The !!!!!!!s at BT

Hellinahandcart

I have been reading the site for a while now. I am so p*ssed at what BT have done to my mother I felt I had to join and post.

My mother is in her late 70’s and lives alone in a small village. The telephone means a lot to her as she uses it to keep in contact with all the extended family. She is the ideal customer for any company as, generally, she is of the age where brand loyalty is still king and, generally, it will take a great deal for her to change the providers of any service.
Recently my brother and I have been talking to her about changing her home phone provider. She has been with BT (or their fore runners) since before I was born and that was in the 50’s!!
On 15th July she was telephoned by BT. She thought it was just a discussion about the service and she did not think there was anything untoward. However, at the weekend she received a letter from them, dated 17th July. The relevant part of it reads as follows:
“You can start making your free UK evening and weekend calls from today. Your 12 month contract began on 15 July 2008. Since we have already started to provide this deal to you, as agreed, you no longer have a right to cancel it without incurring termination charges.”
The charges? The balance of the 12 month contract!!!!!!

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

So, the !!!!!!!s have signed up a 78 year old, via a telephone call, to a twelve month contract that she did not know she was agreeing to. Further, they are obviously doing it in this way to stop people cancelling the contracts (the deal is crap) by using the cooling off period you would normally get. In addition the letter states that, if she wishes to contact BT about the letter, she should write to Blah, Blah etc etc. Therefore this telephone company does not provide a telephone number ANYWHERE on the letter to enable the customer to contact them, proving to me that they know that what they are doing is not the way they should really conduct themselves. They can have no idea, when they make the call, as to how ‘consumer savvy’ the person on the other end of the line is, whether they are ill, infirm or anything else about them.

Has anyone else had this? Views and action I can take?

Marg

I'm sorry I can't offer much constructive help but I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments you have expressed about BT.

I had a similar phone call from them some months ago and they are very skillful @ putting words into your mouth I managed to avoid commitment. I strongly suspect that they are covered by the distance selling regulations and MUST have a cooling off period especially as they phoned your Mum not the other way round. I also doubt they can hide behind 'we have already started to provide this service' excuse. (It's not as if they will have actually done anything apart from send the letter)

Here is the complaints phone number I found on their webpage though I can't promise it's in the UK! Or you could dial the operator (100)? and ask to speak to a supervisor and put your case just as you have done here & don't take No for an answer.

Good Luck!

Telephone number
0800 800 150
Opening hours
Monday to Saturday 7.30am to 10pm, Sunday 9am to 6pm

Calls to 0800 numbers are free from a BT line. All calls made to BT or from BT may be recorded to help us give you a better service.

arm1970

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
I've also been had by BT's latest con trick. Is this not a form of “slamming” which some dodgy mobile companies do and get lambasted on MSE every other week?

I got the letter yesterday and called today to ask, "when I had agreed to the change of plan?" I ended up speaking to one of their overseas call centres and was told that I must have agreed it when I spoke to one of their colleagues. He asked if I spoken to anybody from BT recently. I have but here's the thing. I've spoken to BT for 4 things recently and here’s the reasons why:

1. to obtain my MAC to get away from their overpriced broadband.
2. on the numerous calls to offer me a reduction in my BB charges if I stay for another 12 months. On more than 3 occasions I've told them where to go (politely of course) and to stop the calls. They promised this wouldn't happen on all 3 occasions.
3. when they called (5 times over 3 days) about their new package and were to be told “I was looking to move to another provider (for reasons 1 & 2) and had no wish to remain with BT longer than I needed to.
4. To complain about points 1 - 3 and the numerous missed calls from BT (0800 953 3008 and 0800 953 3006) which were no doubt trying to sell me a BT product. Why can BT circumvent TPS which seems to stop most cold calling I’m trying to avoid.

So I ask you which of the above 4 points makes me appear to want to sign up for another 12 months with BT for any of their products?

I was promised that everything would be sorted and my plan changed back within 24 hours however when I got home tonight I’ve just been sent my e-bill which shows they’ve already mucked about with the charges on the account.

God only knows when they’ll sort this out. It takes them seconds to alter something you don’t want and have told them as much and months to get their mistakes rectified.

I think this post will grow to a fair old length knowing BT's customer service standards

topherxp

arm1970 wrote: »

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
Is this not a form of “slamming” which some dodgy mobile companies do and get lambasted on MSE every other week?

Slamming is when a service provider takes over your line or calls without your permission.

topherxp

Hellinahandcart wrote: »

So, the !!!!!!!s have signed up a 78 year old, via a telephone call, to a twelve month contract that she did not know she was agreeing to.

I'm not saying they gave all the information but unless you were on the call listening you can't know what information was given.

Hellinahandcart wrote: »

Further, they are obviously doing it in this way to stop people cancelling the contracts (the deal is crap) by using the cooling off period you would normally get.

How is that deal crap? You get provided with free evening calls if you agree that you with stay with BT for your line rental for at least the next 12 months, so if you have been a customer for a long time or in your mothers instance reluctant to change companies its as good as something for nothing.

If you called BT about having this offer, you WOULDN'T get a cooling off period. The only way to get a cooling off period is to ask for the service to be provided at a future date instead of straight away.

Well of course BT want customers signed up to a contract, but then again all the other providers supply services with contracts, BT have had 12 month contracts now for just over 12 months on just a standard line, which is not as long as some of the other companies have had long contracts. Its a way of ensuring future revenue for the company.

Hellinahandcart wrote: »

In addition the letter states that, if she wishes to contact BT about the letter, she should write to Blah, Blah etc etc. Therefore this telephone company does not provide a telephone number ANYWHERE on the letter to enable the customer to contact them, proving to me that they know that what they are doing is not the way they should really conduct themselves.

It doesn't mean you can't call, its been the same customer service number for years, 150, although stating a number on the letter may be more helpful.

Hellinahandcart wrote: »

They can have no idea, when they make the call, as to how ‘consumer savvy’ the person on the other end of the line is, whether they are ill, infirm or anything else about them.

So basically what your saying is that all companies should not be contacting customers with there latest offers.

bunking_off

topherxp wrote: »

So basically what your saying is that all companies should not be contacting customers with there latest offers.

No, what they're saying is that if BT contacted their mother and seemingly slammed her onto a calls package (slamming covers all signing up onto telephony packages without consent, incidentally, not just moving service provider), then it should be covered by the distance selling directive hence allow cancellation.

Doubt the OP would wish to go to the hassle, but I bet they'd stand a very good chance of success if they took BT to court about the disclaimer.

See this guide, Section 3.23;

Different rules apply to services where the consumer agrees that the
service starts before the usual cancellation period expires. These
rules are as follows.

- Where you have supplied the required durable information before the service starts and the consumer agrees to the service starting before the end of the usual cancellation period, their cancellation rights will end when performance of the service starts

-if the consumer agrees that the service can start before the usual cancellation period ends, but you do not provide the required written information until after the service has started but provide it in time for it still to be useful, cancellation rights will last for seven working days after the day the consumer receives the information. But if you finish providing the service within seven working days after the day the consumer receives the required durable information, cancellation rights will end on the day of completion, or


- if you do not provide the required durable information at all, your consumer’s right to cancel ends after three months and seven working days counting from the day after the day on which the contract was concluded. This applies whether or not the consumer agrees that you can start the service before the cancellation period ends.

In this context, durable information is the written T&Cs. Seems to me the situation is covered by the 2nd or 3rd bullet. EO&E, I'm not a lawyer.

BritBrat

I think the free evening and weekend calls is a good deal.

Yes I agree they should not of signed her up if she did not want it but at the end of the day she has been with BT for 50 years or more so what is one more year going to matter?

Hellinahandcart

BritBrat wrote: »

I think the free evening and weekend calls is a good deal.

Yes I agree they should not of signed her up if she did not want it but at the end of the day she has been with BT for 50 years or more so what is one more year going to matter?

Oh well, that is alright then, isn't it? they shouldn't have done it but it is only for a year so get over it! :rolleyes:

Topherxp,

Some interesting points which I shall deal with here; it appears from your posts on this and other threads that you have, or had, some connection with BT. Is that correct? Can I say I have no problem with that but I always think any possible self interest should be out in the open.

Anyway,

• Although I was not party to the call, as you rightly point out, I was party to a conversation with one half of that call; my mother. I can only express a view based on our conversation, coupled with my knowledge of her. I have done so and I also notice that there is another thread on this forum from another person having been tied in this way by BT.

• How is the deal crap? Well, I can get her a cheaper one that allows free UK daytime calls as well. It is all relative, I suppose, but cost-wise that makes it crap, doesn’t it? As I put in my original post my brother and I were already looking for a cheaper deal for her, as we have obtained for her with regard to other utilities.

• No cooling off if she called BT. Correct, but she didn’t, did she, so I don’t see what point you are making. My mother received a ‘cold call’ from BT, pure and simple.

• 12 month contracts. No problem with a 12 month contract; just a problem about the absence of a cooling off period, coupled with a letter that, in effect, says, “tough, we have got you now and if you want out you will have to pay”.

• Lack of a number. Anytime BT, and others, sends an offer through the documentation is plastered with numbers to call. On previous offers she had signed in the past, or called to arrange, the confirmation came through with a number on to call. This one didn’t and I stand by my original view. BT knows exactly what it is doing; it is being done deliberately to avoid the 14 day period and it is hoping that there are plenty of people who just give up and ride it as they won’t bother to write to complain. This is particularly true of the elderly.

• Companies shouldn’t contact with their latest offers. Where do I say that? It is plainly obvious from my post that the complaint is about the lack of a cooling off period. If the same person who called my mother on the ‘phone had, instead, rung her doorbell and done the deal face to face there would have had to have been a cooling off period. The call was simply a way of circumventing that.

bunking_off...thanks for the info. I may call Trading Standards and see what they say

BritBrat

I can see pan to fire comming here.

Although BT are bad at times their phone connections are the best.

Yes speaking to India and customer support are very poor but when it comes to supplying a working line to your house and maintaining it for years and years they are good.

Migrate away from BT and if line fails see how easy it is to get it fixed.

Maddie

We moved house recently, and were not aware that changing our address classed as a new contract.

We then moved to Talktalk and have been hit with a £70 fine for leaving mid contract.

I'm very unhappy with this, as firstly I don't understand how I can have entered a contract without being aware of it, and secondly £70 is more than their expenses due to my breach.

I'm going to refuse to pay but doubt they'll be happy!

espresso

Maddie wrote: »

We moved house recently, and were not aware that changing our address classed as a new contract.

We then moved to Talktalk and have been hit with a £70 fine for leaving mid contract.

BT's terms & conditions available here.

If you knew that you wanted TalkTalk, why didn't you go straight to them at your new house?