BT complaints - need someone senior to write to

ldn-100

I have logged a complaint with BT over billing errors. The complaints team contacted me and said they would put this right. However, what they said would happen did not (DDs came out of my account that shouldn't have). I complained again and despite being told this was all sorted I am still having DDs coming out of my account that I have to reverse under the DD Guarantee. I now find myself in a position of complaining about the complaints department. Does anyone know someone suitable to write to at BT?

Inforapennyinforapound

There is a long thread concerning bt complaints which makes interesting reading if you are sitting down with a cup of tea.

However i think i can answer your problem as i have just had a long saga with bt regarding a bill error.

You need to send an email to [EMAIL="ian.livingston@bt.com"]ian.livingston@bt.com[/EMAIL] and i think you will be nicely surprised to receive a call from a nice person in the executives office there and they shoulld rectify the matter.

My situation has been dealt with and they agreed that i was billed wrong and have gifted me £10.00 for all my trouble.

Hope this helps

ldn-100

Thanks for that very useful summary. I got an email reply within 1 hour and a phone call about 2 hours after that. Not had a full resolution yet, but there is at least hope.

logie28

while you sort that, ring your bank and cancel your DD, anything taken out unauthorised can be claimed back..

ldn-100

logie28 wrote: »

while you sort that, ring your bank and cancel your DD, anything taken out unauthorised can be claimed back..

If I cancel the DD I have to pay BT £5 extra a quarter for the privilege. I check my on line account with Lloyds TSB every day and they have been instantly reversing all the DDs.

shellysnowfox_2

Im in the same boat, but im thinking maybe ian livinstone isnt working there anymore as i havent got a reply?
is there anyother executives or anybody else senior to contact?

ben_hepworth

irstly, I ask you to please respond ASAP.

I would like to tell you my story of joining BT. I cannot remember all of the exact dates but they are roughly correct.

I signed up to BT over the telephone in April 2008. I did not have a phone line installed at my new address so this was the first thing which I needed to arrange. I booked an install date for the line and it was arranged for over three weeks later. I was given the option of the engineer to arrive in the morning or the afternoon. I had meetings in the afternoon so I agreed for the engineer to arrive in the morning.

On the day of the install I was up at 8 and awaiting the engineer. He was due to come between 8am -1pm so I waited until 12.30pm before contacting BT. After speaking to several different people at customer services (CS) I was told that no-one knew where the engineer was and someone would call me back. I waited until 2 o'clock but hadn't heard anything, so again contacted BT. Again, after waiting over half an hour to speak to the right person, I was told someone would call me back. This went on for the rest of day until 6.30pm when finally I was told the engineer was not coming. It was arranged he would come first thing in the morning and that I needed to be in.

I woke the following day and awaited the engineers arrival. I rung customer services in the morning to find out if he was definitely going to be coming and I was told he was. Again I waited until lunchtime and no one arrived. After attempting to contact CS and being transfered, cut off and generally waiting a long time, I was told no one could get hold of the engineer.
After three days of this an engineer finally fitted the line,to the incorrect address.
After long arguments with your CS team an engineer finally came out 1 week later to install to the correct address.

I moved house 24th Sept and informed BT 3 weeks before so that all my services could be moved to my new address.
BT cut off all my services early (2 weeks early.)

Then it took 1 month for the services to be up and running at my new address(which i had to pay £120 installation charge)

I was also charged a cancelation fee of £96 when i didn't cancel my account i simply moved house.

BT also placed me on an new 18 month contract when i moved without consulting me. Scraping my old account which was a 12 month term 6 months served.
I have since moving in Sept been charged (via a direct debit that i have not agreed)£123.50 each month after.
No bill issues no explanation to why putting me in credit by over £300 ! I would like this ALL refunded to my bank. (They say they can only credit my account)

I have been having issues with my account for over 9 months now and no one had been able to assist me. It was even a problem for over 6 months that my name couldn't even be spelt correctly on the database, even though informing over 20 different people at BT.

I have also sent three recorded delivery letters to the Correspondence Centre to which I have had no reply.

Finally, after speaking with Mohan, some of my issues appeared to be resolved.

I had recently received a letter from credit solutions asking for an outstanding balance of £72. This was from an account which had been closed over 3 months previously and also, over the phone, I had made the final bill pament. I had made a final payment and closed the account back in October so this was ridiculous.

My girlfriend spoke to Mohan (India Billing Services) 2 days ago, he agreed to pay back a credit that was outstanding to me and also a disconnection charge you should not have charged me when I MOVED MY SERVICES FROM MY OLD ADDRESS TO THE NEW ONE.

I have this morning received a phone call from Credit Solutions asking why the payment hasn't been made. After contact BT, the customer services advisor told me that I still had to pay the amount and it was outstanding for a final Bill. Apparently there was no note on the computer, it was only after I repeatedly asked to speak to a manager that she came back with the response that it would be paid by BT.

My main issues of concern were from when I moved address. I had agreed to the new installation charge of £120 for the new phone line. After that

For these inconveniences I am to bill BT for my time on the phone, days off work and loss of services.

Time on phone = 20 hours @ £20 = £600
Days off work = 2 @ £120 = £240
Loss of services = 2 weeks = £200
Bank Charges =4 x £38 =152
Money we are in credit on phone account=£220
Refund due for canceling when we only moved house= £96

TOTAL =£1508!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


On the 7th January 2009 my partner managed to speak to one of your managers, Mohan from the India customer services who was very helpful. I would like to thank him for doing all in his power to resolve some of my issues but even his attempts have done very little.



13.01.2009 A further £123.50 was taken from my bank account, no bill! After i had instructed BT to cancel all direct payments until all the matters were resolved. I have occurred further bank charges! £38.

Also on the 13.01.09 your agent would not put me through to a manager, when i finally got through after requesting so 18 times your manager hung up on me!

Please also note that several letters have been sent to BT with no response.
I have also sent a copy of this letter to the ombudsmen for which I am awaiting a reply. As you can see, I have very much been inconvenienced by BT.

I await your response.

Ben Hepworth

Drunkstar

Time on phone = 20 hours @ £20 = £600
Loss of services = 2 weeks = £200


£20 x 20 hours = £400, not £600. Plus how did that ammount come up anyway?
And 2 weeks at £100 a week, how do you work that one?

Otherwise good luck.

iscrimger

It's pleasing to see someone else with a similar problem. I am now finding myself complaining about the complaints department and whenever I get a repsonse to my complaint I get some sort of generic reply about my complaint and thanking me for contacting them and they will investigate. This is followed up by yet another generic response of 'the charges will be maintainted'.

I am sick of it and if I could leave BT I would.

I'm not sure how 20 hours on the phone @ £20 could come to £400 as calling BT is free unless your using a mobile as the customer service line is an 0800 number. BT do however phone you if you email them. I did tell them my handset was broken and I couldn't take the call.... to which it was ignored and they have called me everyday to leave a message telling me they called.

laroux30

I have just set up my own business and on the 27th July i rang BT and ordered two business phone lines and business broadband. It was arranged that on the 9th of August an engineer would call out and set this up. He arrived on this date and was unable to do anything as he said 'there was no cable leading into the unit'. He arrived at my business premises without a job sheet and was unaware of what i had ordered or of what he had turned up to do! He then left without looking at anything or letting me know what the next course of action would be. He left without giving me his name.
This happened again on the 11th, 16th and 19th of August. Two of these visits i had no prior notice that they even intended to come out!
I have been liaising with a customer representative Aruna Patel (she is the fourth representative i have dealt with). Although she has been very polite she has been of no help, and has been unable to resolve anything for me.
My business was meant to be have opened on the 9th August when the lines should have been put in place. But due to the utter incompetence of BT employees i have been unable to even open my business! I am left without even being able to have sign frontage being made, advertising etc. I estimate that up to this date i have inf act lost £10,000 worth of business!
Everyday that i am waiting BT to resolve this i am losing money. I am already concerned that this is doing such damage to my business that i may not be able to keep paying my bills, and this would lead to my business closing before it has even opened!!
I don't know what else to do i am repeatedly on my mobile phone, due to not having a business phone and have had a huge mobile phone bill already. I am on the phone to BT everyday, they don't seem to listen to anything i have to say,a nd just keep passing me from person to person. I am absolutely disgusted and appalled that a massive corporation would treat a customer in this way and put a new business in such a dangerous position, especially in this unsteady financial climate!!!

philbostavros

laroux

extract from BT's Terms and conditions for Business customers:

If BT is late in providing the Service or repairing
a Service Failure, the Customer may choose
either:
(a) [FONT=Arial,Bold][FONT=Arial,Bold]Call Diversion [/FONT][/FONT]- as described in
paragraph 2. This is only available if it is
reasonably practicable, and technical
restrictions may sometimes prevent BT
from offering this option; or
(b) [FONT=Arial,Bold][FONT=Arial,Bold]Daily Rate Rental Credit / Actual
Financial Loss [/FONT][/FONT]- the Customer may
choose daily rate rental credit and/or
actual financial loss (as described in

paragraph 3).

[FONT=Arial,Bold][FONT=Arial,Bold]

3 DAILY RATE RENTAL CREDIT/ACTUAL
FINANCIAL LOSS
The choice

3.1 Daily Rate rental credit is the amount BT will
credit the Customer for each whole or part day
BT is late in providing the Service or repairing a
Service Failure, and for each line affected. The
amounts are shown in the BT Price List. If the
Customer claims this, it does not have to prove
any loss. If the Customer incurs additional
losses, it may also claim actual financial loss as
described in paragraph 3.2.
3.2 Actual financial loss is the amount the Customer
has lost that is reasonably foreseeable as a
result of BT not keeping its guarantee. If the
Customer claims this, it will have to show BT

proof of its loss.

[FONT=Arial,Bold][FONT=Arial,Bold]

The limits

3.3 The maximum amount BT will credit and/or pay
the customer is £6,000 for each line affected,
and subject to an overall total of £25,000 for the
same failure or series of related failures.

[FONT=Arial,Bold][FONT=Arial,Bold]

4. PAYMENT OF CLAIMS

[/FONT][/FONT]

BT will normally deduct any amount that BT
owes to the Customer under this guarantee
from the Customer’s next phone bill, however
in some circumstances BT will pay actual
financial loss payments by cheque.

[FONT=Arial,Bold][FONT=Arial,Bold]

5. APPLICATION OF THIS GUARANTEE

[/FONT][/FONT]

5.1 This guarantee applies to the Service,
including generally any related services BT
provides to the Customer. However, its
application to some of the related services
may vary as shown in the BT Price List.
5.2 This guarantee does not apply if:
(a) someone, other than BT, has caused the
fault;
(b) BT asks for access to the Site and the
Customer does not allow this; or
(c) BT reasonably asks for other help and the
Customer does not provide it.

[FONT=Arial,Bold][FONT=Arial,Bold]

6. MAKING A CLAIM

[/FONT][/FONT]

6.1 The Customer must make any claim within four
months of BT putting things right. For actual
financial loss, the Customer must claim in
writing, using a claim form.
6.2 BT’s contact phone number and address are

shown on the Customer’s bill.

Give them another call and mention the Customer Servive Guarantee Scheme.

Good luck
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]