Warning: 700 free minutes abolished

[MissMoppett]

Our monthly bill has nearly always been £50 but this month I saw via my bank account it had jumped to £98. After 20 minutes wait someone answered to tell me that since going on Digital Voice the 700 minutes allowance has been abolished and we were being charged PAYG. Wonderful!! Thanks BT.

At the same time  I lost access to BT.com so couldn't check my bill nor use email. Submitting new passwords was a nightmare as the request to send a PIN to my mobile produced silence, and it was pointless sending to my email as I couldn't receive any. In all I was 1 hour 10 minutes on the phone. A significant problem has been that BT changed my email from "btopenworld" to "btinternet" one of which is my username for "MyBT", the other is for my email. BT assure me it makes no difference but I can tell them it certainly does. One of the Bt "Guides" as they call them did admit that merging with EE has been a major problem. If it wasn't for my email being with all my contacts I would move elsewhere in a flash. Surely Ofcom should stop this restricted practice? I understand I can leave it there but they charge an unreasonable amount.

[iniltous]

What has EE got to do with this ? , even if it’s the case (but I’ve never heard of it ) that BT are moving customers with a 700 minute calling plan to PAYG without any warning ( I find this  hard to believe  ) how can that in anyway related to some BT customers switching to EE either voluntarily or being ‘eased’ towards EE by BT  ?

You say you would  move in a flash if it weren’t for your email ? , if you move you still have browser access to your email , if you were (for example) a customer of Virgin , and you left them , they simply delete your email account, so I’m afraid your restricted practice claim doesn’t really stack up .

If you want to leave and continue to use  an email client with your BT email you can , but for a fee , you say it is an ‘unreasonable amount’ but that is a subjective claim ,it’s unreasonable for you .

BT same as every other ISP are not required to keep any email account active if you leave , unlike the majority though BT offer free continued access for ‘leavers’ via a browser and an option to maintain client access for a fee .

[MissMoppett]

Well Distinguished Guru I've no idea what EE have got to do with the wretched service I now experience with BT, but that's what I was told is giving problems to staff. Ask them. You also expressed doubt that I was not told about abolishing the 700 min free calls on switching to DV? Are you saying I'm making it up, or relapsing into dotage? We've now no doubt got to battle to get £48 refunded. Any strategy advised?

[iniltous]

The switch to DV is not a contractual variance, nothing changes as far as call rates , minimum term expiration etc , so a migration to  DV is not responsible for you being moved to PAYG , although it’s true it’s no longer available to new broadband customers , whatever the reason you are no longer on 700 mins , it’s not the migration to DV , and as stated , if BT have decided to remove the 700mins inclusive call plan , it beggars belief that it would be done without any notification whatsoever, FWIW , I was contacted and told PAYG was the appropriate ‘match’ when the ‘Free Evenings’ call plan was removed many years previously .

I suspect you are victim of an isolated error by an individual not some company policy , possibly when in contact with BT about some other matter and as stated EE is irrelevant unless you were trying to move or were in conversation with BT about refusing the offer to be moved to EE 

[MissMoppett]

Well I'm just the conduit not the originator. I was told that the 700 mins is NOT available once you're on DV. Argue with them.

[licquorice]

But unlimited is and is only slightly more than the deprecated 700 minutes.

[gg30340]

@MissMoppett 

Just so that you are aware. btinternet.com and btopenworld.com are totally interchangeable as regards your email address if somebody was to email you using one or the other and like wise if you were to use either one to send emails.

If you are using xxxx@btopenworld.com as a logon for your MyBT it is not interchangeable with xxxx@btinternet.com

If you set up your MyBT with xxxx@btopenworld.com you should still be able to use that.

[MissMoppett]

Yes I understand that BUT there are many websites where my user name is one or the other and if I use the wrong one it is rejected. I can assure you it has been an unecessary pain.

[licquorice]

An email address is an email address, a username is a username, just a string of characters.

[gg30340]

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@MissMoppettwrote:

Yes I understand that BUT there are many websites where my user name is one or the other and if I use the wrong one it is rejected. I can assure you it has been an unecessary pain.

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That has been your choice to use which ever one as your username. You could have chosen to use just your preferred one of them and it would have worked.

When you are using it as a logon as has been pointed out it is not being used as an email address it is just a string of letters and symbols in the same way as any other place that you log onto without it being your email address.