trevord wrote on Mar 25
th, 2006 at 7:08pm:
No! I think BT are being particularly devious here! It's almost 6p inc.VAT!
They now round up call charges to the nearest half-penny.
If I understand it correctly, first you round up the ex-VAT cost to the nearest half-penny, so for any call incurring just the minimum charge, 4.6p becomes 5p ex. VAT, which then becomes 5.9p inc. VAT!
I think you are right there Trev!
JoePublic, the rounding must be done before VAT is added as it is added as one lump-sum at the end, as it were.
This is particularly sneaky, as pointed out, there can never be a 4.6p charge for an individual call. What's more, the current 4.2p minimum charge (excluding VAT) must surely be rounded up to 4.5p which makes it 5.29p and not 5p. How are BT allowed to describe the charge as 5p, when it appears that it is rounded up?
I sincerely believe that every 'improvement' or additional service provided by telephone companies is provided on the premise that its 'Design' department (for want of a better word) must devise a way of counteracting giving away such a service for 'free'.
Take BT 1571; free to the recepient. All those minimum charges soon add up as too do those short calls made on BT Together Option 1 at (allegedly) 5.5p for up to an hour as opposed to 5p. This latest price increase is yet another way of making free BT 1571 pay for itself.
Another example is caller display. This has been a complete rip-off for years, and should have been free a long time ago. But today's corporate telecoms market has the gaul to charge extra. What's more, BT makes it free, then increases the line rental for everyone (yet again). A 50p increase for everyone will generate more income than the £1.75 BT extorted from those who paid for it. What's more, those who pay for it must 'opt-in' to the free version.