BT awful customer service - switching after engineer visit?

AliceBanned · 5 January 2018 at 11:05AM

My elderly parents had problems with their broadband going back to September or before. They have been paying £66 per month for phone, broadband and TV - I had only just been made aware of it all in November when I tried to get the broadband up and running and spoke to BT on the phone and they talked me through a complex set of procedures which even included unscrewing the phone socket from the wall and tampering with wires inside.

I didn't get it working then but due to mental health problems in the family it all became a bit much and I took a breather from it and phoned BT back this week when I realised it was still not working and my father probably would keep paying and never get round to coping with sorting it. BT had quoted the usual £129 engineer fee if it isn't BT's fault. They also said it was 'resolved' in September and November when we called but it never was - we just couldn't handle the situation at home and there were wires everywhere etc. Hard to explain but it is the truth.

I am appalled by the response from BT today as I have tried to get some kind of understanding and goodwill payment as they have been paying for broadband they couldn't use for months. The person I spoke to offered £5 after I explained they are elderly, there is also a problem with hoarding, and memory problems. The guy was so hostile and condescending. I told him my parents had been with BT for 51 years and this was appalling.

My question is, should I just switch them to eg EE now (if they agree obviously) or would they then get charged for the engineer visit?. I swore at the guy in the end (I can only cope with so much unreasonableness). They don't use much of the phone package anyway. I was offered a package for them of £45 per month which didn't include evening calls. Not great. I just got the feeling BT don't care at all about their customers and have not been understanding the situation all along. I should complain to the ombudsman. I am not even sure what the fault was in the end. Maybe they just got a nice engineer.

Quentin · 5 January 2018 at 12:46PM

If they weren't aware of the problem they couldn't do much till you contacted them much later.

Shame you resorted to swearing - you lose any high ground behaving like that.

Everyone has to pay for an engineer if it's an unnecessary visit/ due to customers wiring etc whoever the supplier is

JJ_Egan · 5 January 2018 at 1:37PM

Big question is why was BB unusable .
Reads as user problem in which case moving or not requires an Engineers visit to sort and its chargeable .
Moving to EE its the same infrastructure and the same problems .Plus charges may apply if still in contract .

AliceBanned · 5 January 2018 at 2:04PM

Quentin wrote: »

If they weren't aware of the problem they couldn't do much till you contacted them much later.

Shame you resorted to swearing - you lose any high ground behaving like that.

Everyone has to pay for an engineer if it's an unnecessary visit/ due to customers wiring etc whoever the supplier is

It was clearly BT problem as they didn't charge for the engineer visit. I am just saying if I switch now they might renege on that but I doubt they can as the service should have been working retrospectively. I think companies who know about customer service or care about it don't behave in this way. I am not talking literally here - obviously there is some fault on both sides but there are mental health and memory issues and lots of problems going on so I don't think they should have a blanket approach where there is no give (well unless you count £5 as a generous rebate).

AliceBanned · 5 January 2018 at 2:05PM

I am going to move them to Virgin - the customer care is important especially as they are elderly.

Inner_Zone · 5 January 2018 at 2:16PM

AliceBanned wrote: »

I am going to move them to Virgin - the customer care is important especially as they are elderly.

You really think VM will be any better. Bit like BT with Openreach they sub out most of their work to a third party.

AliceBanned · 5 January 2018 at 2:19PM

Inner_Zone wrote: »

You really think VM will be any better. Bit like BT with Openreach they sub out most of there work to a third party.

I doubt VM lose all the accountability though - they are a more forward-thinking company. I don't hear bad things from anyone about VM but hear loads about BT. They just rely on inertia to keep customers and unfortunately a lot of older people aren't as au fait with switching. BT used to be the only provider - even I remember those times.

Quentin · 5 January 2018 at 2:45PM

AliceBanned wrote: »

I don't hear bad things from anyone about VM.....

You can read loads here:

https://www.broadband.co.uk/broadband/providers/virgin-media/reviews/

JJ_Egan · 5 January 2018 at 2:57PM

Elderly /memory /mental should be registered with the provider as such .

Customer care = Zen or A&A for the best .

onomatopoeia99 · 5 January 2018 at 4:10PM

AliceBanned wrote: »

I doubt VM lose all the accountability though - they are a more forward-thinking company. I don't hear bad things from anyone about VM but hear loads about BT. .

We use VM at work. I can tell you some bad things from experience if you want.

AliceBanned · 5 January 2018 at 5:56PM

JJ_Egan wrote: »

Elderly /memory /mental should be registered with the provider as such .

Customer care = Zen or A&A for the best .

Thanks - I will do that in future. They are just reaching a stage where I am realising things like this are slipping through the net so I need to try and keep copied in on some of their bills etc. They will go out of contract and pay more than they need for months or years otherwise.

BT awful customer service - switching after engineer visit?

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