BT complaints

headintheclouds

I sympathise with you all. It took me ages to get my line connected and I spent hours on the mobile getting nowhere. On another thread the BT Head Office number was quoted - 0207 356 5000 (not enough of a techie to link to the thread, I'm afraid, but have a browse because there are a few about BT complaints). I called the number and my line was connected the same day. They have a special department set up for dealing with complaints that you can't seem to resolve any other way - and there was no queue to get through. Worth a try.

jonmp

Here's what I sent:

"Below is a copy of a letter I sent to BT at the beginning of October. I have now received a letter threatening me with court action unless I pay BT whatever they say. It is impossible to talk to anyone who can do anything at the BT call centres so it seems that I have to pay whatever BT like regardless of whether I have received a service, signed a contract or tried to explain the situation.

I have now sent a cheque for the amount demanded to avoid any further hassle from you.

I will, of course complain to Ofcom and if I have a few spare minutes will contribute to any consumer web-sites etc that I come across so that as wide an audience as possible will know how BT treats people with threats while ignoring their justified complaints.

Yours furiously and £255 pounds poorer

Jon Parsons

Dear Sir or Madam:
Complaint number 070928-005224


I have received a bill for a service that is not connected: Acc. No. SW14056738.

This service is not connected (ring the number if you want to check!). Although I started the connection process I was later informed of additional charges that I don’t want to pay at this time. Because it is not possible to investigate the feasibility of a new connection without paying first the site was not investigated before the engineer arrived to make the connection.

Nothing during the ordering process suggested that the price would be higher than the standard fee or even that it could be and I was assured by one of your anonymous call centre staff that there was one price which did not vary.

There was no opportunity given by BT to discuss if there would be additional charges before paying for a connection. The property is some distance from a telegraph pole so it was obvious that it would need more poles erecting before the connection could be completed.

I don’t mind paying for work done and accept that there may be an additional charge in the case of this property.

However given that BT didn’t bother to survey the site before charging me a standard fee I feel entitled to decide not to pay additional charges until I am ready.

I certainly will not pay a line/service charge as there is no line or service.

I have cancelled the direct debit for this account in the hope that I will get someone to ring me up who can both understand the situation and act appropriately to alter the bill.

The alternative which I have experienced this evening of being deliberately cut off by BT call centre staff and on a second call having to explain at great length about my situation to three separate people before being passed back to the department I started with is not acceptable service.

Please alter the bill to reflect:

• That I should only be charged for the work done to date

• That no service charge is due until there is a service

• That there will be no additional fees in the future without written quotes agreed by me

• That there will be no reconnection fee or other hidden costs.

Yours sincerely,
Jonathan Parsons
"

FannyHill

So if they threaten you with court action and you've paid can you not then start a County Court summons against BT to recover the money that you feel isn't owed,if you are sure of course that it isn't owed ?

maz3718

Headintheclouds - thank you so much. I phoned the 0207 no and got straight through to a lovely lady who promised to email the chairmans office directly with my complaint ( x2 engineer appointments that have not appeared!) She was disgusted and said it would receive top priority. Fingers crossed, and thanks for the number.

CrossKat

Thanks so much for that magic 0207 number!!! I got through straight away and got put through to someone who actually did something! Basically I've had similar problems to everyone else - moved in, tried to get the phone reconnected, it wasn't connected, spent ages on my mobile trying to get through but nothing ever got done. So today when i get through I'm told the order has been cancelled - well thanks for letting me know! So I've had to go through the whole thing again - grrrrrrrrrr! It better work this time!

barky01

I have been complaining to BT for a couple of months now on behalf of my girlfriend. She has purchased a flat at the end of October and wanted to have a phone set up. She contacted BT and they said it was going to cost her £125. When the line was set up, we got the bill which is being spread over 3 months. We then received another bill, under her name and address, but with a different account number and phone number. It looks as though the previous owner didn't cancel his line. We then complained to BT, but it took us over a week to finally get through and talk to someone, and all he said was that their computers are downand don't worry about the bills, just ignore them. We have now complained twice to BT, the first time we got no reply what-so-ever. What's going on with them? Why can't i call a UK based call center who actually knows what they are doing and we can understand what they are saying....:mad:

wantmemoney

barky01 wrote:

It looks as though the previous owner didn't cancel his line.

who were they with?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2007/nov/10/moneysupplement.internetphonesbroadband
Saturday November 10 2007

New occupiers are automatically charged the £125 fee, regardless of who used to supply the phone service. However, BT said this week that the charge should not be payable if the previous occupier was with BT. This has been refuted by readers' experiences.

are BT ripping people off ?

Seiken

As of October I believe it is, the ceased line connection process has changed in that the only way you are exempt from the £125 connection fee is if you are performing a home move and the line doesn't require any engineering work or you are changing over your account in cases of bereavement. If the line is only stopped however, meaning it's not disconnected yet, you would not be charged the fee. This is the way I understand it, however I don't have any great confidence as I get told conflicting things all the time.

PRINCE$$

does anyone have a new complaints email address?
Cheers

cufc_mike

PRINCE$$ wrote: »

does anyone have a new complaints email address?
Cheers

Email the Chief Exec, [EMAIL="ben.verwaayen@bt.com"]ben.verwaayen@bt.com[/EMAIL]

I emailed my complaint yesterday evening around 9.35pm, and by 10am this morning my complaint had been successfully dealt with.