The Scandal of the Payment Processing Fee

We've all heard about the horrors of being charged by the banks to take out OUR money, now read about the horrors of BT taking more of OUR money when we try to pay our 'phone bills! BACS (the automated bank clearing people) call it a discrete charge - I call it DAYLIGHT ROBBERY. From May 2007 you will be charged £4.50 per quarter simply to pay your bill by cheque! As a self-employed person, when someone pays me, whether by cheque, credit / debit card, cash, whatever, I say meekly, "thank you". BT on the other hand say, "not enough". Of course, if you don't pay, you will be disconnected. If you pay late you will also be charged a late payment fee. So much for privatisation opening up the competition.