sherbert wrote on Apr 24
th, 2010 at 7:24pm:
Why is it you are correct and they are wrong?
It is for BT to explain why a leaflet that is focused on promoting the Unlimited Anytime Plan overstates the cost of non-inclusive calls.
0845 should not be included in the statement which correctly states the old and new rates for "landlines" and 0870 numbers. The rate for calling 0845 numbers was not changed on 1 April 2010. I previously referred to the relevant detailed pricing document.
The
quoted letter from BT referred only to landline call rates increasing, it did not mention that 0870 rates are now tied to these by BT, whereas 0845 are not.
Inclusion of both 0845 and 0870 calls in packages is such a big thing for BT's marketing, one has to suspect that someone got carried away when preparing the marketing document for the Anytime Inclusive package and slipping both in, when only one was appropriate. We must remember that BT's non-inclusive rates are steadily increasing at the consistent rate of 30% per annum. This is simply about getting people to switch to inclusive packages. If BT simply wanted the call revenue, the documents would not be so heavily littered with encouragement to avoid providing it.
I have reported the error to a BT representative, who agrees that this looks like a mistake. Others may wish to do the same. We may see a correction in due course, although this document is only really of historic interest as it covers a change that has happened, and the current information all appears to be correct.
This issue is complex and difficult enough to explain without BT making errors in stating its own prices so as to create further unnecessary confusion!
It is widely expected (indeed this error would seem to support such an expectation) that revenue sharing will be removed from 0845 and the limit on BT's prices for 0845 calls will be lifted so that they settle at the same rate as for "normal" calls. Although this will not happen for some time, BT anticipated this change by making 0845 calls inclusive in packages last year, as it also anticipated the removal of revenue sharing from 0870 by over 6 months.
P.S. This was drafted and first published before seeing reply #26.