BT don't have time to talk to me???

BT_company_representative

Hi Eurobird,

Thank you for your email, I can assure you that both myself and Ann-Louise work for BT and I will be happy to help you stop the calls.

If you would like to email me again [EMAIL="btcare@bt.com"]btcare@bt.com[/EMAIL] with your telephone number I will make sure you don't get any more calls from BT in relation to sales calls.

Kindest regards,
Jon.

The_Silver_Penguin

I had a call from CCA International yesterday. One of the problems was that they did not introduce themselves as calling from CCA International. The handler called and said she was calling on behalf of BT, I naturally assumed that this meant she was calling from BT. It was only at the end of the call when I was complaining to her manager that I discovered where the call had originated. I had a couple of reasons to complain about the call and have since thought of a third complaint. Firstly I believe that I was mis-sold the service they were offering, (free evening and weekend calls if I extended my contract for 12 months), at first I was happy to take up the offer and was read out a pre-prepared statement of terms and conditions. During part of the statement the handler said that I was paying £x per month for my BT phone and that with this service I would save £x. This struck me as odd because the figure was out by about a third. After the handler had waffled through her speech I asked her to confirm how much I was paying for my monthly bill, she repeated the earlier amount. At this point I advised her that the amount was incorrect. The handler then tried to break down the figure using totally false amounts of money. After a little bit of time I discovered that the figures they use were actually just an illustration. At no point was this made clear leading me to believe they are mis-selling the savings I could achieve with this service. My second complaint was that when I answered the telephone the handler asked to speak to Mr X XXXXX using my first initial and surname. I confirmed that she was. Later on in the call I was asked to answer three DPA questions, one of which was my first initial...it seems to me that their DPA policy requires some attention as they are giving out the answer to one of the question before the conversation even gets going. At that point I asked to speak to a manager regarding my complaints and was eventually passed to someone having initially being tols to call BT on 150 which I found a bit odd...I was speaking to BT right?? I asked the manager for details of how to complain and was offered an address and telephone number to use. I was then asked if I would like the company name...ermmm, BT??? The manager then advised me that I was speaking to CCA International. Since the call ended I have looked on these forums and realised that I am a member of the TPS so am concerned that I shouldn't have even received the call in the first place. Anyway I am preparing my complaint for BT but am worried that I will be brushed under the carpet like others seem to have been.

328

I haven't provided any updates on this for a while, but I had a number of further email exchanges with BT. Eventually I got a (relatively) satisfactory response (see below) - certainly I didn't see any point in taking it any further.

I've come back to it today as I received my latest bill last week. Surprise, surprise, my promised compensatory refund of line rental wasn't there. After a lengthy (and frustrating) discussion with the Customer Services 'Floor Manager' on 150 I've now been promised that it will be applied to my account within 10 days.

For anyone else with problems with CCA I suggest you keep pushing back at BT. Maybe they'll eventually get the message...

[FONT=&quot]Dear Mr 328,

I am sorry for the delay in responding to you. I accept your feedback for the way I replied your emails. I understand that I was not direct on my previous email and I personally apologise. As promised in my emails, I did escalate this matter to my managers and we have investigated the issue with the CCA international team. This is done through BT's quality team and the retention team. I was also advised, you had written a complaint to the Compliance Group on 05/11/09, on which they have investigated the matter. I hope they have contacted on this regard to advice about the actions taken on the matter. However, to reiterate the actions taken with regard to this matter, I can confirm that the advisor {name removed} has been moved off the campaign and he is been put to training.

I hope this resolves the complaint.

Please contact me if I can be of any further help. Once again I thank you for your feedback.

Thank you for contacting BT
[/FONT]

ChadwickJon

I'm glad I've found this thread.

I've just taken a call from CCA Intentional myself. As before "On behalf of BT" which I assumed to mean BT.

In my case the representative asked no security questions and proceeded to offer me a £3 per month saving on my current unlimited evenings & weekend package in exchange for a 12 month contract.
As you would expect the offer is rushed and unclear then the "can I proceed" comes in at the end. It took me a moment to realise I'm not on that package I only pay line rental and rarely use my land line. So obviously I'd be paying more per month not saving anything in return for the 12 month contract. If they'd caught me later on I'd might have just agreed and ended up tied up for 12 months.
(It even sounds like this saving offered is questionable from previous posts. As you describe its a illustrated possible saving based on me making a certain amount of calls?)

The line manager confirmed they work on behalf of BT and "on behalf of BT" is all they are required legally to state. Oh and also she personally didn't believe such a statement was deliberately misleading, heh.
She would review the recording of the call to see if my allegations were accurate. etc...

If anyone needs it she gave their ctc details as:

CCA International
Arnold House
21-33 great eastern St
London
EC2A 3EJ

0207 4184218.

I then spoke to BT nuisance calls dept who confirmed CCA are "employed by BT" after checking with her line manager. I before I had a chance to raise concerns on their methods of sales I was swiftly passed to an overseas call centre where a gentleman signed me up to the TPS and assured I would no longer receive these calls.

When asked how they got hold of my details when I ticked every box required to not receive any marketing calls from BT or any third party associated when I signed up (only 12 months ago so I am sure )
I was told "oh, some slip through" ! what a pointless option to offer if it's not honoured. And now I read they this TPS doesn't apply to them despite BT telling me this was the solution.

They really shouldn't be able to operate like this.

mcrydem

I've read all your posts and have been receiving the same dam calls as everyone else here. I thought i'd clear up the actual legalities around this as I have escalated this to BT.

The company is commisioned by BT (hired if you will) to act on behalf and contact their existing customers with maket changes, new prices , loyalty rewards etc etc. I have been informed everyone on their 'list' has atleast BT line rental (or imagine calls, BB etc) and therefore TPS does not matter. TPS simply stops registered sales companies from cold calling, companies are free to contact their existing customers with no issues (unless you request otherwise).

X Directory simply means you are not in the phone book, and under new regulations it is illegal to call you from a phonebook anyway!

Hope this helps, as i guess (though in directly) they are BT and can often offer cheaper deals than you can find online as a make weight I am advised................

Mark_In_Hampshire

Cloche wrote: »

Anyone know of a decent landline company?

IDNET and O2 have been getting some good reviews.

itsj2

Got the call from "acting on behalf of BT" on 08007312687. Asked me if I had B/B, who from and how much. Gave the details - they then said thank you and rang off! I'm puzzled. Any explanations?

Surfer

Can the BT Company Rep please pm me as I am annoyed with these marketing calls? We have had TPS ever since phone connection and are unlisted but BT has passed on our details to a third party in contravention of the Data Protection Act.
The number I am being called from is 08005870823 HCL Technologies in Belfast and first words were that there was an issue with my bill. My BT bill is in credit!

BT_company_representative

Hi Surfer,

If you can email in a link to this thread and your BT account details to the email address found on my profile I'll look into this for you.

Thanks,

Stephanie

Graham2011

Hello everybody... I have recently left CCA international where I was a telesales agent working on behalf of BT. The campaign you are all complaining about is BT PSTN which is a retention campaign whereby agents ask the customer if they would be happy to enter into a 12 month renewable contract in return for free evening calls in addition to the weekend calls they are currently getting free. The reason some people get alot of calls from CCA (a common issue) is because agents must hit a minimum 50% conversion rate meaning out of every two account holders or decision makers an agent speaks to, one of them must be converted into a 'sale'. In order to improve the conversion rate agents often reschedule the call for another time so the call does not count as having spoke to a DMC (decision maker) and therefore does not affect their conversion rate. In regard to why customers are being phoned if they are on the TPS (Telephone Preference Service) this is because BT provide this service and are therefore exempt from the T&C's of the TPS. I would like you all to know that I was a successful agent at CCA and hit target without fail but if a customer told me they were not interested I would always 'code' the call corretly rather than rescheduling. I would like to offer you some advice... rather than complaining to BT if you have been phoned numerous times by CCA ask to speak to one of the supervisors on the calling floor who will ensure you are not called again and will also look on the system who rescheduled the phone calls prior to this one. The agent(s) responsible for miscoding the call may be dismissed on the spot for gross misconduct or will be issued with a disciplinary notice from HR which may also lead to dismissal. Just to confirm... it is perfectly legal for CCA to phone you so long as they state they are calling on behalf of BT and not from BT. They are approved partners and in the small print of the BT contracts it states your information may be passed on to approved partners in order to inform you of any ongoing promotions. The silent calls you receive is because CCA use a computer program called Call Media which automatically dials the number for the agent and the customers name only appears on the agents screen once the customer has answered the phone. Therefore occasionally you may be waiting a few seconds for the call to connect to an available agent. Finally, I would ask you all to treat the agents as you yourself would like to be treated and not be abusive. On many occasions the agent you are speaking to would never have called you before and like anyone else is just doing their job. If you raise your voice or swear at the agent, they are likely to reschedule the call for one minutes time or hang up, deal with it sensibly and ask for a supervisor!!