BT cut me off & want to charge for the reconnection .. CAN A BT REP PLEASE CONTACT ME

g4fne

Hi Folks.

My mother-in-law lost the use of her telephone line recently. The line was completely dead. She noticed that outside a guy was sitting in a BT Van. She approached the BT van & highlighted her problem & the BT guy suggested his colleague who was working on a neighbours line could of caused this problem and offered to report the problem to BT via his laptop.
Couple days pass & still no acknowledgement from BT of any news & still no phone line. My wife contacted BT on her behalf who declared they had no notification of any fault registered (even though guy in van informed he had reported this fault) but they would now look into it.
Later that day my mother in law took a call from BT confirming line was now back working, but there would be a reconnection charge My mother in law is in her 70's & questioned this charge but the woman who insisted this charge will stand.

How can this possibly be correct ??
My mum-in-law is in a right state over it & is at a loss what to do ??

Will BT speak with me (i'm 120miles away from her)

Can anyone advise me what the best course of action would be ??

Mark_In_Hampshire

I am presuming from the information supplied that the account was not in arrears and that the reconnection is a "sign up charge" e.g. for a new contract.

Thus, if true, BT have chosen to terminate supply. So:

1. Confirm that with BT
2. Cancel any direct debit mandate
3. Ring The Post Office and ask them to take over the line. Confirm there won't be any connection charges
4. Ask BT for a final bill
5. Deduct any so called reconnection charge - you don't need to pay this (hence point 2 above) and pay the final amount
6. Write to BT and let them know what you have done. BT Group plc, BT Centre, 81 Newgate Street, London EC1A 7AJ

Alternatively, wait a while, and a BT apologist, sorry, representative will probably pop along to make sure this thread disappears off the bottom of the page, sorry, I mean help.

g4fne

Mark_In_Hampshire wrote: »

I am presuming from the information supplied that the account was not in arrears and that the reconnection is a "sign up charge" e.g. for a new contract.

Thus, if true, BT have chosen to terminate supply. So:

1. Confirm that with BT
2. Cancel any direct debit mandate
3. Ring The Post Office and ask them to take over the line. Confirm there won't be any connection charges
4. Ask BT for a final bill
5. Deduct any so called reconnection charge - you don't need to pay this (hence point 2 above) and pay the final amount
6. Write to BT and let them know what you have done. BT Group plc, BT Centre, 81 Newgate Street, London EC1A 7AJ

Alternatively, wait a while, and a BT apologist, sorry, representative will probably pop along to make sure this thread disappears off the bottom of the page, sorry, I mean help.

No arrears on account. No direct debit as she pays cash every quarter (she;s still bewildered why she should have to pay more because she doesnt pay by DD ... but thats another story ).

I'm hoping someone from BT can assist in this as the mum-in-law just cant get her head round any of it & its not right to worry an older person like this, when quite obviously its not there fault

spike7451

g4fne wrote: »

No arrears on account. No direct debit as she pays cash every quarter (she;s still bewildered why she should have to pay more because she doesnt pay by DD ... but thats another story ).

I'm hoping someone from BT can assist in this as the mum-in-law just cant get her head round any of it & its not right to worry an older person like this, when quite obviously its not there fault

On my old pay & go line,if I did'nt pay my bill within 2 days or I went out of credit by pence & again,did'nt top up within 2 day's,it got cut off & I got a £10 reconnection charge.

g4fne

spike7451 wrote: »

On my old pay & go line,if I did'nt pay my bill within 2 days or I went out of credit by pence & again,did'nt top up within 2 day's,it got cut off & I got a £10 reconnection charge.

Thanks, but she hasnt missed any payment

LeeSouthEast

To be fair to the BT apologists, they did actually resolve my issue without any hassle at all... so give them a try

g4fne

LeeSouthEast wrote: »

To be fair to the BT apologists, they did actually resolve my issue without any hassle at all... so give them a try

Hopefully they will see this thread & give some advice

DVardysShadow

g4fne wrote: »

Hopefully they will see this thread & give some advice

Promise to come back and update us. It's your best bet, because the number of complaints the BT reps deal with that just go quiet, I suspect they delegate the problem to an assassination squad.

g4fne

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Promise to come back and update us. It's your best bet, because the number of complaints the BT reps deal with that just go quiet, I suspect they delegate the problem to an assassination squad.

I'de be happy to ;)

iniltous

I kinda think this is going to be a misunderstanding, if your relative has lost telephone service due to a fault and the fault is on the openreach network then its fixed for free, unless the fault is due to damage not considered to be fair wear and tear and on the end users property, say for example a wire from the pole to the house is damaged by a tree in the persons garden, a tree in the road causing the damage wouldnt be charged, I think the warning service providers give something along the lines of ..'if the problem is on your own wiring, equipment or damage not considered to be fair wear and tear is chargable' has been taken to mean charges are compulsary, but they are not......has the fault now been fixed ?, if they fixed it without getting access to your relatives house they cannot charge for an abortive visit, I would call BT on your mother in laws behalf ( they may ask if you have authority to speak on her behalf ) and find out exactly whats gone on,but unless the problem was on something she was responsible for then its unlikely to be chargable

g4fne

iniltous wrote: »

I kinda think this is going to be a misunderstanding, if your relative has lost telephone service due to a fault and the fault is on the openreach network then its fixed for free, unless the fault is due to damage not considered to be fair wear and tear and on the end users property, say for example a wire from the pole to the house is damaged by a tree in the persons garden, a tree in the road causing the damage wouldnt be charged, I think the warning service providers give something along the lines of ..'if the problem is on your own wiring, equipment or damage not considered to be fair wear and tear is chargable' has been taken to mean charges are compulsary, but they are not......has the fault now been fixed ?, if they fixed it without getting access to your relatives house they cannot charge for an abortive visit, I would call BT on your mother in laws behalf ( they may ask if you have authority to speak on her behalf ) and find out exactly whats gone on,but unless the problem was on something she was responsible for then its unlikely to be chargable

It wasnt until BT phoned her that she was informed the line was fixed. No BT engineer visited her.
I agree, that it is probably a misunderstanding, but getting someone at BT to recognise this is the problem.