Bit late, but I've just finished reading the DT I bought on 3rd March.
On page 15 there is the headline "Telephone companies net £200m from
cash or cheque fees".
I cannot quote the URL, because it causes an error, which I have
complained to DT about. From the paper, then:
"BT charges £18 a year, TalkTalk charges £42 a year and Virgin levies
£60 to customers who pay telephone bills by cash or cheque, rather
than direct debit.
"Barclays Bank...has said it charges corporate clients 25p every time
it handles a cheque. If a consumer comes into the bank to pay their
bill with coins and notes, Barclays charges corporate clients, such as
BT, no more than 75p for handling the money.
"Ofcom calculates that nearly eight million customers pay bills by
cash or cheque, handing over £211 million a year to the three telecom
companies. An estimated £200 million of this is likely to be profit.
BT alone rakes in £99 million in charges, according to calculations
based on the rates charged by Barclays."
Therefore, as I have always maintained, BT is ripping off us
non-direct debit customers in a very big way. I hope Ofcom will grab
them tightly by the short 'n' curlies and squeeze hard.
I look forward to a refund from BT for all the excess bill-handling
charges they have levied in the past. I expect they are in for a huge
bill themselves. Maybe their shareholders will hold the management to
account, since none of us ordinary folk can.
MM |