The !!!!!!!s at BT

deklan99

"If you take service on or after 1st May 2007 the charges for ending either a new line or a line that you take over before the end of the minimum period will be the lower amount of either £70 or the total of the monthly line rental left in the minimum period"

Helps to stop people getting an active BT line then absconding to TalkTalk who won't install an active line.

bunking_off

Hellinahandcart wrote: »

• 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.

I'll declare an interest insofar that I work in the comms industry, albeit not for a company with any consumer/residential focus.

Following on from your point, I thought you might find an anecdote of interest. I was recently sat in an industry meeting, attended predominately by operations/engineering Director level staff from the major telecoms operators. The Ops Director for <company name with-held, suffice to say they have substantive retail operations> was bemoaning that he'd had a cold call from BT at home and been signed up onto the same package as your mother, without providing any consent. If people at his level are being conned, it doesn't say much for your mum's chances...

Maddie

espresso wrote: »

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

We were planning on staying with BT, but when we tried to connect up to our old internet providers, there was a fault with the line. Neither the ISP or BT could say what it was or would investigate it any further. I need internet for my job, and Talktalk were both the cheapest and also had the benefit that they would be responsible for the line also so would have to deal with any faults.

Not that I think any of this is relevant.

espresso

Maddie wrote: »

We were planning on staying with BT, but when we tried to connect up to our old internet providers, there was a fault with the line. Neither the ISP or BT could say what it was or would investigate it any further. I need internet for my job, and Talktalk were both the cheapest and also had the benefit that they would be responsible for the line also so would have to deal with any faults.

Not that I think any of this is relevant.

It is relevant as TalkTalk would have instructed you to get a BT line first, before they could take you as a customer! So it's TalkTalk that you should be complaining about.

Maddie

espresso wrote: »

It is relevant as TalkTalk would have instructed you to get a BT line first, before they could take you as a customer! So it's TalkTalk that you should be complaining about.

If that had happened, I would be complaining about talktalk, but it didn't.

Anyway, I've just spent hours on the phone to BT and have managed to get my charges revoked as apparantly they opened a new BT account when I moved, which they shouldn't have done. I know this contradicts with what the T&Cs say, but I'm not complaining.

Hellinahandcart, don't bother with the 0800 800150 number, you need to ring on 0207 3565000 and ask for the Customer Options Team, or ring them directly on 0800 800 880. Hopefully then you will get through to someone helpful.

HTH

Maddie

Victors_Bruvver

Topherxp

I have BT plus Primus plus 1899 and I do not pay for evening or weekend calls and I don't have a 12 month contract with any of them, especially BT so I would call any so called deal from BT crap.

I think the point of the posting is lost on you in so far as Hellinahandcart told us that it was his 70 odd year old mother that had been scammed by BT. Forget the T&Cs and the warnings in the small print and 'buyer beware', the fact is she is a vulnerable lady and should have been given the chance to determine what she wanted by BT writing to her. I too would be livid if that had happened to my mother! All I can say to Hellinahandcart is write to BT and then should you get no satisfaction report it to Ofcom.

topherxp

bunking_off wrote: »

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)

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/about/accoun/reports_plans/annrep0708/citizens/

If you read the section on 'New Rules To Tackle Slamming' on the Ofcom website they describe slamming as 'that your telephone account has been moved to another provider without your apparent consent or knowledge'.

If a provider changes you package like what has happened in the original post, it is Mis-selling.

I stand by the my original comment about providers not contacting customers, as the quote stated they shouldn't be contacting if they don't know anything about the person they are calling.

billsavings

Hellinahandcart wrote: »

I can get her a cheaper one that allows free UK daytime calls as well.

Care to share this deal with us ?

topherxp

Victors_Bruvver wrote: »

I have BT plus Primus plus 1899 and I do not pay for evening or weekend calls and I don't have a 12 month contract with any of them, especially BT so I would call any so called deal from BT crap.

I never said you couldn't get a better deal elsewhere only that the deal wasn't crap.

There a lot of people who for all sorts of reasons don't want to change suppliers or take out various forms of CPS to get them the best deal. If they are don't want to do that the deal is good, but it still doesn't make it crap.

You can still have CPS on the line as well, so providing your not going to be changing your line rental provider anytime soon, you can get the best of both worlds.

Victors_Bruvver wrote: »

I think the point of the posting is lost on you in so far as Hellinahandcart told us that it was his 70 odd year old mother that had been scammed by BT. Forget the T&Cs and the warnings in the small print and 'buyer beware', the fact is she is a vulnerable lady and should have been given the chance to determine what she wanted by BT writing to her. I too would be livid if that had happened to my mother! All I can say to Hellinahandcart is write to BT and then should you get no satisfaction report it to Ofcom.

The point of the posting is not lost on me, but at the sametime she was sold a package (whether it was missold or not) in the sameway as any other customer would have been as far as being called up and offered the deal.

A lot of these companies will use a 3rd party company for their cold calling operations and naturally can't give to much information about the customer due to data protection.

topherxp

Hi Hellinahandcart,

You are right I do have a connection in relation to BT, but in terms of the postings on here it is not for any self interest.

Hellinahandcart wrote: »

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:

I believe the quote was inrelation to somebody elses post. I would agree with you in that if you are mis-sold something it shouldn't be a case of getting over it.

Hellinahandcart wrote: »

• 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.

I understand you can only base your posting on what you were told and knowledge of your mother.

Hellinahandcart wrote: »

• 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.

I would agree, in that your mother may be able to get a better deal else where, but it doesn't make it a bad deal.

Hellinahandcart wrote: »

• 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.

I should have said there was no cooling off period full stop instead of 'if she called'.

Hellinahandcart wrote: »

• 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”.

That in my opinion is more a problem the legal side relating to cooling off periods. Companies will sell within those rules, so if there is room to not give a cooling off period then the law needs to be reviewed.

Hellinahandcart wrote: »

• 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.

Just to note I didn't disagree with what you said about having the number on the letter.

Hellinahandcart wrote: »

• 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.

If you read what I posted inrelation to that particular quote I didn't say you said it only 'So basically what your saying is that all companies should not be contacting customers with there latest offers.' I really should have put a question mark instead of a full stop, that is the reason I quote that part of the post. The quote was nothing to do with cooling off periods or mis-selling.

Inrelation to that quote, and it is in general for everybody, don't forget you can ask to stop receiving marketing mails and calls by contacting the company or registering onto the Telephone Preference Scheme. You can also register with the post office, so you don't receive junk mail.