BT apologises for fine confusion

BT is now changing the wording on its bills to make things clearer

British Telecom has been forced to defend itself after a new policy of charging for late payment caused anger and confusion amongst its customers.

BT decided in December to impose a £5 fine if a customer is more than 26 days late in paying their bill, and the January bill is the first to carry a warning.

But angry customers began contacting the BBC to complain that their bills gave the impression the fine would be imposed within days.

BT has now apologised for the "error" in the wording on the bill which it said it is "urgently correcting", but has defended the fine, saying it is standard practice across other utilities companies.

However, it has said it would look to waive the fine on one occasion for customers with a good reason for paying late, such as a holiday, bereavement or illness.

Customer confusion

BBC Radio 4's Money Box programme was contacted by BT customer Ailsa Clarke who said she received a bill on the 12 January.

The bill - which was dated 6 January - had a payment date of 17 January, and said: "To avoid a £5 late payment, please pay the bill by the date shown above."

This appeared to give Ailsa only five days to pay the bill before she received a fine. This was far short of the 26 days BT says people have.

Another customer, Judith, found her bill when she returned from a short break. Speaking to the programme she said:

We realise the wording is confusing and we are urgently correcting that message Gavin Patterson, BT

"It is very hard to come back from holiday and find that you are only just in time to avoid a late payment charge.

"If we had been on holiday a little bit longer or the bill had been dated a little bit earlier we would have been landed with no way of avoiding it apart from battling against BT."

Gavin Patterson, Managing Director of BT's Consumer Division has now apologised for the confusion, and admitted:

"We have made an error. We realise the wording is confusing and we are urgently correcting that message. Anybody that pays their bill within 26 days will not be charged the late payment charge."

But he defended the charging policy, saying: "Late payment charges are standard practice, not just in the telecoms industry but across other utilities, such as water, gas and electricity."

He said the company had introduced the policy in response to customer feedback, to make sure "that customers who are good payers, and pay on time, do not subsidise the customers who are late payers".

BBC Radio 4's Money Box was broadcast on Saturday, 22 January, 2005, at 1204 GMT.

The programme was repeated on Sunday, 23 January, 2005, at 2102 GMT.