A grandmother has lost her fight with phone giant BT over charges for customers who do not pay their bills by direct debit.
Walsall-based solicitor Ros Fernihough hoped her case would force the firm and others to lift the levy charged to customers who pay with cash but at Walsall County Court yesterday District Judge Michael Ellery dismissed her claim against BT brought under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulation of 1999.
Mrs Fernihough, of Edmunds & Co, Bradford Street, said BT’s practice of charging some an extra £1.50 on monthly bills or £4.50 quarterly was unfair and not in good faith, and that the firm lacked transparency over whether the fee was hidden profit.
She said she was also concerned that customers were told to pay subsidiary firm BT Payment Processing Services Ltd when they had a contract with BT itself. Mr Simon Popplewell, representing BT, denied it was seeking any profit from charges and added: “She may not be happy with the charges, she may not like the charges, but it is made between BT and its customers. BT is not a charity - it is providing a service and it is perfectly entitled to charge for it.”
Mr Popplewell said people saw high profile bank charges cases and were under the impression firms must justify their fees, but in this situation they did not. Grandmother-of-seven Mrs Fernihough, aged 62, said: “£4.50 is a heck of a penalty for people on low income and benefits, including single parents and pensioners.
“Many people do not have bank accounts. Why should they be penalised?” She said she was unable to change phone supplier because she lived in a private road and the owner refused to let cable firms install equipment.
District Judge Ellery said: “I am quite satisfied that the obligation was between you and BT to pay this charge to the conduit company. It is perfectly reasonable for companies and corporations to recover their charges and fees however they see fit.” He also ordered Mrs Fernihough, of Sutton Coldfield, to pay BT’s costs of £114.
Afterwards she said: “It was never going to be easy. I am going to now look at the evidence covered to see what needs to be done before deciding whether to appeal.” BT spokesman Mike Jarvis said: “We are pleased with the judgement which we feel was the correct one. We were confident that we had a solid case.”
13 Comments
I think that all of these hidden charges are just a rip off and that the Court should realise that. What a shame that they appear to be on the side of big businesses to the detriment of the consumer.
Well, if she had read her T&C she would realise this if she doesnt want to pay it - switch to Direct Debit. Every Basic bank account in the country offers this service and makes life easier. I’m in favour of BT in this case as it does cost more to process manual payments so why not charge for it!
Well done for trying, I stopped paying telewest by DD due to the fact that they charged me over £300.00 for a months phone useage. This caused me to go overdrawn, they eventually refunded me as it was there error but they wouldnt pay the additional bank charges. I now pay by cash and have argued with them several times as to the reasons but they still charge me £5.00 extra per month for paying by cash!!
Blimey Lisa, I thought I was the only one….I dont pay by direct debit firstly because Telewest say that you cant do this until you clear your balance to £0. I ended up in hospital in Jan 08 and fell into arrears with all my bills and am constantly playing catch up, not because I have high bills (I very rarely use my house phone as I work all day and use my mobile mostly) but my bill increases through charges.
I work as self employed. Im the total opposite with the way i work.
I give people discounts for paying cash, as id rather have the money now and not wait x days for it to clear etc.
Also DD isnt good for people who cant budget properly. 1 missed DD payment (lack of funds) = £20 bank charge minimum. Much prefer to pay cash or pay by card over the phone
Agree with the others, I try hard not to pay for anything by DD as it was a Telewest error that caused me to go overdrawn many years ago, however I did got the charge removed when I attempted to disconnect my services one time. To be fair though it’s not just Telewest I have had car insurance, bank payments, bills etc etc all mess up via DD at one time or aother.
What nobody has mentioned here is the fact that BT most probably have to pay for direct debit transactions, just like shops/companies have to pay for credit card transactions, hence the charge some shops levy for small payments by credit card. How does this cost compare with their ‘administration costs’ for accepting cash payments.
You have to look carefully at the T & C’s. Most people don’t, and that’s how companies get away with it. My girlfriend never realised that BT were taking £18.00 a year off her for paying by cheque until I looked at her finances for her.
What happens if in the future, as some experts are predicting, banks start charging people to have a basic bank account? Who do you pay - the bank to have a bank account and pay ‘free’ by direct debit, or BT direct?
It is wrong. These companies are making too much profit. Look at the merger of NTL and Telewest under Virgin. They added a penny here and a penny there and changed T & C’s slightly WITHOUT informing their customers. The excuse: bringing charges into line. How much did they make from that? I argued my case with them and won a refund of nearly £5.00 - for one month. But now, because of the changes, I don;t get an itemised bill and have to pay for one if I want one. I don’t use my landline much, yet my bill can vary by £13 a month. How? And when you question them all they want to do is charge you £2 to tell you what calls you have made. It is wrong, very wrong.
Well done to this woman and her solicitor for standing up to them.
Bt won’t pay for DD transactions - they’ll have converted to free DD transactions years ago (only costs a few grand and a period of time).
But cash processing does take time - staff time BT will have to pay for. So they can either charge everyone that little bit extra to cover the costs a few cause, or charge the few more to cover the extra time.
If you don’t like a company making a profit from you, go elsewhere for services. Not as if they have a monopoly.
If you dont like it use another supplier .
And they say crime doesn’t pay
I agree with BT, it does cost more to process manual payements, plus it is easier to pay by DD. Every bill i have is paid by DD that way i dont have to worry about paying it. Alternativly BT could always impose a £25 for paying late!!!!!!! Like many cash/cheque bill payers do!
I have paid BT by direct transfer into their bank account for years on the day that I received their bill, yet I still have to pay their charge. I refuse to enter into a contract with a third party, so if Bt cut me off, they will be £300 a quarter worse off and I will use a mobile for all my calls. Who needs broadband, when you can use the new mobile broadband service by 3. BT are criminal by applying these charges.
I pay my BT account by a monthly standing order, and am in credit by a substantial amount - probably more than my quarterly bill at the moment, yet I too am being hit with this unjustified charge