This is a bit sneaky......

We are also making some changes to your BT service.


We'd also like to make you aware of some changes to our prices, terms and conditions, effective from 1st April 2010. These include changing what we define as the evening call period for all types of calls: at the moment from 6pm-6am, but changing to 7pm-7am.


Also I note that they are not  advertising the inclusive evening calls on their web site

http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerProducts/displayCategory.do?catego...

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Thanks for the clarification and research  SCV

I have to say that was one of the first posts that you have made that I could actually understand through out!!!!!!!

jrawle wrote on Feb 1^st, 2010 at 3:29pm:

Yes, that is the whole point; BT would agree with this statement.

Clearly some will be disadvantaged and odd effects will be created in the process, but the whole idea behind this sequence of tariff changes (a continuing 30% per annum price hike) is to eliminate call charges for ordinary calls. Some people do not use their landline during the day, so there is a distinction between "Anytime" and "Evening and Weekend", although the terms of this concession have now been narrowed. Those who only make the odd daytime call pay what I call a "penalty rate", also described as a "rip-off". This is part of BT's undisguised (and somewhat bullying) efforts to get people to stop paying for each ordinary call that they make.

For those who make regular weekday daytime calls - Anytime is the BT product. Calculations are difficult because there are two elements in the non-inclusive charge, but simple examples are relatively easy. If you made at least one 3-minute daytime call on each of the 20 weekdays in a month this would cost £5.60, so it would be worthwhile to subscribe to Anytime at £4.99. To beat 18185, one would need to make an average of more than 5 calls per weekday.

For many there is also the important psychological element - once having decided to go for an inclusive package one does not have to think about the cost of each ordinary call, unless it goes on beyond 60 minutes. Our engagement on this site may mean that we are happy to think about the cost of everything that we do very carefully, however I suspect that most people would rather spend their minute by minute energies on other things.

One does however, quite rightly, have to think about the cost of calls to premium rate numbers (I include 0844, assuming that the present mess with 0845 will shortly be resolved). That is as it should be, those who offer premium rate services should be proud of the fact and happy to be judged on the basis of the value for money that they offer!

I support the principle of what BT is trying to achieve, although the method has to be somewhat heavy-handed. The way that we pay for usage of the telephone system has grown up as it has for a variety of reasons, not least because call billing technology was implemented as an inherent (and costly) feature from the early days. The total costs have now fallen sufficiently so that (essentially) unlimited access can be provided to all, without concerns about this being unacceptably inequitable. Apart from special provision for low volume and disadvantaged users, it is now reasonable to start moving away from charging according to what you use. Complications remain with access to mobile phones, because of the arrangement under which callers subsidise what would otherwise be "line rental". In time this could be resolved and the cost of international calls could also fall sufficiently to be handled similarly.

Whilst premium rate services remain (as I suspect that they will) they will have to be treated separately because this is an arrangement between the caller and the particular person being called, with the telco simply acting as an intermediary, (just a delivery agent) providing only part of the service.

Has BT announced an increase in line rental at this time?

I have mentioned here that Virgin will include calls to Virgin Mobile numbers but although labelled as free, it coincides with what looks like a line rental increase to £11.99.

Now this line rental increase will mean, unless BT also increase their line rental charges (and they probably will), then Virgin will have a more expensive line rental charge than BT!

Here is part of the email that BT sent....



Changes to home phone calling plan prices in April 2010.

  Daytime and Evening call period.


From 1st April 2010 we will be changing the evening call period: currently from 6pm-6am, changing to 7pm-7am. As a result, calls made between 7pm and 7am will be charged at the evening rate. This change will affect all call types, including calls to mobiles, international numbers and 0845 and 0870 numbers. If you are on the Unlimited Evening & Weekend Plan, your inclusive calls will start at 7pm instead of 6pm.


Call set-up fee.


From 1st April 2010, the call set-up fee for non-inclusive calls from landlines and for non-inclusive Broadband Talk calls will increase from 9.3p to 9.9p per call. The existing call set-up fee of 3p per call for BT Basic, Light User Scheme and In-Contact Plus customers remains unchanged.
Call set-up fees will not apply to:


• Inclusive weekend calls for customers on the Unlimited Weekend Plan.
   
• Inclusive evening and weekend calls for customers on the Unlimited Evening & Weekend Plan or the Broadband Talk Evening & Weekend Plan.
   
• Inclusive any time calls on the Unlimited Anytime Plan or the Broadband Talk Anytime Plan.
   
• Calls to Freephone services and other inclusive calls not mentioned above.


Daytime UK calls.


From 1st April 2010, the cost of UK landline calls made during the daytime will increase from 5.4 pence per minute to 5.9 pence per minute. This change does not apply to BT Basic, Light User Scheme and In-Contact Plus customers. The changes to the evening call period, set-up fee and daytime UK landline call price do not affect inclusive calls of up to an hour made with the Unlimited Anytime Plan.

SilentCallsVictim wrote on Feb 1^st, 2010 at 5:25pm:


But for many people, they are rarely at home during the daytime on weekdays, so it makes no sense to pay for inclusive calls then. It's the rare occasion people find themselves at home (phoning to chase up that delivery they were waiting at home for, Bank Holiday Monday, etc.) that they may need to make a call. This could be a few a year.

Obviously, if people do make a lot of daytime calls, inclusive calls might make sense, even before BT's rip-off price rises.

Incidentally, no-one has answered my other questions. Do other providers block codes such as 18185, and does changing phone provider interrupt ADSL broadband?

jrawle wrote on Feb 1^st, 2010 at 9:15pm:

Exactly, that is why there are cheaper alternative packages for those who only make calls during Evenings and / or Weekends.
Whether it is fair that people should incur a penalty for rare or exceptional behaviour is an interesting moral point. The favouring of majorities is what consumerism delivers; I would not argue against it being applied in this case.

The suggestion that the occasions on which a customer would incur these penalties "could be a few a year” helps to make what I refer to as being the significant point.

SilentCallsVictim wrote on Feb 1^st, 2010 at 6:47pm:

jrawle wrote on Feb 3^rd, 2010 at 11:16am:


Remember from April 1st that is changing to 7pm