Tiny print on a letter and e-mail just received from BT says that the
1571 standard service is going to cost =A31 per month if you don't make at least 2 charged calls per month. Those who use their landline only for broadband or only for receiving calls could get an unexpected addition to their bill. At the momentChris
What's BT? ;-)
MBQ
1571 has always incurred a cost - 5p to discover the person you want to talk to is engaged!!!
*Charged calls* ? So the free evening and weekend ones don't count ?
Cunning devils. I use 1899 for day calls you see.
Graham
I wonder if your letter is different from mine? Mine says that, in order to get free 1571, you have to make 2 chargeable *or* *inclusive* calls per month (or 6 per quarter - depending on billing frequency).
Bearing in mind that weekend calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers are free (as also are evening calls if you sign up for a rolling 12 month contract), it surely can't be too difficult to contrive to make at least 2 inclusive calls every month!
is engaged!!!
Thats not a charge for 1571 ...I presume you mean if you press 3 which is just laziness.
| >>Chris | >
| >1571 has always incurred a cost - 5p to discover the person you want to talk to is engaged!!! | | Thats not a charge for 1571 ...I presume you mean if you press 3 which | is just laziness.
No - ring someone - no ring just a canned voice answers. Put the phone down immediately. My BT bill shows a charge for a call lasting 1 or 2 seconds. This is 1571 I believe.
Frank
to is engaged!!!
No....call someone who has 1571 when they're on the phone, and you get charged for the call. Call setup fee of 7p plus some charge for the secind or two you're one (I forget the min. charge these days).
How do they define 'inclusive' ?
Graham
END_MASK_i?a63jfAD$z_ snipped-for-privacy@s50g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
o talk to is engaged!!!
There are two aspects to it.
As a caller, you would also be charged if they had an answering machine that took the call.
As callee, you get the message for free but are charged if you use "ring back".
MBQ
talk to is engaged!!!
I'm not disputing that. I'm just explaining what the OP meant.
It's a bloody pain; the callee probably wouldn't have bothered with an answering machine anyway, so the caller ends up with the expense. I generally tell people I just won't call them if they have 1571.
Not so. The specific situation given was that of calling someone who was on the phone. Even if they had an answer machine in this situation you would still get an engaged tone and would not be charged for the call. You can then try again later.
Andrew
Another bit of the same letter deals with increases to the call setup fee - from 6p to 7p. The relevant paragraph says "The call set-up fee does not apply to inclusive Weekend calls for customers on the Unlimited Weekend Plan . . . etc." (which is just about everybody - 'cos it's the default). So free weekend calls are described as 'inclusive' - and presumably therefore qualify you for free 1571 as long as you make at least 2 calls per month.
Yes, if you incur the said minimum charge as soon as 1571 answers, it's a pain! I manage to avoid this by using VoIP for daytime calls - which cost 1p per minute, charged by the second and with no setup fee. So a short call costs me a small fraction of a penny. I get free BT calls during evenings and weekends so - again - there is no penalty if a call is answered by 1571.
You could do something similar!
It's a great shame that 1571 and Ringback are mutually exclusive. There are times when you want to make a ringback request rather then leave a message. If you leave a message, you are dependent on the person checking for new messages when they put the phone down from the call that they were making when you phoned. If you use ringback, then your phone rings as soon as they put theirs down and their rings as soon as you pick yours up, so you can be speaking to the person with a few seconds of them hanging up the first call.
It would be much better if 1571 presented a menu: "Press 1 to request a ringback call; press 2 or wait to leave a message" with the call charging beginning only after the 1571 leave-you-message-now bleep.
Eggzackerly.
Owain
This not new - *free* 1571 has always [well for a long time] had a buried condition that per month or per 3months either 2 or 6 chargeable/inclusive calls were a condition.
This *new* feature has already stung me:
27 Dec 2007 BT Together Option 1 - Charges for BT Answer 1571 2.55
I think there may have been complaints about using "Free" so loosely and hiding the actual terms, that they are now 'introducing' it. Rather than apologising for their previous misleading advertising.
Flop
ps if it is new, didn't exist before, can I claim back for being charged a non-existent fee?
I wish
I think that's a ridiculously extreme view. Loads of people deliberately have 1571 instead of buying an answering machine. If you're worrying about
7 pence then you must have noting else to worry about.tim
You're missing the point. Answering machines don't answer when the person is on the phone - 1571 does. And it won't just be 7p - more like
10p in practice - every time you try. If you're trying to contact someone, you'll probably call them more than once - the fact that they have a 1571 message isn't as overt as an answering machine message, and they often don't listen to them very quickly either. Why should they shift the cost onto me?
But the free evening and weekend calls *do* count. The BT wording says you must make 2 chargeable *or* *inclusive* calls per month - so they don't
*have* to be chargeable.HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.