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clarinette

Signed up with Be Broadband using the promo code 'broadbandchoices' (free setup and 1st 6 months free) so was surprised to see that (although setup fee was indeed 0.00) an invoice had been generated for £13.50 for my 1st month.

Spoke to the billing dept, who told me that the invoice had been generated in error, that it would be rectified, and that I would be notified when this had happened.

3 days later, I received an email informing me that said amount would be debited from my account 14 days from now. So I spoke again to the billing dept, and was told that they are unable to cancel an invoice once generated, that I would now be billed for the 1st month, and that the free 6 months would now be applied to months 2-7.

Now if anyone had bothered to contact me, apologise, and ask if this was ok, I may well have agreed, but as it stands no-one has even notified me, let alone asked me! Even if they can't work out how to cancel the invoice, they could at least offer to credit my account with an equivalent amount on or before the date of the debit!

So...I told them that I had signed up for the 1st 6 months free, that if they were refusing to honour this they were in breach of contract, that if it is not rectified by Monday (today is Friday) I will cancel the direct debit and lodge a formal complaint, and that if I am subsequently cut off, this will include a substantial compensation claim.

After being left on hold for a couple of minutes, I was told that I will receive an email on Monday, informing me as to 'whether or not they have been able to cancel the invoice'!

Watch this space...

Sooler

So they messed up a little, months 1-6 free or months 2-7 , why get het up over it

No big deal really, chill and go with the flow, life's so much calmer :cool:

DatabaseError

I kinda hope they are unable to cancel the invoice...nothing better than watching someone bite off their nose

they made an error...the systems won't allow them to rectify it immediately...it's not a great situation, but you're not going to lose anything, and you have one of the UKs best ISPs...free for 6 months (it's costing them to have you!)

clarinette

As I said in my original post, if they had bothered to contact me, I may well have agreed! The fact that they said one thing and said they would contact me, then did another and didn 't even bother to let me know that they had changed their minds, is what I am unhappy about.

I posted this on here for the benefit of others who may have signed up with them, but may not have subsequently checked their accounts. It is entirely possible that someone could incur bank charges as a result of a debit they were not expecting and consequently not ready for!

DBE - who's biting off their nose? If I could cancel this contract I would! I am already wishing I had signed up with a company whose CS staff are more competent...

clarinette

...I appreciate that the odd c*ck-up happens, no big deal, but is it too much to ask that it is efficiently and professionally dealt with?

clarinette

Well I'm pleased to say that I discovered the Be* forum, and thanks to helpful users and staff on there, the invoice has now been cancelled :j

DatabaseError wrote: »

I kinda hope they are unable to cancel the invoice...nothing better than watching someone bite off their nose

What an unpleasant thing to say! Sorry to deny you your moment of Schadenfreude...

To anyone else who has recently signed up with Be*, I recommend that you keep a close eye on your account (at least to begin with), don't rely on them to get back to you just because they say they will, and if you have any hassles don't phone CS, raise your query in the forum on the Be* site - people there know their stuff and get things done

Contrary to what was implied earlier in this thread, don't feel that you should put up with mistakes just because you're not paying much.

Poor customer service can end up costing you a lot more than you saved by going for a cheap deal

DatabaseError

clarinette wrote: »

..... if it is not rectified by Monday (today is Friday) I will cancel the direct debit and lodge a formal complaint, and that if I am subsequently cut off, this will include a substantial compensation claim......

Watch this space...

My bad. I thought you'd come across as someone getting excessively stroppy over a trivial matter. Obviously, on re-reading, I see you were being perfectly reasonable considering the minor clerical error.
As to companies (ISPs) with better CS than Be/O2...erm...there aren't many I'm aware of, and offering the same adsl2+ speeds the only contender would be sky..who's CS may be improving




...and a genuine apology if you are/were offended

clarinette

DatabaseError wrote: »

I see you were being perfectly reasonable considering the minor clerical error

a touch tongue-in cheek? lol

Brief explanation, a couple of years ago I had a 'minor error' issue with a comms co. (I won't name them here) - they initially admitted responsibility, then blamed me, accused me, lied to me, repeatedly cut off my service without warning (leaving me completely stranded on one occasion in a remote location with no means of contact with the outside world - including my children who were worried sick - and after promising not to), charged extortionate rates to call them, falsely damaged my credit file while the matter was still in dispute, had debt collectors threaten me, refused to investigate, forced me to do all the complicated calculations and legal stuff myself whilst refusing to supply the info I needed to do so (or trying to charge me for such), basically made my life hell for over a year. All of which resulted in my being proved right all along, and them having to apologise and pay me lots of compo.

So I'm well aware of how these 'trivial matters' can become far more serious. Be* made a minor error which would only require minimal effort to put right, and they were already over-complicating it. The fact that having spoken to me they then moved the goalposts without telling me came across as sly and underhand, and I half expected it to be the beginning of another CS nightmare!

I guess I can understand how my closing sentence which you quoted came across as OTT, but it was just my way of saying 'don't even think about going down that route, don't bother with BS, fobbing me off, bullying me, or trying to scare me, just get it sorted'. Pleased to say they did

Anyway, apology accepted, no stress, all's cool :cool2:

DatabaseError

//big hug

Tirian

I signed up a week or so ago and got the same problem .. and the same response. Personally, I'm not really fussed if I get 1-6 free or 2-7 free. I sent them a message through the online contact centre, and have a reply saying I will get 1/4/09 - 30/9/09 free. Since I've got that in writing, I'm not bothered.

But it does seem that they have had a bit of a problem processing this 6-months free offer!

clarinette

Tirian wrote: »

I signed up a week or so ago and got the same problem .. and the same response. Personally, I'm not really fussed if I get 1-6 free or 2-7 free. I sent them a message through the online contact centre, and have a reply saying I will get 1/4/09 - 30/9/09 free. Since I've got that in writing, I'm not bothered.

But it does seem that they have had a bit of a problem processing this 6-months free offer!

Hi, glad they have sorted something out for you. Have you had a look on their own forum? Many people have had the same problem, which they are putting down to a 'billing system error', can't believe they haven't fixed it yet!

I'm still trying to understand what's going on - my Be* account pages are now showing a 'refund', though the invoice has disappeared and I assumed this means they won't be touching my bank account(?) I've just updated the ticket to ask them (for the 2nd time - 1st got not response) to explain the refund entry, it's not even for the same amount as the monthly bill!

CS are getting fed up with me now but let's face it, if they hadn't messed up in the first place they wouldn't be having to put it right now. I'll keep on at them until they explain everything. I'm fed up with finding unexpected entries in my account pages and fed up with being told nothing.

It's a good deal and I'm happy with the unlimited BB service so far, but the fantastic CS I have read about is nowhere to be seen! So far it's been damned hard work being a Be* customer, and it's beginning to look like a case of 'you get what you pay for'