BT complaints

buuuug

Hi,

Been wanting to post but have had registration probbys (now resolved!). Bens email address in the earlier post DOES go to someone real and responsive. I posted sunday eve and had a reply by Monday 4am saying it will be looked into and proceedings have gone from there. Issue not fully resolved but dialogue is most certainly happening on the phone and via email.

I have been going through the BT services and director of communications for 4 months with virtually no response till now and so am soooo relieved at finding this thread and a 'way in' to someone real and reactive.

Will advise when issue fully resolved but the Ben address is certainly a real address, this has also been copied into correspondance since;

cceo@bt.com

Nat

aldo8

Hi, i recently moved into a flat which i bought off a friend of mine. He had a BT service and used there total broadband service. I've moved into the flat and found there is no dial tone on the line. i phoned BT and they first said that the previous owner must have had a different supplier, i argued that they didnt and that they were with BT. He said to double check and phone back. I spoke to my mate and he confirmed they were with BT and that they only requested their number was moved to their new house. I phoned BT back and the girl said that they have taken the line with them, which isnt physically possible!!!

I've now read the article in the guardian which says BT have said that if the previous occupiers were with BT there should be no charge.

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


Is there anything i can do about this or do i need to pay and then apply for a refund???

Any help would be apprciated

ezzmo

I would just like to say thanks to this thread. I had a problem with my line after changing from BT and then back again approx 20 days later. I was getting less than dial up speeds, despite getting 2meg beforehand. I spent a whole 4 hours one evening being put through to the correct depts. I was calling for line checks akmost nightly, changed my ISP and had to pay early cancellation charge as BT told me it was ISP to blame not them. I was going off my head and getting nowhere. I found this thread , sent an email to Ben and within 24 hours the problem was identified (they had split my line) Sorted. Thanks so much.x:A

wantmemoney

aldo8 wrote:

i phoned BT and they first said that the previous owner must have had a different supplier

BT must know from their records if the previous owner was with them or not.:rolleyes:

I've now read the article in the guardian which says BT have said that if the previous occupiers were with BT there should be no charge.

That's the way I read it.
You might want to ask your friend for his last bill in case you need it as proof.

Freespirit_3

In 1995 I left BT because they were bad value for money. Last week I decided to come back becuase I was told you can get free connection if you have existing cables and socket. LIES!!!!! They charged me £124.99 + 3 months rental before I could even pick up the phone. MAFIA!!!

BT makes £7 Million clean profit every day...
...but they have no honour!

gutted0007

BT set me up with a duplicated account in error, took £680 in direct debits over 12 months for services that should have cost £380. I rang more than 20 people to sort this out, they all lied and none of them called me back. They cut me off despite owing me money??? I wrote a complaint via email and received a response that looked like someone in junior school had written which showed they had been lazy and not looked into the matter at all.

This has rumbled on for over 3 months now they have wrote to me telling me to pay or i will go to court DESPITE ME SENDING THEM BANK STATEMENTS THAT PROVE THEY SET UP 2 ACCOUNTS AND OVERCHARGED ME. I have written to BT's chairman and asked for recordings of all calls under the data protection act. I will go to Watchdog and have notified Ofcom also. They are a disgrace, you usually get a few bad apples in any organisation but BT have at least 20 and i have spoken to them all. Remarkable. I will challenge the illegal actions of BT to the end. I would encourage anyone to take the time to expose BT for the shambles it is, they have a monopoly and are abusing it in the most blatant way. I run the risk of being blacklisted even though BT actually owe me money and i have provided proof of this. Customer service doesnt get any worse.

normanmark

Did you not approach your bank & instructed them to put a freeze on that direct debit?

Your best bet in this case is to contact the head office direct (phone number is on their PLC website) and ask to speak to the Chairmans office

rob1000000

I got BT broadband option 1 because they were offering the first 6 months at a reduced rate - this was to be achieved with a credit of £54.24 on my first bill - they credited £46.16 plus VAT of £4.24 i.e. £50.40.

No one at BT (seems to be Bombay Telecom as everyone is Indian with English as a second language) can quite grasp the problem that the amounts credited do not add up to what was offered.

If anyone else has had this problem, there is possible VAT fraud going on.

Before I joined , I took BT's line speed test which showed 3Mbps maximum - which I thought was probably OK because of my distance from the exchange.

When I got connected, I was pleased to be getting 2.4Mbps to 2.8Mbps with absolutely no problems at all.

This lasted around 4 days - then BT 'optimised' my line and I now get between 0.6Mbps and 1.7Mbps.

Many complaints to BT have resulted in an endless string of idiots who can barely speak English, telling me that my line is only capable of 1.5Mbps-

I can not recommend BT broadband to anyone and would actively discourage anyone from joining - you have no way to adequately voice complaints and get either ignored or talked down to by people with limited English and absolutely no understanding of simple mathematics.

David_HJ

I, too, have experienced problems in recent years with repeated failures of my BT telephone connection, particularly in wet conditions. Sometimes, this also affected of my neighbours. Like others on this 'forum', I complained to BT on every occasion that it was justified. :mad:

Alhough now 86 and long retired, I was once Sales and Service Director with a well-known international company which, from its foundation in 1900, built up a world-wide reputation for after-sales service for its extremely (mechanically) complex products. Understandably, my level of expectations from the 'After-sales Service' Department of any organization is very high indeed.

Certainly, we should all complain strongly about, poor service, but it is equally important that we should give credit and praise whenever it is warranted and encouragement whenever we detect any improvement.

With this in mind, it is pleasing to report that, within the last twelve months, I have noted very positive changes in BT's approach to service, at least, in the area in which I am located.

Firstly, BT's latest system of reporting back to customers and keeping them informed is now reaching a satisfactory
standard.

But, more recently, the actual time required to attend to a problem appears to be consistently improving.

To give just one example, an outside line fault, that I reported yesterday morning, was successfully repaired by mid-afernoon today (Yes -on a Saturday!), by an engineer who remained cheerful (:p) throughout in spite of the cold and damp conditions in which he worked.

Just three hours after starting, he came back from an inspection access point half-a-mile down the road, just to re-assure me that he was still on the job and that it would still take some time. Just over two hours later, he returned, still smiling, to make the final test and re-connection. Not only was all well, but the line was very much clearer than ever before!! He then explained the reason for the problem and why he did not expect any further repetition. Now even the most critical of customers could not complain about that level of service!

During all this time, he consistently declined my various offers of cups of hot tea, coffee and a hot meal. I was deeply impressed, and this engineer was certainly a great credit to BT!!

Obviously, in mentioning these improvements, I can only speak for the area in which I reside, but I found the signs very encouraging.

So keep complaining on the BT website whenever it is justified, but do not forget to let BT and others know when you detect any improvement. You probably have no idea just how much a simple 'Thank You' oils and encourages the wheels of After-Sales Service Departments and promotes further improvement!

And a Happy New and Successful Year to you all - Oh and that, of course, includes BT -and that excellent engineer!!
:T :T :T

David HJ

born4thesurf wrote: »

My 3 month BT nightmare began in June 2007. We just moved into a new build house in Cornwall and simply wanted the new phone line set up and activated. Simple? No. In no way was this simple. We had had one engineer simply not turn up. Another turned up in Durham the other side of the country.

Last night (22rd October 2007) I was on the phone for 6pm to 8pm listening to 'we are currently very busy'!!!! for 2 hours!!! I got passed around 6 people who cancelled my order, set up a new one, cancelled again, credit check, booking engineer etc. Finally I spoke a very helpful and polite lady, the first polite person have spoke to from BT (I even had one person when I asked I wanted to set up a new line say - "You what?") and then when I finally thought I was getting somewhere I got cut off.:mad:

Even better, this morning I got a BT bill for £370 for my new address, the address with no telephone line. This is payment for the engineer that didn't turn up and the engineer that turned up in Durham plus 2 BT Packages. You can begin to understand my frustration i'm sure! I have written a letter of complaint mid September to Head of Customer Services and have had no reply.

I can't bear to get on the phone to them again. I cannot believe how poor their customer service has been, their operations management and their total lack of support for BT telephone customers. I was told of the problems they are having are because of the new systems in place for BT Broadband customers.

Why this should effect me not having a telephone line for 3 months is a joke.


BT Complaints Website - Join me

Because I am so fed up with the service I have received from BT, I have decided to set up a blog so that anyone can post a comments, experiences and BT complaints. Once I get over 100 comments, I will write a report and include all comments and send off to the necessary body to investigate.

Please join me at: http://hubpages.com/hub/BT-Complaints or http://btcomplaints.blogspot.com

spanbjergvej

I asked for my phone to be disconnected in March 2007 and was told it would be free to reconnect whenever I wanted, wih the same number. In September I asked to have the phone reconnected and after hanging on for nearly an hour 3 times was told I would have to pay £125. No explanation was given. I then emailed BT and was told the same thing with no explanation. I wrote to Mrs Gilian Lewis, (BT customer service director) on 3/11 but have never received any reply. I wrote again to BT on 30/11 to a BT complaints review service which eventually came back as "not known".
On 3/1/08 I sent an email to Ben Verwaayen with a copy of the letter attached, and received a reply a fewe hours later saying: "I will ask our high level complaints team to sort this".
The same day I received the following email:

I am emailing you regarding your recent email to Mr Ben Verwaayen. Mr Verwaayen has asked me to handle your complaint on his behalf until the matter is fully resolved. Firstly, please accept my apologies for the delay in my response and for the inconvenience that this matter is causing.

I would like to confirm that the policy on charging to connect ceased lines changed from 01 August 2007. Previously, where the customer had confirmed internal wiring was intact, no connection charges were quoted. This policy was often confusing for customers. Connection charges are now raised for all line provisions. If BT wiring is intact within your home, full connection charges are applied to cover any engineering work that may be necessary, either inside or outside your property.

I am willing to waive the Connection Charge on this occasion, however, if in future you request for your line to be stopped and then re-provided more than 3 months later, then the full Connection Charge of £124.99 inc.VAT will be maintained.

So I got a result in 2 days and even an EXPLANATION, after trying for 4 months! So thanks very much for the information, Heinz.