legal)
  • Re: BT - £4.50 Payment Processing Fee
    ... But having just been hit with the "payment processing fee", ... I forgot to staple the cheque to the ... I went to the BT site and raised a complaint on ... 'processing charge'. ...
    (uk.legal)