BT Final Bill scandal - “One-off” charges - beware

Seans_dad

Thanks Icefall.

I have now received final confirmation from Otelo that they are taking up the case and are writing to BT for their side of the story.


Otelo will reach a provisional decision in 6 to 8 weeks time – which does seem quite a lengthy timeframe. Either, or both, parties can either accept their decision or submit new evidence if they don’t. A final decision will be made later.

So, all in all quite a drawn out process, however if justice is served then I am prepared to wait. On the downside, it does give the BT heavies a window of opportunity to apply more pressure before the final outcome. I am awaiting a reply from Ofcom regarding their threatening behaviour whilst my dispute is at arbitration (see above).

choille

I went to Otelo at the start of April. I just received their final conclusion - that's nearly 6 months. They are backing BT, so that has been a complete waste of time for me. I doubt they read the file as initially they were talking about someone else's case.

Seans_dad

Well that’s life.

Just been called by the BBC Watchdog and asked to come down to the studio for filming on this weeks programme. We can’t make it because we are in Portugal on a half-term holiday. There’s my 15 minutes of fame up in smoke.

BUT, BUT – they are running the story anyway !! So some sort of result. All those interested in this and other BT disputes, please watch the BBC at 8 pm this Thursday.

BT; justice will be served on you for your disgraceful behaviour.

Choille - sorry to hear about your outcome. That doesn't fill me with a great deal of confidence about Otelo.

hr100

Blaz wrote: »

Hi Sean's Dad,
Sorry to hear about your rough times with BT! Thats why im on here. Not as bad as your situation though i must say that is absolutely disgusting!

I recently moved in with my girlfriend in our new flat, Im a student so money aint to good for us at the moment. Anyway, we wanted a phoneline as i need Broadband for Uni. We phoned BT .... £125 connection fee!!! For a new connection!! (we live in one of the oldest streets in lpool so surely there has been a phoneline here before) Anyway they kindly offered me a deal of a free connection if i signed up to an 18 month contract ... seein as they own all phonelines i had no choice! But this came with strings!! I was on the weekend calling plan and i had to make x amount of chargable calls. My first bill came in at £35+ and then the second bill £35+ again!! These monthly bills were too high for us so I called up and changed my plan i upgraded to the anytime calling plan ... hoping now we'd jus pay the £18 line rental. So this month i expected a bill of around £20 ... NOPE!!! £148!!!
I called BT and spoke to a snotty man in the sales team (so that meant he was english). He claimed the £120 "Cancellation Fee" was due to us not making the minimum amount of calls!! Even though both our previous bills both exceeded £35+ !! he refused to remove the charges .... he wasn't very helpful or sympathetic. Anyway i called billing (indian ppl, its funny how u only get english spking ppl when your first signing up. trying to make a first good impression i bet!) I spoke to a lovely woman who was very helpful, she never once mentioned the minimum calls and apologised that her former colleage had upgraded my package but had not removed the cancellation fee for leaving the other package! Anyway my bill is now £28 :j

Anyway not relevant to your story but thats my experience from BT. If i had not called back to speak with someone from billing i would've very reluctantly paid the £148 online .... an that would've been it! All because of that first idiot!

If i were you Sean's Dad, If you cant get this sorted and you really have to pay it firstly do not worry about scary letters ... thats exactly what they are scare tactics. Let BT pass your account on too debt collectors. then pay them £1 .... then wait ... until you get another (empty) threatening letter .... pay them £1 ... repeat until they get fed up and offer you a settlement offer. this may effect your credit but depends on how strongly you feel about fighting this payment. I recently cleared a £2300 debt by doing this and in the end i paid a £75 settlement offer too the infamous Skillstrain! But thats another horror story!

Anyway i wish you all the luck with your fight!

This wont make you feel better now but YOU DID HAVE A CHOICE, openreach and not bt retail manage the phone network so other phone companies can order line installations for you.

Crabman

I think we have a slightly different problem with BT although it still involves unidentified charges on the bill.

For the past few months there has been £1.41 on the bill, described as 'brought forward'. It appeared on a few bills until it was queried. No explanation was given. £1.41 was then debited via direct debit (separately to the bill) and yet there is another £1.41 on the bill this month.

BT have apologised and offered to refund but are still being ever so tight lipped about what the charge is for. I've sent a further reply by email asking for a full response...

choille

I spoke with a guy from Otelo today & he was like a dopey robot - kept repeating the same mantra & told me not to bother contacting the Ombudsman as it they won't look at it again - talk about a complete waste of time. This was for a complaint I raised with them in March.

I've spent such time & energy on this i could cry - it is all so unfair.
I hate BT & I now hate Otelo - it's like they are in cahoots.

Seans_dad

Hi Choille,

One of the hardened BT managers I spoke to during my dispute warned me that if I took my dispute to Otelo, then BT would be favoured by them. I took this as a bit of an idle threat to put me off going to the Ombudsman, however from what you’ve said he could be right – which would be appalling.

However, I am so incensed with BT’s attitude that, if Otelo did find against me, then I would still fight them in a court of law. I don’t believe any British court would find against two law-abiding citizens swearing under oath that they were not informed of BT’s charges beforehand. I would ask for the Bible to swear on and against my evidence would be BT’s “tick in a box” made in a Call Centre, far overseas. Nobody with an ounce of decency would find against us. The background to this is that for the last 18 years we have paid every BT bill in full and on time. BT are an utter disgrace.

I don’t know the exact circumstances of your dispute, Choille, but if you feel that you’re in the right, then I would fight on and take the dispute to court.

Thanks hr100 and Crabman for your support too.

On a more positive note, I am still reeling from the news that I have managed to raise the profile of this awful dispute to a level where it is going to be highlighted on one of the most popular programmes on national television ! It just shows what can be done by just one family fighting for justice against a giant bullying Telecoms monster. It gives me hope, and belief, that you should never give up a struggle if you believe you are in the right.

I’m obviously bitterly disappointed that I can’t be there in the flesh on Watchdog, but please watch the programme anyway. There are quite a number of other BT customers who are upset with them and I believe there will be a few horror stories on there. It’s on BBC1 this Thursday. I’ll be back on this forum after the broadcast (if not before) and would love to know all your thoughts.

choille

Hi Sean's Dad - Wish you all the best.

It's like fighting slippery eels.

We ordered a new line down to where we were moving to, they didn't give us the line until 3 months after we were supposed to have left rented accomodation. They disconnected everything & it was a fight to get a line back on in the rented accomodation, & it got so complicated that the file on it is as thick as two glossy magazines.
Because we live in the middle of nowhere & no mobile reception coz of mountains it was so complicated & difficult.
We were lied to on a daily basis, asked to wait in on countless occasions - no one would turn up.
Sorry rambling.
Hope you get some redress.
I'll definately watch the programme.

timmmers

Seans_dad wrote: »

Well that’s life.

Just been called by the BBC Watchdog and asked to come down to the studio for filming on this weeks programme. We can’t make it because we are in Portugal on a half-term holiday. There’s my 15 minutes of fame up in smoke.

BUT, BUT – they are running the story anyway !! So some sort of result. All those interested in this and other BT disputes, please watch the BBC at 8 pm this Thursday.

BT; justice will be served on you for your disgraceful behaviour.

Choille - sorry to hear about your outcome. That doesn't fill me with a great deal of confidence about Otelo.

So uch for the millions of pounds spent advertising eh...a few quid they could have written off here have negated a huge chunk of that.

Personally I would be away from BT in a heartbeat simply because they CHARGE people to pay their bills...that's ridiculous. I hope you win.

There is an aspect that they are pretty sure to bring up eventually though...the line outside your house is their property not yours...your plant damaged it therefore it needed repair even if you hadn't reported it...at your cost since you own the plant.

They massively overcharged for an hour of work, IF it was just the guy at your end working on it ...but maybe someone was also involved testing at the other end too?
An hour is not long enough to replace an overhead line, and it's rare that one engineer can do this alone anyway...my neighbour just had 3 guys replace his (at no cost since it wasn't damaged by him)...the whole repair story smells like 3 week old haddock to me. I used to work installing telecoms BTW.

Finally, can they PROVE that your plant damaged the line, or explain HOW it did so? Also, given that this reason was given...did the engineer explain to you that the plant was at fault and suggest doing something to stop this happeneing again? You would expect them to suggest you deal with that plant really wouldn't you?

I think you just paid an engineer for a very long lunch break TBH. What he did may not tally with what he did timewise.

Good luck

t

FannyHill

BT and Openreach are just out to ripoff the customer.

They have lost so many in the last few years and want to steal from the ones that are left to try and get some extra revenue.

I ditched them almost two years ago.

Best thing I ever did.