Free BT Calls Come With A Catch
BT have announced plans to scrap call charges to its customer services. However, unless you're Foolish, you could still end up paying more for your calls than you bargained for...
BT handed an olive branch to its 14 million customers today, after announcing it was scrapping charges for calling its customer service and helpdesk numbers. The telecoms giant is switching its 0845 and 0870 customer service numbers to free phone numbers that start with 0800 or 0808. The changes will make 99% of calls to the company free of charge from landlines by April 1. They estimate that the industry as a whole makes £70m a year from premium rate numbers. Some calls can even cost as much as 50p a minute. BT customers currently make seven million chargeable calls every year, mainly to technical helpdesks. Currently, a 20 minute call to BT Broadband (0845) will cost you 40p. The same call to one of its 0870 numbers costs £1.20. But it as BT giveth, it also taketh away. On the other hand, customers on BT's Unlimited Weekend Plan (currently Together Option 1) will see the cost of their daytime calls rise from 3.25p a minute to 4p from April 1st. In addition, evening calls, which are currently capped at 4.5p an hour will cost 1.5p a minute after 6pm. It appears BT are keen to hook you into a loyalty net, as the only way of avoiding these price hikes is by signing a 12 month contract, which will make both evening and weekend calls to landlines free. In addition, following a price restructuring for its calls, BT is also set to hike its line rental up from £11.00 to £11.75. In fairness, you can avoid paying this extra charge by opting for the paperless bill option. BT will also plant one tree for each customer who opts for paperless billing. When 'Free' Costs Money While 0800 and 0808 numbers are free to call from landlines, they are rarely free when calling from a mobile phone. So BT's changes will make little difference if you're calling while on the move. One way to bypass these expensive charges is by logging on to saynoto0870.com, which lists a range of free and alternative landline numbers you can use to bypass the expensive 0845/0870 call costs. Still, BT customers do have reason to celebrate. From April 1st, when they're on hold with a burning phone next to their ear blaring some dodgy 80s soundtrack -- they have one consolation: At least now BT is picking up the bill. More: Expensive Phone NumbersComments
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