"BT has been accused by an MP who heads a group set up to tackle nuisance calls of profiteering from the problem.

The cross-party parliamentary group on nuisance calls says such services should be free of charge, in a report to be published this week.

The criticism follows news that the company has introduced a charge for its caller ID display service.

BT said the service would remain free if customers signed up for a 12-month contract.

The caller ID service allows users to screen calls and is generally seen as a good method to combat unwanted marketing calls.

Liberal Democrat MP Mike Crockart told the BBC that Ofcom and other interested parties were unhappy about BT's decision to charge a £1.75 a month for the service."

Full Story Here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24712206

Download the report here.

Read from page 31 onwards (page 33 of the PDF) Warren Buckley, the former Customer Services Director of BT Retail, explaining the reasoning behind the decision to charge £1.75 for caller display.  ;D ;D ;D


Quote:

Mike Crockart: OK we’ve moved onto CLI which is something I know that Alun is particularly interested in so. Alun Cairns: Yes caller ID, Warren, you’ve made a great play on how numbers need to be displayed and how that should be a requirement here in the UK. Can you explain the charging structure whereby you recently announced that in some circumstances you charge £21 a year, in order for the customer to see the caller ID, which I interpret as charging a consumer to make a complaint about a nuisance call? Warren Buckley: I’m grateful for the question because I think there’s been quite a lot of confusion around this, so let me try and explain exactly what is happening. We absolutely agree that it’s important for customers to be able to choose whether they want to have caller display on their phones or not. This is a great way both just in knowing who’s calling you, but also to fend against nuisance calls. One of the problems that we were concerned about was that we had a legacy position at BT that was confusing for customers. So we essentially have caller display available to customers in three different ways. We had one which was around something called BT privacy with caller display, which is where customers could have caller display and would automatic register with the Telephone Preference Service and the Mail Preference Service around that piece and that service was free. One of the challenges though of that free service was that it some restrictions around it, so for example, although it was free, if you didn’t make a certain number of calls a month you then got charge £2 and what we’ve seen is, is that a large number of customers have reduced the amount of fixed calls that they’re making and therefore we were seeing quite a lot more customers who were getting this £2 fee. And effectively one was free, we felt that was confusing, we felt that was something that was coming across as effectively as a hidden charge and I dealt with a number of customers around that. So that was one category. The second category was customers who were on a set of legacy charges, that effectively going back many years people had had services with us for a long time and they were set on a whole range of different charges that we’d made on caller display and advanced features across that. And then the third piece was that customers were paying £3.30 a month for a feature of caller display and that was effectively where they hadn’t signed up to the caller display with BT privacy. So we just looked at all of that and said this is really confusing for customers, how do we make this less confusing as we go forward? So what we have done, and we are writing out to all of our customers, either in their bills or directly on email for customers who receive electronic bills. And also we’ve made a point of making this very aware, we talked to lots of newspapers and media, we want to be to be really transparent around this and we’re creating what we believe is a much less confusing situation. So from January of next year we move to a position where if you want caller display you can have caller display for free, so long as you’re under contract with us and that’s the case with lots of our different services, BT Smart Talk, a number of different services, it’s within the contract, you get that free, that will stay on that basis. If however you don’t want a permanent contract with BT and you want to just pay on a month to month also then they’d be a charge of £1.75, which is less than the £2 that we were charging for the not making calls and is significantly less than the £3.30. So what we’ve tried to do is to remove the confusion, make it very clear that if you have a contract with us you get caller display for free, if you’re on a month by month basis there’s a £1.75 charge.

It carries on toing and froing between Mr Buckley and the MPs.

Attention was first drawn to this issue by a fair telecoms campaign news release - BT capitalises on public hatred of Nuisance Calls. This goes much wider than the issue of Caller Display.

It is interesting to note that BT continues to perpetuate the myth about caller display:


Dave wrote on Nov 3^rd, 2013 at 1:55am:

Quote: Warren Buckley: … This is a great way both just in knowing who’s calling you, but also to fend against nuisance calls.

Caller Display only reveals who is calling you if you recognise the number. If you refuse a call based on the CLI, there is no way of being certain that it would have been a nuisance call - unless you recognise the number as that used by a known nuisance caller.

Some people are happy to refuse calls without a number that they recognise. The implicit suggestion that those who are not prepared to limit themselves in this way are choosing to make themselves victims of nuisance calls is unacceptable. CLI is only a small part of the picture; it is most certainly not even a major part of the solution to the problem of nuisance calls.

Here Here, I am with you on this one SilentVictim, it can be intimidating for some callers that receive constant nuisance and sometimes rude calls.

It does not bother me to any great extent as I always insist the caller identifies themselves before I carry on with the call. However if they do not there are rules to follow:-

NEVER identify yourself when answering a call
Always insist on the caller giving the nature of the call
Be firm but polite
If you are not satisfied with the response terminate the call

NEVER NEVER NEVER answer a call with your name

Pick up the phone PAUSE and listen -

Then responnd Hello who is calling please - then listen respond accordingly as above

It is not pleasant but you are in control of the call at all times do not be afraid to hang up and remember

THEY ARE INVADING YOUR SPACE -
AS IF THEY ARE STOOD AT YOUR DOOR

WE SHOULD DO SOMETHING AS A FORUM - THING IS I DON'T KNOW WHAT

This issue is simple surely.

Since the start of GSM mobiles no one has ever made a charge for Caller Display and even now still no one does yet it is a better Caller Display service that shows most overseas CLIs (unlike BT's lousy service).  And for Pay As You Go mobiles you can run one for nothing per year (www.ovivomobile.com) and yet get entirely free Caller Display all year round).

BT charged for this service 25 or more years ago when it was still a luxury.  Since then they have increased their line rental hugely in inflation adjusted terms and brought in iniquitous and ever more massive Connection fees designed to profit from their roll out of 1471 and line based voicemail. Yet still BT Wholesale charge all other fixed line telecoms companies using their lines for CLI.

It is an outrage there is any charge by BT for CLI, Anonymous Call Rejection or Choose To Refuse and it is a reflection on the complete patheticness of Ofcom that they have never managed to stopped BT Wholesale/Openreach from levying these charges by an Ofcom General Condition.

However Ofcom is a corrupt creature of the telcos so it does whatever they ask it to in order to hang on to their profit.

End of story.  No more on the matter needs to be said.

And don't get me started on BT's Warren Buckley.  He is like some horrible propaganda minister of various unpleasant historical regimes.   A man of absolutely no conscience who will do whatever his masters tell him in order to receive a large salary and has not a single pro customer bone in his whole body.  Parliament should not waste any more of its time on Buckley and insist that it only ever deals with the BT Chief Executive and Chairman!!!

anyone have a valid high up contact email address for someone at BT? I feel an angry email coming on re this.

I won't be paying for CLIR from Jan and will leave BT over it. None of the mobile providers have ever charged, and BT cover the cost from commercial customers (ISDN etc)

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2003/2426/regulation/11/made

Off-Topic replies have been moved to this Topic.

Postings went onto the subject of Post Office HomePhone so they've been split off into their own thread.

Until now I have sort-of accepted BT "privacy" on an "as is" basis, because they don't charge for it (because it costs them half of a dead doughnut to provide).
From January 2014, I shall be demanding refunds of their absurd profiteering charge for presentation of CLI, because they don't present CLI, for the substantial proportion of nuisance calls that originate overseas.

nicholas43 wrote on Dec 4^th, 2013 at 9:06pm:

From January 2014, I shall be demanding refunds of their absurd profiteering charge for presentation of CLI, because they don't present CLI, for the substantial proportion of nuisance calls that originate overseas.

There is a programme to make changes that will allow international CLIs, rather than the "international" status which is shown at present.

Dave wrote on Dec 4^th, 2013 at 9:17pm:

There is a programme to make changes that will allow international CLIs, rather than the "international" status which is shown at present.

This will obviously be of great benefit to those who wish to know which of their contacts in countries that support CLI is calling. It is possible that those who are curious about missed calls would be prepared to make an international call to identify the caller.

I hope this will not be used as a further opportunity to perpetuate the myth that CLI always identifies the caller.

I'm afraid, after a lifetime of using BT, we have just decided to leave. The constant price increases, especially the call setup charge, drove us first to go for anytime calls, but this is now being increased to £7 per month. Plus there's this new charge for caller display which we got for free before (don't want to be tied to a 12 month contract)  Goodbye BT - I suggest others follow - it's the only way to make a difference.

BB wrote on Dec 10^th, 2013 at 10:15pm:

I'm afraid, after a lifetime of using BT, we have just decided to leave. The constant price increases, especially the call setup charge, drove us first to go for anytime calls, but this is now being increased to £7 per month. Plus there's this new charge for caller display which we got for free before (don't want to be tied to a 12 month contract)  Goodbye BT - I suggest others follow - it's the only way to make a difference.

To add to that, what will get a lot of customers riled is the sending out of letters which promote BT's new sport channels "for free" — particularly customers who aren't interested in them. It can afford to keep printing and sending this correspondence but charges for a basic part of a telephone service, which it only notifies customers of once, possibly by e-mail. And then there's the hypocrisy of encouraging paper-free billing and repeatedly sending these letters.

BB wrote on Dec 10^th, 2013 at 10:15pm:

I'm afraid, after a lifetime of using BT, we have just decided to leave. The constant price increases, especially the call setup charge, drove us first to go for anytime calls, but this is now being increased to £7 per month. Plus there's this new charge for caller display which we got for free before (don't want to be tied to a 12 month contract)  Goodbye BT - I suggest others follow - it's the only way to make a difference.

So who do you recommend moving to then ? :)

Irrespective of what you pay for 01, 02 and 03 calls, by moving away from BT you'll likely lose inclusive 0845 calls (though even BT customers will have to live with that reality in about 18 months time) or see their price rise considerably, as well as see calls to 0843, 0844, 0871, 0872 and 0873 numbers perhaps almost double in price.

Recent article in Daily Mail on the subject.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/news/article-2519323/MPs-slam-BTs-decision-charge-caller-ID.html

Ian G wrote on Dec 11^th, 2013 at 7:34pm:

Irrespective of what you pay for 01, 02 and 03 calls, by moving away from BT you'll likely lose inclusive 0845 calls (though even BT customers will have to live with that reality in about 18 months time) or see their price rise considerably, as well as see calls to 0843, 0844, 0871, 0872 and 0873 numbers perhaps almost double in price.

Ian using TT we have inclusive 0845/0870 calls.. but I still continue to find NON 08 alternatives for the times when such calls become chargeable yet again....