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British Telecom's pricing policy for public holidays

On days such as Easter Monday, Bank Holiday Monday, etc, there is a feeling that it's a notional Sunday. In the UK, most of the shops are shut, and there is a tendency for people to go out to the seaside and to buy ice-cream. On Christmas Day there is a feeling that it's very much like a Sunday, and people behave in a Sundaylike way. Also, at Easter and Bank Holiday, it's like an extended weekend, as if it were a weekend with an extra Sunday added on.

So, it is generally believed that any phone calls made on bank holidays and other honorary Sundays are at SUNDAY rates rather than at normal business working rates. NOT SO!

Regardless of whether a day is Christmas Day or Easter or any other holiday, whatever day of the week it is, that's what the charges are. Easter Monday is one of the most misleading, as this is obviously always on a Monday, but it's always considered by everyone to be a Sunday. Any calls made on that day are charged as if it's a normal working business day!

To try to see it from a BT point of view, it would be difficult to devise a pricing policy that was consistent and pleased everyone. If you include Easter, then what about other supposedly religious feasts? Different people in a multicultural society would expect other sacred days or "Holy Days" (yes, that's where the term "holidays" comes from!) to be included.

However, the choice of British Telecom was to keep the policy simple and charge everyone full business rate for Bank Holiday Mondays etc.

You might like to lobby BT about it and try to get them to change the policy, but really that's not the most important thing about it. What's important is to BE AWARE of the situation. Don't make calls at Christmas and Easter and just ASSUME it's a weekend because it feels like it! If in doubt, use the *411# / #411# feature to prove how much the calls cost. The pricing of the calls really is based on whether it's a business working day, and not whether or not it feels like a HOLIDAY!

So, remember: Regardless of whether it's a holiday or not, the British Telecom price of a phone call is the same as if it was on a normal day!