BT default

I've recently moved house. I dutifully arrange the take over of our telephone line with BT. Our first bill has just arrived with a £4.50 payment processing charge. I was outraged as nobody had mentioned this in any of our (telephone) conversations.

Sure enough, down in the small print, it states that you can pay by Direct Debit or a monthly payment scheme or expect to be charged for them handling the cheque. What are they wearing: gold-plated gloves? How can I be charged for not taking an option to avoid the charge when I didn't know the charge would be applied and when it was too late to do anything about it?

The BT call centre in India either don't or are trained not to understand this kind of logic. The first person was just rude. Under no circumstances would the charge be removed. That discounts earthquakes or nuclear warfare then... The second person - after putting me on hold in the hope I'd go away - said that I could pay by Direct Debit but that it would include the charge. However, a credit would be issued against my next bill. I'll be watching very carefully.

Small name, small print and small minded.