BT and KCT problems - HELP!!

Jessikka · 27 May 2010 at 12:46PM

I have just started a new business and went with BT for the landline.
BT came and installed the line, and everything great. However, I received a call from KCT a couple of days after my newline went in, saying they are apart of BT and they can cut our line rental in half. I asked was it free and they advised it was.
So after alot of talking to them, I decided to go with KCT and they said they will contact BT etc.. so I dont have to worry about it.

Now BT have sent me a bill saying I own them £300 as I have cancelled my contract early!! KCT never said anything about this, nor BT tried to contact me regarding cancelling the contract. All I had was this bill in the post. In KCT terms they said they will send out an info pack etc etc within 5 days, we havent received anything from them If we cancel KCT then they will charge us £1000! I have asked KCT for a recording and they sent one, but it was only half the recording as they passed me on to someone else. I have requested the other half of the recording and STILL not heard anything back. been 3 weeks now. I have spoken to BT and said to put the bill on hold as we sort out this mess and now today BT have sent a Debt Recovery Letter to us. I really dont know what to do now, I have no money to pay BT £300 and if I new I would get charged then I would never ever agreed to this.

What a mess! has this happened to anyone else? can anyone help?
Thanks

iniltous · 27 May 2010 at 2:05PM

BT are not allowed to contact anyone who is moving/switching providers...OFCOM and before it OFTEL said BT couldnt contact ex- customers and offer any 'stay with us and pay only £' retention type deals, if you call them and say 'Im thinking of leaving what can you offer me' is different because you contacted them, BT calling you ,just because you are leaving them would be said to stiffle competition, so BT cannot contact you apart fom 'the sorry you are leaving, here is your final bill'
Your complaint is with KCT (who are KCT ?) who shouldnt be saying they are part of BT, and as you have found out, they dont care if you are in contract with another provider or not, thats your problem...if you havent already you should probably contact OFCOM or OTELO, if KCT are not a ''fly by night' type Telco then they should release you from an improperly sold contract, but there are lots of dodgy Telco's out there, ite easy for me to say but having just got the line installed, your were bound to be in contract with whoever arranged that service, so they will apply the T&C's if you break the contract early with them.

Equaliser123 · 27 May 2010 at 2:06PM

Think you need to get in touch with both parties (BT and KCT) and tell them to put the situation back to how it was.

Did KCT give you any terms and conditions to sign/review?

Equaliser123 · 27 May 2010 at 2:09PM

Assume it is KCT Group. From their Code of Practice:

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Complaint Handling Process[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]If you should have cause to complain about our services, please send your complaint in writing by post to KCT UK Ltd, Cheshire House, Market Street, Disley, Cheshire, SK12 2AA or by email to charlotte.bird@kctgroup.co.uk. KCT UK Ltd will review your complaint within 2 weeks and contact you with a suggested resolution. If in the event the complaint / compensation request is due to third party negligence, KCT UK Ltd will report the claim to the said party. KCT UK Ltd does not accept liability for loss of revenue, loss of business or expected savings if a complaint is found to be with a third party. Any credits or resolutions received by third party will be passed onto the customer. A complaint form is available, should you wish to log a complaint please request a form by email to charlotte.bird@kctgroup.co.uk or by phone on 0844 277 7777.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Alternative Dispute Resolution[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]OTELO[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Address: Otelo, PO Box 730, Warrington, WA4 6WU
Email: enquiries@otelo.org.uk Tel: 0845 050 1614
Alt tel: 0330 440 1614 and Fax: 0330 440 1615
Regional phone number is: 01925 430 049
Textphone number is: 0845 051 1513 or 18001 01925 430886[/FONT]

macman · 27 May 2010 at 2:13PM

Surely you were aware that when you signed with BT you were in a minimum term contract? It's not any other provider's responsibility to tell you that, not could they know how far into your contract you were. Did you really think that you could switch providers just 2 days into your contract without penalty?
Many of the business telecoms resellers have onerous terms, of which a 2 year contract is by no means uncommon. You need to check the KCT T&C's but it sounds like you are already well beyond the 7 day cooling off period.
Edit: usual vague T&C's, but some of their business contracts appear to be 60 months!
And their line rental at £12.99 is more than BT-certainly not half!

Jessikka · 27 May 2010 at 4:13PM

Thanks for your replies, with the 7 day cooling off period, BT never contacted us until it was too late. They contacted us a month later to say that we are no longer with them and you owe £300. so the 7 days were well up. As for KCT I only spoke to them on the phone and they asked how long have we had the line and I said 2 days, they also said they are part of BT. also BT letters are not getting sent out on time, they date the letters and then 2/3 weeks we receive them.
I tried to go back with BT but then KCT wrote to us saying if we leave then we owe them £1000. Thats the only letter I have had from KCT, they never sent and info pack, no terms nothing..

macman · 27 May 2010 at 4:28PM

As others have said, it wasn't BT's job to contact you within 7 days, they would only do so after KCT had informed them that they were taking over the service, whcih would be after the 7 days had expired.
TBH I think the BT £300 is the least of your problems. You appeared to have agreed the KCT contract verbally without the most basic checks to find out what you were contracting to-what is the minimum term on this contract? What happens to the pricing after the first 12m? What are the early termination penalties?
It seems you best bet is to try and get the KCT contract cancelled on the grounds of mis-selling, but that may not be easy based on what you have said. Are you sure that they said 'we are part of BT', or just that 'we use the BT network' (which is true)?

utilitybroker · 27 May 2010 at 5:31PM

Any communications supplier who provides a fixed line service to small biz customers has to abide to a Code of Practice General Condition 24.

KCT are no different and recognise this.

http://www.kctgroup.co.uk/codeofpractice.html

http://www.kctgroup.co.uk/GC24.pdf

If it was not adhered to you have a right to ask them cancel the contract,and return you to BT.

kizzylouise · 15 September 2010 at 7:27PM

I can`t believe I am reading this!, KCT have done exactly the same to me
and have only recorded half the call! only thing is they are telling me I owe them £3000 + vat!!!
I have only received one letter from them and that was the one demanding the money!!! I have sent a long letter to their complaints department and copied it to Otelo.
I have asked them to only contact me via email or post as I am refusing to get caught up by this!, I only found out when i got the cancellation bill from BT, KCT wrote to me saying I had 5 working days to make my mind up but on day 3 of that they let BT take the line back so I am waiting now for the demanding letters for money, all of which shall be sent straight over to OTELO.
I feel so stupid falling for it but when somebody calls and says they are part of Bt you just presume they are telling the truth!

kizzylouise · 15 September 2010 at 7:42PM

I just re read through some of the questions,
KCT say that bt is basically split into three different companies but is all still under the BT umbrella.
I have never received anything written from kct other than a demand for £3000! no written terms and conditions no welcome pack nothing.
they even charged me £10 for a copy of the call recording (the 2nd call they made me, the first one was when they told me they were part of BT, the 2nd call was just the verbal contract bit ) well not only did they charge me £10 they actually charged me £10.50 aghhhh!!

scarletlady_3 · 9 November 2010 at 3:26PM

Just to let you guys know this is still happening. As a small business owner I had all these type of companies ringing up at the beginning with all kind of dodgy offers and weird names (usually utilities), but hadn't heard a peep for months til KCT rang. A bolshy little thing told me they were "outsourced" by BT and could get me cheaper calls. She then proceeded to ask me if I could confirm whether I had a BT line and how long i'd had it for-oops! "How come you don't know this stuff if you're with BT?" "Ermm....".
Anyway, I rang BT and they (obviously) knew nothing about it. They'll probably ring again, they can be very persistant in my experience.
I get so cross with these companies-they could be sending a lot of small businesses to the wall with their practises, especially when you're new and green. Hang up or vent any verbal frustrations you like on them, I say. (not very grown up, I know, but fairly satisfying...)

BT and KCT problems - HELP!!

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free