Mis-selling - what are my options ?

[ByJings]

I've had BT Broadband (Fibre 2), 700 minutes call plan and BT TV package for years. As of July 2024 my broadband package was costing me £47.26/month and the 700 minutes call plan was costing me £9.84/month.

I was getting a £5/month 'special offer' discount on the broadband plan, but my contract and discount were due to end in Aug 2024. As a result, in July while reviewing my bill on MyBT, I decided to check my products and offers and I found that I could recontract my broadband package for another 2 years at the same price (subject to annual increases) and also retain the £5/month discount.

This seemed like a good idea, so I decided to go ahead but when placing my order I was forced to change my landline call plan to either Pay As You Go or Unlimited calls. We don't make many calls and I was perfectly happy on the 700 minutes plan (typical usage of 100 minutes/month for the past 3 years), but it seemed that there was no way to remain on the 700 minutes call plan when renewing the broadband package.

The MyBT MyProducts web page suggested the the PAYG call plan (£3/month + call charges) was best for me based on my call history as opposed to £12/month unlimited.

Imagine my shock when I checked my August bill and found that I had been charged over £20 for just 3 calls to standard landlines (two local for 15min and 20min and one 30 miles away for 35min),  between 23 July and 17 August over and above the £3 monthly PAYG charge. Now that I've looked into the call tariffs for myself, I've discovered the rate is 28.18p per minute regardless of distance and time of day.

That means that the approx average of 100 minutes per month would have cost £28 + £3 PAYG 'fee'. At that rate, anything over 32 minutes per month would cost more than the £12 unlimited calls plan. How could anyone possibly suggest that PAYG was my best option based on my call history ?

I can't help but feel this is a blatant case of mis-selling and profiteering.

What are my options ? If I leave BT I will probably have cancellation charges to pay for broadband, calls and TV, but what if I now change my call plan to unlimited after just 1 month, will I also have some cancellation charges to pay ?

[garybs29]

So you placed an order online yourself & basically it'll be tough luck, all the info was available to you online when making an order so hardly a mis-sell

[ByJings]

The mis-sell is the BT web site advice when placing the order stating that, based on my call history, my best option was PAYG, which is clearly not the best option for ME but probably the best option for BT.

[iniltous]

Given that 700 mins is no longer available, and Unlimited Minutes is ( officially ) £18 , at .28p a minute you need to make over 1hr of calls for PAYG to be the wrong choice , your 70 mins of calls would have only just made Unlimited the better choice .
You can change your calls plan yourself online ( AFAIK you can change it when you want no penalty but he newly selected plan takes till the next billing period to take effect )
If you typically use 100 mins a month , it’s really your responsibility to check that the pence per minute charge for PAYG is or isn’t cost effective, TBH if I were making 100 mins of calls , once 700 mins was removed, Unlimited was the next best thing .

FYI , there hasn’t been any difference in price between local and national calls for many years , probably decades.

[ByJings]

When I visit the Manage my Products on the My BT web pages, and select landline, I am offered Unlimited calls for £12 per month which at the current rate of 28.18p per minute equates to approx 42 minutes of calls.

On PAYG, there is a £3 per month charge before any calls, so for the same £12 per month TOTAL outlay I would only have £9 per month available to spend on PAYG calls, which equates to a mere 32 minutes. Who in their right mind would choose PAYG under such circumstances, unless you are one of the people who only wants a landline phone number for incoming calls.

Both of these are a far cry from the 700 minutes of calls per month I was getting for under £10 and at no time have I ever received any communication from BT indicating that by renewing (not changing) my existing broadband package I would relinquish the 700 minutes call plan. It was only when I started the broadband order process that I discovered I was being forced to change my call plan after first failing the order when I didn't select one of the call plans offered (why would I if I already had a call plan ?). Clearly 700 minutes for under a tenner was equivalent to a tariff of much less than 28p per minute, so I was expecting much better than a mere 32 minutes. If £10 was buying up to 700 minutes, I was expecting £3 would get around 200 minutes at the same rate.

I know it is buyer beware, but BT could and should have done much better to pont out the implications rather than incorrectly state that PAYG was my best option. I will probably now switch to the unlimited calls plan, subject to the responses I receive for the questions below.

Can anyone advise if I switch to the Unlimited calls, is £12 per month the only charge or does the £3 per month charge before calls still apply for Unlimited. Secondly, what exactly is unlimited ? Is the number of calls, duration of individual calls and the total monthly duration of calls (to standard UK landlines mobiles ?) each completely unlimited or is there any limit on the number of calls or are individual calls limited to say 60 minutes ?

[iniltous]

£12 is a discounted price , £18 is the list price , some get PAYG for £2 or £3 , discounted from the £5 list .

If £12 is offered , that’s the price , you don’t add anything , it covers calls  to UK landline and UK mobiles  , and unlike the previous versions of BT call plans , no need to hang up and re-dial after 60 mins .

[licquorice · Accepted solution]

The £3 PAYG charge is basically a charge for having a number to receive calls, it is not chargeable for Unlimited.

Calls to mobiles and landlines are unlimited in number and duration.

[ByJings]

Thanks for the last 2 posts ... v. helpful.

Issue resolved.