BT charged £329 for 30 minutes work....

iniltous

The £214 charge is a lot, but how much does a plumber charge to fix a leaky tap ( tap washer 0.5p, probable bill for fixing leaky tap £100+ )
The £115 call out element is raised because the engineer was called out for something that wasnt Openreach's fault, and unlike the plumber if openreach failed to fix a genuine fault because they were attending at a 'non' fault, they pay compensation for the genuine fault fixed late,
The hourly rate is £99, and obviously the engineer doesnt get paid anything like that, but there is the vehicle running costs ,back office, tester etc..etc, I'm not saying £99 is cheap, or value for money, but if all repairs were free regardless of who or what caused the damage then the costs still need to be covered so everybody would pay by increased line rental bills
OFCOM set the charges Openreach are allowed to raise and they have to proved to be reasonable by being based on actual operating
costs

BT_company_representative

Hi hayley11

I appreciate that an unexpected bill for £329 is worrying for your aunt. As Quentin has advised, the standard call out charge is £115 plus £99 per hour (or part hour) incl VAT. I can investigate your aunt's account to clarify what her bill of £329 is made up of. If you want me to do this, please send me some details by PM.

Cheers

Anne

BT Support

hayley11

Well just to say my Aunt was a mug and ended up paying them the call out charge (£211) despite them having no proof she caused the damage. They "kindly" credited the extra money. She spoke to a very rude lady on the phone and buckled, drives me mad when people allow companies to bully them.

They also said that as soon as the driver gets in his van - no matter where he is - they start billing you from then. Which I don't think can be true and if it is, it's disgraceful.

Anyway it's done with now but it's validated my views on BT.

Stonk

Question: Did your aunt actually snip the wire? Yes, No, Unlikely (i.e., she hadn't been doing any pruning nearby) or Probably (i.e., she had been pruning nearby just before it stopped working)?

If the answer is either No or Unlikely, then this episode leaves a very nasty taste in the mouth. BT ought to be responsible for the cabling in question, and if it breaks accidentally, then it's for them to fix at their expense. If the wire to my house broke of its own accord when I'd been nowhere near it, then I would not expect to be charged for its repair.

If the answer is Yes or Probably, though, then BT have her over a barrel and can pretty much charge what they like to repair the damage she has done to their property.

Excessive though the prices may seem, they are not necessarily unreasonable. They're about the same as I charge corporate clients for what I do, and there are many skilled professions charging that much or more. Mind you, I would not dream of charging an individual that kind of rate, though.

hayley11

Well when I first posted I was unsure as I didn't have all the facts but it is definitely a NO. She hadn't done any pruning since the previous year, an engineer had been out since then and hadn't been able to find a fault. Then the second engineer comes out and suddenly it's been snipped. I'm not saying the engineer did it himself though. Although he didn't turn out to be quite as trustworthy as my Aunt thought, he was really nice when he was there but he said he was there for over two hours when he absolutely was not, it was about 30 minutes.

It really is horrible. My Aunt is only in her 50's but she cares for her husband who is in his 70's and very poorly and she just paid it because she didn't want anybody coming to the house demanding it or cutting the phone line and upsetting her husband.

If I were her, i'd leave BT without a second thought but she probably won't.

baldelectrician

Your aunt may have a case

BT tried to rip off my late mum last year. I ended having to deal with it after calling B(ombay) Telecom and getting nowhere

I got the bill waived after asking fo a call recording where they did not advise correctly how and when things would be charged.

They gave in, and I wrote a letter to their executive office with full details of the complaint.
My mum phoned me and said a 'very nice lady' called and apologised to her for all the hassle.
It made my mums day.

BT really need to get their act together and realise that when customers have to go to the chief exex office to have an issue dealt with they are failing miserably

They should be closing their call centres overseas and bringing the customer service back to the UK.

hayley11

She won't do anything about it now. She doesn't realise you can fight these companies, you don't have to roll over and agree with what they say. It's really frustrating but I can sort of understand why she doesn't want the hassle, she's got enough with my uncle.