Urgent advice needed on BT

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In November we ran into some financial difficulties and were unable to pay a bill as I have only just now recieved my student loan as Im a student midwife.They cut our broadband and phone off which we needed and sent us a final bill, terminating our contract against our will and adding a nice £50 charge. So we rang them up to speak to a supervisor who said if you pay the previous bill now we will reconnect you. We did this and a few days later no connection still. Basically the supervisor lied to us as, a manager later confirmed he had no right to say this us, not only that, but they didnt seem bothered at all about us struggling. . So I decided to turn the tables on them out of anger. I bought a BT phone and Broadband package online which was free at the time and was reconnected a few days later on a new number, thinking sod you I'll wait for the reminder or red letter for the terminated account

So the other night I receive a missed call from a jobsworth on behalf of Wescott Services which I return the next day. I asked if he could explain why he rung, and he says "yes I can actually you didnt pay your bill" and you now owe us £201, which includes a £50 admin fee from us"!! Now I dont know who these people think they are, but If they think for one minute that because I missed a bill im an easy target then they are trotting up the wrong path.

I said to them I will deal with BT today and sort this matter out as I didnt receive a single letter since the original bill. No reminders, no final warnings, nothing to warn of debt collection getting involved.

A manager rang me from BT with a huge attitude problem stating they had sent letters. I offered to pay the bill in full including the rip off £50 disconnection charge but NOT the admin fee for the debt collectors. He refused this offer and says that it was out of BT's hands. After explaining I never recieved anything from BT, he then back tracked and said BT ARE NOT OBLIGED TO SEND ANYTHING regarding final warnings, reminders OR notification to say we are passing this on to a debt collection agency and that it states this in the T&C. I asked for proof of the letters they sent and he said I would have to send in £10 to request it, I said well before you get a penny from me I will be requesting it, he promptly hung up the phone upon hearing this?

Any advice? Now Im aware of the fact I missed a bill etc, but is it right that BT can change the rules to suit them all the time!!??

hollydays

Why didn't you just pay the bill as soon as you could.
Whilst I appreciate your situation,why should they care if you were struggling,for all they know that was a lie.Its not like they cut off your electricity.
They were not unreasonable in wanting their money,I don't see why you should feel angry at them.

Westcott are unscrupulous debt collectors-search them on this site.

pendulum

Yeah, pay your bills and you won't get these problems, they had to pass it on to debt collectors because you didn't pay promptly, that's the way the world works and its not rocket science. If this were me I would pay the £200-odd before it spirals out of control.

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thanks for the advice, i will ring wescott tommorow and pay them :beer: