Something that always irritates me when my BT bill arrives is the charge levied by "BT Processing Services Ltd". A separate charge for the privilege of having your payment processed???
If memory serves this extra charge had not used to appear, I suspect someone at BT spotted a way of grabbing some extra cash.

If you paid your bill online you would not be charged for the trouble of printing your bill on paper and posting it to you, then waiting for you to make the payment to them so your account can be credited with your cash, card or cheque.
But Wessex Water had a better idea. Persuade customers to have a water meter fitted, then charge for reading the meter. That's really good.

I already pay my bill online, but I've not switched to "paper-free" billing so it would appear I've missed an obvious solution...
Think I'm just generally weary of the stealthy spreading of so-called handling charges and other extra fees that seem to permeate life these days. Wessex Water sounds like a classic, but there is also the numerous examples of trying to book tickets for concerts/events and being confronted by a growing scale of booking fees that are becoming ever more difficult to avoid!
(Apologies for moving somewhat off-topic)

Martin Lewis raised this issue when it was first introduced about 18 months ago (see HERE) and various points of view have been put forward ever since.

It boils down to the fact that BT used to allow a £1/month (£3/quarter) discount for those who did pay by Direct Debit but, from 1-5-2007, cut the cost of line rental by £1/month (£3/quarter) whilst, at the same time, imposing a £1.50/month (£4.50/quarter) extra charge for those who didn't pay by Direct Debit. In effect, they increased the cost of ine rental by 50p/month (£1.50/quarter) - which, in fact, was a near-inflation increase.

In other words, the former £1/month (£3/quarter) discount for DD payers became a £1.50/month (£4.50/quarter) discount - but many of those who had never complained about paying £3/quarter extra - because it was a discount they just never got round to taking advantage of - suddenly became incensed - because it appeared they were suddenly being charged extra for not doing something.

IMHO, it's a question of semantics really but Martin Lewis's advice (not unreasonably for 'the Money-Saving Expert'), was a simply, "If you can, pay by DD and save money."

You have always paid extra for not paying by direct debit, however they hid the charge in the line rental and then discounted people who paid by direct debit. Same result, one hidden and the one today, displayed on your bill.

Remember other telcos either don't accept any payment other than DD, others charge £4 or £5 per month if you don't pay by DD, a fair amount higher than the £1.50 per month BT charge.

Strange how for all these years people have been happy to pay the higher non-DD price, yet now they complain, maybe BT should have kept hiding the extra cost in the line rental and people wouldn't have been the wiser.

Simple next time BT ring you up send them a bill for answering the phone or for filling in one of their surveys.

I have two phone lines in the house,one is on AOL talk for a fiver free calls all day so they say? line paid to BT.

The other is on BT free evenings and weekends etc.

A few months ago the main line was hit by lightening,anyhow
myself and three neighbours had problems,we all share the overhead cable, one of my lines was knocked out for voice, but not broadband, the other phone was not effected.

Anyhow we were all charged £223 for the call out,BT said it
was our fault etc,without going into detail, I happened to say to the wife the two neighbours have been charged for the call out,one has been refunded already, as we have the paperless system, wife check on the web,and low and behold there was the charge, £223, I alerted the bank Nat West, told them if BT put in any claim for more than £14
in any month, tell me.
Within four days, the bank phoned me to say BT were claiming the £223, I put a stop on the DD immediate,
Informed the Indian motor cycle factory, I wanted to know what is going on,put in a despute over the cost, well the Indian motor cycle factory, passed from one to another
and the chief mechanic said I would be informed within
7 days. I was not, anyhow got the refund, but having stopped the DD, they said I was in arrears,thats another story.

So if you go on DD,paperless with BT watch the screen
if you have a call out, as BT now will charge you,your fault or theirs , an openreach engineer told me this happens all the time. Remember a BT call out is £183 plus vat £223,even for 30 seconds.

CP